Honke Matsuura Brewing, the oldest sake brewery in Tokushima Prefecture, was founded in 1804 in Naruto City by descendants of the Matsuura pirate clan who had settled in the Awa domain as merchants trading in rice and indigo. The Narutotai brand name, coined in 1886, draws on the image of sea bream swimming through the powerful Naruto Strait whirlpools, and the brewery sources its sake rice exclusively from Tokushima Prefecture's own cultivars. Three consecutive gold medals at the National New Sake Competition from 2022 confirm the modern standing of a brewery that has anchored local sake culture for more than two centuries.
