Kondo Shuzo, located at the foot of Mount Suganadake in Gosen City, Niigata Prefecture, was founded in 1865 and built its Suganadake brand around the legendary spring water that wells up from the mountainside. The brewery draws its brewing water from the 'Doppara Shimizu' spring mid-slope on Mount Suganadake, and specifically uses water drawn nine days into the coldest stretch of winter — the 'Kanku' — when the water is at its annual clearest. This commitment to the mountain's purest water, combined with sake rice grown on the brewery's own paddies, gives Suganadake its characteristic transparent softness.
