Takanoi Shuzo was established in 1955 in Ojiya City, Niigata Prefecture, and was the first brewery in Japan to formally develop and commercialize snow-aged sake storage, a method the brewers spent roughly 30 years refining before it became an industry practice. Brewed with snowmelt soft water from the Echigo mountains by toji trained in the Echigo tradition, Takanoi's sake is known for a transparent, clean profile with balanced sweetness and umami, and has earned multiple awards at international competitions including the IWC and Kura Master.
