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Yoshinogawa, founded in 1548 in Nagaoka, is the oldest brewery in Niigata Prefecture and the eighth oldest still operating in Japan, tracing its origins to a former samurai who began brewing during the era of warlord Kenshin Uesugi. The name Toki (朱鷺) means 'ibis,' a reference to the crested ibis, a bird native to Niigata and the subject of intensive conservation programs that have become a symbol of the prefecture's natural heritage. The brewery draws on underground water fed by both the Shinano River, Japan's longest, and snowmelt from the Higashiyama range, producing the soft, clean water profile that underpins Niigata's signature tanrei karakuchi style.