Founded in 1797 in Kahoku Town, Yamagata Prefecture, Wada Shuzo brews Aratama by hand in small volumes, drawing on soft groundwater from Mount Gassan and working with rice grown in the Mogami River valley, once the cultivation heartland of Yamagata's heritage Kairyo Shinko brewing rice. The name Aratama, rooted in classical Japanese waka poetry, carries the meaning of a newly born spirit or a festive renewal. The brewery won the Daiginjo A Grand Prize at the U.S. sake competition in 2014 and took first place in the ginjo category at the Tohoku Sake Awards in 2019.
