Tentaka

The history of Tentaka Sake Brewery dates back to a brewing business begun in 1914 (Taisho 3) in Yuzukami village, Tochigi (now Hirubatake, Ohtawara City). It later went from "Hirubatake Brewing Limited Partnership" through "Ozaki Genichi Shoten Brewing Division" before incorporating as "Tentaka Sake Brewery Co., Ltd." From the postwar era to the present, accumulating many honors such as Gold Prizes at the Annual Japan Sake Awards, it has continued locally rooted brewing centered on dry seishu.

In the Showa era it began contract cultivation of Yamada Nishiki, working to improve sake-rice quality and secure stable supply, while also devoting effort to developing ginjo and daiginjo. Even as tastes diversified with the times, a defining trait is how it has cherished combining the crisp dryness characteristic of Tentaka with a flavor that accompanies food.

From the 2000s onward, out of a wish "for safer, more reassuring sake," it began organic sake-making in earnest and registered as a certified operator of organic processed foods and organic alcoholic beverages. By obtaining organic-produce certification and establishing its own organic farm, it built a system to manage everything in-house from raw materials to finished product. Today its organic sake — certified in Japan, the U.S. and the EU — is highly regarded at home and abroad.

Furthermore, it took an early interest in "mead," a brewed drink based on honey and water, developing a Japanese mead combining domestic honey, sake yeast and rice koji. At the world's largest mead competition, the "Mazer Cup International Mead Competition," it won multiple medals and even the top "Best of Show Mead" honor, earning international acclaim. With traditional sake and innovative mead as two wheels, it continues to share a new culture of drink.

A local sake brewery surrounded by Nasu's fields, devoted to dry sake

Tentaka Sake Brewery sits in farmland overlooking the Nasu mountains, and while cherishing the belief that "if it isn't dry, it isn't sake," it brews a wide range — from crisp dry sake to junmai that pairs well with meals. Drawing on local rice and water, it faces the craft of brewing each day, aiming to be a brewery that makes people glad "Tentaka is here."

Organic sake certified in Japan, the U.S. and the EU

Engaged in organic agriculture and organic brewing since the 2000s, it has obtained — in addition to Japan's Organic JAS — organic certifications from the United States and the EU. Managing everything from how the raw rice is grown to brewing and shipping, it delivers organic sake at home and abroad that can be enjoyed with peace of mind while reducing environmental impact.

Brewing that "protects soil and water," linked with its own organic farm

Developing the organic cultivation it began with local farmers, the group company "Tentaka Organic Farm" now handles the organic growing of sake rice. Centered on the ideas of "shindo-fuji" (body and soil are one) and "shudo-fuji" (sake and soil are one), it advances mechanisms for brewing that connect to the next generation while protecting the soil, water and local natural environment.

A challenging brewery seen in its mead and the "Kyubi" brand

It actively takes on new expression alongside tradition — Japanese mead made with domestic honey, sake yeast and rice koji; a honey-wine series whose quality has been highly rated at world competitions; and the concept-driven sake brand "Kyubi." With brewing unbound by preconceptions, it expands the possibilities of sake.