Hanahato

Enoki Shuzo Brewery, which was established in 1899, is located in Ondo-cho, Kure City. In 1974 the brewery succeeded in brewing kijoshu for the first time in Japan. At the International Wine Challenge (IWC) 2014, the Hanahato Kijoshu Hachinen Chozo won both the Gold Medal and the prestigious Trophy Award, as the top-quality product in the koshu (aged sake) division of the sake category.

It was the Hanahato brand’s sixth winning of the gold medal at the IWC, following from 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 (five consecutive years from 2010). As clearly proven by the repeated award-winning success, the Enoki Shuzo Brewery has earned international recognition for its high quality sake brewing skills.

Kijoshu was devised by the national alcoholic beverage technology research organization of the National Tax Agency (currently the National Research Institute of Brewing), based on the old-time sake recipe.

It is an extremely rare kind of sake, currently made at less than 30 breweries throughout the country. Kijoshu has the distinction of being brewed by using sake, instead of water, in the final step, which is called tomezoe, of a three-step fermentation process.