Imada

This brewery was founded in the first year of the Meiji Restoration, 1868, in Akitsu in Hiroshima Prefecture. Akitsu has the oldest sake-brewing history in Hiroshima, stretching back 400 years. Akitsu, which faces the Inland Sea and has a population of about 13,000 people, once had 17 sake breweries, but now there are only three. Hiroshima, however, is still one of the most significant sake-brewing regions in Japan, and is consistently among the top six prefectures nationwide in terms of annual sake production. Historically, the prefecture has always won many awards for its sake, and on occasion has even swept the top three awards in the country. The sake brewed here at Imada Shuzo, called Fukucho, is very representative of this great Hiroshima style.

Miho Imada, Fukucho owner and toji (master brewer), is one of the few female tojis in Japan. This sake is made with the famous soft water of Hiroshima prefecture which gives it deep, persistent flavor.