Kyokuko (渡邉酒造)

a small sake brewery located in the Nasu region of northern Tochigi Prefecture. In 1892, Eisaku Watanabe, whose family had been sake brewers for generations in Niigata Prefecture, started a sake brewery in a rented storage building on a farm in Tochigi Prefecture. In 1912, the brewery was relocated to its current location in the Susagi area of Otawara City, and because the move brought the brewery farther east than its original location, the name of the brand was changed to Kyokuko, meaning “rising sun.”

 Though the company uses traditional methods such as Kimoto and Yamahaimoto brewing with its corporate motto "Local sake is sake loved by the local community," it is also working to produce innovative sake that match modern dietary lifestyles, such as "sweet kijoshu," "fizzy sake," and "red sake.