Founded in 1819, Hatsumomiji is a tiny brewery facing the Seto Inland Sea. Being completely destroyed in an air raid in 1945 did not stop them from making sake, but a slump in sake sales back in 1985 did halt production. Once the current 12th-generation President Yasuhiro Harada came back to the family business and started winning national tasting competitions, he couldn’t stop there, reviving sake production as brewmaster in 2005. Brewmaster Mie Abe, who was appointed in April 2022, is one of four female brewery workers out of six producing only small-batch junmai sake.
