Taikoku Shuzo

Taikoku Shuzo, founded in 1952 in Uruma City, Okinawa, is the only sake brewery in the prefecture, continuing the production of Japan's southernmost sake for over half a century.
Founder Yasuda Shigefumi, driven by a passionate desire to "brew delicious sake even in subtropical Okinawa," began sake production in 1967 and released Okinawa's first sake, "Reimei," in 1968. With technical assistance from Reimei Shuzo (now Kinokawa) in Nagasaki for four-season brewing equipment, he achieved in-house production in Okinawa's high-temperature, high-humidity environment, which is extremely difficult for sake brewing.
Its greatest feature is the adoption of the four-season brewing method (shiki-jozo). Brewing equipment maintains a constant environment throughout the year, successfully keeping the sake temperature in brewing barrels and storage tanks at 15°C. Using a unique method called high-temperature saccharification moto four-stage mashing (kouon-touka-moto yondan-jikomi), water, koji, and steamed rice are heated to about 55°C for saccharification, then cooled while yeast is added to cultivate the yeast starter (shubo).
The production cycle is about 3-4 months, basically twice a year (February and October), with additional brewing in summer if necessary. To provide sake in the freshest possible state, bottling is done in units of about two weeks from cooled storage tanks.
Despite being in an environment unsuitable for sake brewing, Taikoku Shuzo continues to brew local sake loved by Okinawans through unique technology and passion. It is an important presence in Japanese sake culture, realizing that sake exists in all 47 prefectures nationwide. While protecting traditional handmade techniques, it is a pioneering brewery in the sake industry that succeeded in the unprecedented challenge of sake production in the subtropics.