Our faith in sake making is “Great sake is made from great ingredients.” We carefully select the best variety and production place of rice for Tentaka’s sake brewing. To make higher quality sake, we have recently started working together with the farmers who also embrace Tentaka’s concept and engage in sake brewing where importance is placed on growing rice. Our dream is to brew sake made from rice grown by our hands by utilizing the strength of “a small brewery in a small town.” We seek to directly participate in the creation of an environment for rice paddies and make a kind of sake that only Tentaka can brew.
※In January 2018, we established our subsidiary company “Tentaka Organic Farm Co., Ltd.” which produces organic rice. You can learn about their daily activities at “Tentaka News / Tentaka Organic Farm”.
Tentaka is located in a nature-rich city, Ohtawara, Tochigi Prefecture. Through the year, the area is blessed with sunny weather, and the warm summer and the ideal coldness in the winter are suitable for sake brewing. As the city is on the delta between the Naka River and the Houki River, rice has been actively grown since a long time ago. The abundant subsoil water from Mount Nasu in the most northern part of the prefecture enables us to secure clean water which is necessary for sake production. Rice, water, and climate – all conditions are met and that is why the city is perfect for Nihonshu brewing.
Tentaka installs the newest equipment and promotes mechanization proactively. Our purpose is not workforce reduction – it is to ensure our women/senior workers can safely work and to maintain high reproductivity of sake quality. We distinguish what machines can do from what only humans’ five senses can do. We utilize various machines including IT technology so that we can focus more on things what only humans are capable of, such as drawing on years of experience. Tentaka’s philosophy of sake brewing remains unchanged, but our technology that produces “delicious, safe, and enjoyable sake” improves continuously.
※Such efforts have paid off, and Tentaka has been highly praised. In the 2017 Japan Sake Awards, “Organic Junmai Daiginjo Tentaka” won gold for the first time in Japan as an organic Nihonshu. In foreign competitions, we also had the double winning of a trophy of Futsushu and Great Value Sake at IWC（International Wine Challenge）and the Platinum award at Kura Master in 2018.
Click for larger image.
Organic Nihonshu, “Tentaka”, is made from only rice and rice koji. All rice used for the [Organic] sake is “organic rice” and grown based on Japanese Agricultural Standards (JAS). Not only do we take rice farming seriously to provide high quality tasty sake, but also we, as a brewery coexisting with the community, work with partner farmers to grow rice with the least influence on the natural environment. We hope to pass down rich and beautiful nature to the future generations.
Organic rice blessed with the sun and the motherland grows strongly – its soul will not be lost even after many brewing processes. We have a strict organic Nihonshu brewing process, carefully select machines, substances, and even materials for a broom. We pay close attention to every detail to produce our products. Take a sip of the organic sake “Tentaka” and feel the rice’s sweetness and flavor.
Organic rice is grown in the certified field which hasn’t used pesticides or chemical fertilizers for a minimum of two years before seeding and is grown by the certified farmers.
Tentaka Brewery has been developing products that go beyond Nihonshu category based on our Nihonshu brewing technique which has been built up during the 100-year history. Honey fermented with Nihonshu yeast, “Hachimitsu-no-osake（mead）”, and “Spicy “Moromi”（Spicy Malt Paste）” made with ginjo brewing technique are one such product. We sincerely think, “What can we do to satisfy customers?” and have continued making products that only we, a sake brewery, can do. We will keep challenging every possibility we can both in, and outside of, the Nihonshu world.
If you have any questions or concerns about our products and Import/Export business, please contact us below.
Tentaka Shuzo Co., Ltd.
2166 Hiruhata, Ohtawara City, Tochigi 324-0411, Japan
+81-287-98-2107