Tokamachi, Niigata Pref. – Niigata Prefecture’s farmers produce the most rice out of any region in Japan. It’s also home to more sake breweries than anywhere else in the country. And yet, new breweries rarely open in this mecca of Japan’s national drink.

That is, until this past October, when Snow Satoyama Sake was admitted to the Niigata Sake Brewers Association as the prefecture’s 90th brewery — just one of three to open in the prefecture since 1953.

“Niigata once had well over 100 sake breweries,” says Tomomi Duquette, 46, owner of Snow Satoyama Sake. “Over time, that number gradually declined and fell below 90. So seeing it return to the 90s, with us being counted as the 90th brewery by the association, feels very meaningful to me.”

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