Despite its grand vision, Asahi Shuzo maintains its roots at its headquarters in a remote corner of Yamaguchi Prefecture, in western Japan. 

Inside the main brewing facility in Iwakuni, the company favors an approach of innovation over tradition. There is no veteran "toji," or master brewer. Instead, a young crew of brewers is largely focused on making junmai daiginjo sake. In the brewery’s analysis room, staff in lab coats carry out tests and analyze data.  

"I think it is important not to make sake the same way it was a hundred years ago," Asahi Shuzo President and CEO Kazuhiro Sakurai said. "For us, making good sake means going beyond tradition. It means innovating and taking on new challenges." 

Even with all the data and innovation though, there are elements of sake-brewing at Asahi Shuzo that still demand the human touch. 

Inside the koji muro, the work of separating rice grains is hot, sweaty and hands-on. In the fermentation room, staff plunge poles deep into tanks to stir the sake mash within, and in doing so release fruity aromas. 

At the end of the brewing process, it all comes down to taste. The president and others gather to sample the pressed sake. Objectivity is key in judging whether or not it can be shipped.   

The brewing facility that Imada's family established in 1868 is a short walk from the sea. Behind the storehouse, mountains rise sharply. The brewery's landmark red-brick chimney remains from when coal was used in rice-steaming. "When people were looking for liquor stores in town, they would look for this kind of chimney and know there was a sake brewery here," Imada said.

They might not have come looking were it not for the efforts of Akitsu born brewer, Senzaburo Miura.

In the late 19^th century, Miura developed a low-temperature brewing method capable of producing good sake from the area’s unusually soft water.

Imada often directs visitors to Sakakiyama Hachiman Shrine, where a bronze statue of Miura stands among stone sake barrels and other tributes from brewers to the shrine. 

Imada said she likes to highlight the environment and the efforts of the brewers that brought the production of sake to its recent UNESCO heritage listing.

“I think it’s important for people to know why we use certain tools, how we see things, and how we feel, so they can become aware of what is good about Japanese people and about Japan,” she said. 

The dakidaru is just one of the traditional wooden sake-brewing tools and pieces of equipment which Shirakashi said are needed to ensure the taste of Kenbishi's sake remains unchanged.

Kenbishi began making its own traditional wooden equipment in 2009, after dwindling demand made it hard to come by. Doing so comes at greater financial cost. But given its status as Japan's oldest sake brand, Shirakashi said, he feels a greater responsibility to protect it and maintain the taste of Kenbishi sake. 

“If we give up on the taste, the brewing methods, and the tools and equipment, Japan will lose all of these things,” he said.