Chochin Shuzo

Everything at this brewery is handmade. No machines are used except a single pump to move the moromi into the yabuta. The shubo is ladled into fermentation tanks, rice is washed entirely by hand in 10 kg batches, and bottling is done by hand straight from the tank (Jikagumi). Each shikomi batch is kept very small.
Kuwayama-san's dedication is extraordinary: he produces 250 koku annually, though his facility could accommodate five times that. Throughout the brewing season, he survives on little more than three hours of sleep per day, eating sparingly and supplementing calories with chocolate. Even the newspaper wrapping is done by hand by Kuwayama-san's mother, wife (who also handles bottling), and daughter.