WELCOME TO TAKASAN

Surprisingly, Suigei is the only sake brewery in Kochi City. It's original incarnation began in 1872, under a different name, but in 1969, the company was renamed Suigei. Literally, Suigei means drunk whale, and it is an abbreviation of an alias of Yamauchi Yodo, a Japanese feudal lord of the area. A big drinker, he called himself Geikai suiko (a drunkard lord in a sea full of whales). Their main concentration are shokuchushu, or sakes to be had with meals/food (table sake), and many of their sakes are dry and high in umami and acidity.

Kochi Prefecture is in the Shikoku Islands, on the southern end of Japan. Kochi is possibly most famous as the birthplace of Sakamoto Ryoma, a political activist from the mid 1800's who was a key factor in realizing the Meiji Restoration. Ryoma's vision was to modernize a country that had isolated itself from the world, and he was seen as a daring man that moved outside of conventional boundaries. His character and story is irresistibly charismatic, making him arguably the most popular, most romanticized, most loved figure in Japanese history. In fact, there is a general stereotype outsiders have of Kochi people being dynamic and larger-than-life, most likely due to the association of Sakamoto with Kochi. On a side note, people have a general impression that Kochi people drink lots of sake—according to the 2017 statistics, they do, but they're just a little more than the average, at 17th place out of 47 Prefectures, with an average of 6.35 liters per person. Niigata Prefecture has the honor of top prize, at 13.32 liters per person, in case you were wondering. You're welcome.