The Secret Story of the Maker

Mr. Kubota told us about the origin of the name Hakutake, a long-selling product of the Takahashi Shuzo Brewery that's now well known throughout Japan. Prior to the appearance of Hakutake, the Takahashi Shuzo Brewery produced a shochu called 'Hitofusa no tsuyu'. Though made with the highest techniques of the toji (master brewer) at the time, the shochu was only consumed in the Hitoyoshi Kuma area.
 
Kubota says, "So we decided to change to making sake that customers wanted. For the new shochu we took the name 白髪岳（Shiragatake） from a local mountain. The ga though can imply selfishness, so we took off the 'ga' when naming it. 白can be pronounced as ‘shiro’ ‘shira’ or ‘haku’  at the end, Hakutake was then born out of our commitment to create the shochu customers wanted. Not just the name changed, we changed the taste of the sake to a milder flavor that is easy for more people to drink."