Founded in 1890 at the foot of the Zao Federation. The brewery uses melted snow water from the Zao Mountains as its brewing water and actively adopts rice produced in Yamagata Prefecture and yeast developed by the prefecture. The brewery has also taken a leadership role as a local sake brewery that engages in the unique brewing of Yamagata sake. Today, the brewery continues to brew sake at the Yamaya, the site of the company's founding and ships both domestically and internationally. The brewery has a reputation for brewing sake that draws aroma and flavor from rice, water, koji, and yeast and has a growing number of loyal drinkers throughout Japan.