司牡丹酒造
Tsukasa Botan Sake Brewery

銘柄酒：司牡丹
創　業：慶長８年（1603）
杜　氏：浅野　徹
住所：高知県高岡郡佐川町甲１２９９番地
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Brand：Tsukasa Botan
Initiation：1603
Master Brewer：Tetsu Asano
Address：KochiTakaoka-gun1299 Kou Sagawa-cho

■ The origin and history of Tsukasa Botan
About 26km east from Kouchi city, there lies Saga-cho, a town known for its beautiful nature, and also as the brewing place of Tsukasa Botan.
The story of Tsukasa Botan starts from roughly 400 years ago, back in 1603 when the Battle of Sekigahara just ended. Back in the Edo era, it was common for samurais to receive their salary in the form of rice. Ieyasu Tokugawa, one of the leading samurais at the Battle of Sekigahara received many, and handed over about 40.000 tons of rice to Katsutoyo Yamauchi. Following Katsutoyo's entry to the Tosa region, the head of the Yamauchi family, Shigeo Mamoru Izumi Fukao, received about 1500 tons of Sagawa rice. In the party that followed Fukao, there was a merchant that was known for its sake brewing business, called "Osake-ya". This merchant was one of the few that was allowed to merchandise their products within the Fukao family, giving them some prestige. This sake brewery was the first generation of the Tsukasa Botan sake brewery.

Since then, the traditional sake brewing skills from the old days have been taught throughout generations, and by 1918, all the sake brewers in the Sagawa area came together, building a modern corporation handling Japanese sake. The sake made in this brewery was then beloved by Mitsuaki Tanaka, a count that also played the role of being one of the senates in the Meiji government. He was the person that once quoted "The nation's best brew. From now on, to be known as the king of sakes", and named the sake "Tsukasa Botan". The meaning behind the name is "Botan (peony) is the king of all flowers, and there lies a master within the Botan".

(An exert from Tsukasa Botan Sake Brewery Official Website)