Ukai x Tokyo Hachioji Shuzo Launch Local Sake Production Project in Hachioji

Tokyo Hachioji Shuzo (Hachioji, Tokyo; Representative: Kamaji Nishinaka), which handles everything from sake rice cultivation to brewing in Hachioji, is active under the theme of 'Yours'—providing a unique experience from rice planting to sake making. As part of this initiative, Ukai Co., Ltd. (Hachioji, Tokyo), which also originated in Hachioji and operates restaurants mainly in Tokyo and Kanagawa, has joined the project. The custom-brewed sake, made from rice grown by the staff themselves, is scheduled to be served as a celebratory drink at 'THE UKAI TOFUYA,' a new store scheduled to open in December. Through this activity, the project aims to address the shortage of successors in urban agriculture, support farming, and maintain landscapes and natural environments. As the first phase of the project, Ukai staff will conduct rice planting. Participants include staff from 'THE UKAI TOFUYA,' which the group plans to open at the Keio Plaza Hotel in Shinjuku in December 2026. The restaurant's concept is 'Making Tofu a Global Delicacy,' and it will be a Japanese restaurant showcasing the charm of Japanese food culture, centered on homemade tofu. With the desire to welcome customers with special sake made from rice planted and harvested by the staff in their founding location, they are challenging themselves to 'custom-made sake brewing' that completes the process from rice growing to sake making in Tokyo, conveying the charm of TOKYO from the international city of Shinjuku. Tokyo Hachioji Shuzo was born in the center of Hachioji, which is easily accessible from the city center, as the tenth sake brewery in Tokyo and the first of the Reiwa era. This new brewery is a compact yet well-equipped urban brewery. As a microbrewery capable of small-batch, year-round brewing, it realizes fresh, high-value-added sake production throughout the year. Furthermore, based on the idea that 'sake brewing is an extension of agriculture,' they are challenging themselves to new sake brewing that only they can do, such as co-creating sake rice with local people.