On the foundation laid by the flood control and land development policies in the domain of Mizoguchi

　Shibata, North Echigo, is rich with ideal climate, nature, fertile soil and pure underflow of clear water. Within this blessed environment, the finest sake is being produced.
　Shibata began to develop as a city approximately 400 years ago.Hidekatsu Mizoguchi who served two feudal lords, Nobunaga Oda, and later, Hideyoshi Toyotomi, became the first seigneur in the domain of Shibata in Keichyo 3 (1598), during the Azuchi-Momoyama Era. He was granted the land of Kanbara-Gun, Echigo (the present Shibata-city), vigorously undertaking the territory's flood control, land and industrial development, laying the foundation for the progress we see within the region today.
　 Before Mizoguchi's flood policies were put into place, The Kaji River was a congregation of smaller rivers branching within present Shibata City. The rivers flowed into the Fukushima-Lagoon and the Agano River, continuously flooding the area. To eliminate this problem, the seigneur set to work making changes to the river flow, channeling the rivers into the main stream, which is the Kaji River of today. Furthermore, the irrigation channels were improved to reduce the risk of flooding along the coast. Further developments, such as flood control, water utilization and new field, continued under the policies of Mizoguchi. Moreover, most of artificial flow channels and flood control channels are constructed. The success of these developments has created a multitude of Japan's leading landowners, many of whom have been involved in the production of "sake", "miso" and "soy sauce".

Nostalgic atmosphere of an ancient castle town

　 Echigo has been famous for its rice since the ancient times. However, it was not until the early years of Showa that the sake of the region started to attract nation-wide attention. The innovative prefectural brewing laboratory, established around this time, provided technical guidance to improve the quality of sake brewing throughout the industry. As a result, the sake brewed in the prefecture gained its famous unrivalled reputation within the industry to this day. Needless to say, there were other crucial elements to Niigata's success. The advantage of being the prime rice producing region in Japan, as well as being blessed with the ideal climate for sake brewing (especially its quality "soft" water) and the fact that the area is renown for producing the best sake brewery chiefs, all played a big part in its outcome.

Niigata's ideal climate for sake brewing