Yamanashi Meijo's brewery is located at the foot of the Japanese Alps, north of Yamanashi Prefecture on the island of Honshu. It was founded in 1750 by the descendant of a long line of brewers who were originally settled in the Nagano area. Mr. Kitahara, then the seventh generation of the family, discovered water of exceptional quality in the heart of the Hakushu locality. He decided to move there to establish his own brewery. This pure water comes from the melting snows of Mount Kai Komagatake, whose summit is over 2900m high. It feeds the region's springs after being slowly filtered through the granite rock, thus taking up minerals that are essential for the production of sake.