Ine to Agave

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Ine to Agave (720 ml) Hanakaze 'Wind Flower' Akita Prefecture

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Founded by Shuhei Okazumi in 2021, Ine to Agave is a pioneering Craft Sake brewery in Oga, a small city on the northern peninsula of Akita Prefecture. The name brings together ine, the Japanese word for the rice plant, and agave, reflecting the brewery’s unconventional approach to fermentation and its willingness to look beyond the traditional boundaries of sake.

Okazumi’s path to brewing began while studying business at Kobe University, when an encounter with Aramasa sake inspired him to pursue a career in the industry. In 2014, he joined the acclaimed Akita brewery, where he gained experience that would shape his approach to sake. He later studied natural rice cultivation in Akita and served as the first head brewer at Konohanano Brewery in Tokyo before returning to Akita to establish Ine to Agave.

Ine to Agave specializes in Craft Sake, a developing category that uses traditional sake-brewing techniques while incorporating additional ingredients during fermentation. Because these beverages fall outside the legal definition of nihonshu in Japan, the category has opened new possibilities for a generation of brewers who otherwise face significant barriers to establishing new sake breweries. Ine to Agave has experimented with ingredients ranging from agave syrup to hops, always with rice fermentation at the center of the process.

The brewery works almost exclusively with naturally grown rice polished to just 90%, close to the level used for table rice. Rather than relying on extensive polishing, Okazumi treats this limitation as a creative constraint, developing brewing and koji-making techniques specifically suited to minimally polished rice. The result is an approach that combines a deep respect for sake brewing with a distinctly experimental spirit.

Ine to Agave is also inseparable from Oga itself. Located in the former JR Oga Station, the brewery is part of a larger effort to bring new energy to a city facing significant population decline. Through brewing, food, hospitality, events, and the renovation of vacant properties, Okazumi and his team are working to make Oga a destination while creating new opportunities within the community. For Ine to Agave, brewing is not simply about making something new. It is a way to build a future for the place where that brewing happens.