Sake brewery marks first shipment since tsunami
News On Japan via NHKReloaded -- Oct 02
A Japanese sake brewery hit by last year's tsunami has celebrated the first shipment from its new factory.
Suisen Shuzo in Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture, marked the occasion on Monday. The company hung a ball of cedar leaves under the eaves, a traditional sign that a new brew is on offer.
The brewery lost 7 employees in the tsunami. The company building was also swept away.
The brewery continued production in a borrowed facility. They moved into a new factory built in adjacent Ofunato City in August.
President Yasuhiko Konno told employees that the company has entered a new phase of its history. He said they will never forget the 7 victims.
Everyone applauded when a truck carrying bottles of their newly brewed sake left the factory.
The company says it aims to raise output at the new factory to 70 percent of the pre-disaster level.
Source: NHKReloaded
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