Awakihara Craft Brewery

Koji Kono of Awakihara Craft Brewery in Takanabe Town originally ran a gasoline station, you know.

He returned to Takanabe from Fukuoka and took over the family business, Juseki Oil. But Takanabe's population had fallen below 20,000 and depopulation was progressing, so he felt a sense of crisis that the town would only keep declining unless it had a new attraction. After touring municipalities across Japan, he decided to revitalize the town with craft beer.

In 2018, he learned brewing techniques from scratch at Iwami Beer in Shimane Prefecture, and the following year he obtained a brewing license. He launched a brewery and the beer restaurant OMG! TAPROOM inside the mixed-use complex Blue Moon. But it seems the beginning was tough: in Miyazaki, a shochu stronghold, serving craft beer from another company didn't go over well at all.

What I find interesting is the strategy he came up with: "let's remove the craft beer feel and lower the psychological barrier." The concept is "Farm to Table," and they use local agricultural products extensively in their beers. "Summer Breeze" uses Hyuganatsu citrus grown without pesticides on abandoned farmland; "Knee Deep" is a pale ale made with ginger from a young farmer in the neighboring town; "Route58" includes bitter melon; and "Cinnamon Girl" uses Annou sweet potatoes.

Kono's philosophy is distinctive: he's committed to bringing out the "essence" of each ingredient. If it's a lychee beer, it won't be shipped unless it tastes like a lychee-flavored soft drink. Herbs and spices are lined up all over the factory, and people say it looks like a curry shop.

They brew 18 varieties at all times and have developed more than 30 so far. More local farmers are bringing in products and saying, "Make beer with our crops." They also sponsor J3's Tegevajaro Miyazaki, and they are expanding exports into Asia.