Happy New Year!
I look forward to your continued support this year. Please feel free to offer your strict guidance and rebukes, and if the mood strikes you, an occasional word of encouragement.
Looking back, last year was filled with numerous events.
- January: We announced the change of our company name from Asahi Shuzo Co., Ltd. to Dassai Inc.
- February: We held a fair on the first floor of Isetan Shinjuku, where we recorded extraordinary sales of over 160 million yen—surpassing even champagne and other spirits.
- Summer: We grappled with soaring rice prices. Amidst this, we notified our contracted farmers that we would increase the purchase price of Yamada Nishiki rice by 60% for the next fiscal year.
- October 26: The H3 rocket, carrying an ultra-miniature brewing plant destined for brewing inside the space station, was finally launched and reached the station.
Following that launch, in typical "Dassai style," we faced a series of unexpected troubles. At one point, I braced myself to release a statement saying, "We spent 220 million yen to 'invent' a method that simply doesn't work." However, the fermentation eventually finished successfully, and the equipment is currently being kept frozen within the space station.
Furthermore, as previously reported, construction on the "No. 3 Brewery" (Sango-kura) has begun in earnest. While we are still in the process of excavating the mountainside, our expectations are high for its completion in 2028.
On a personal note, the publication of my book Nana-korobi Ya-oki: Dassai (Fall Seven Times, Get Up Eight: Dassai) in November was deeply moving. (I just received word that it won the Gakudo of the Year Grand Prize in the regional category.) Additionally, in November, I "celebrated" becoming a "latter-stage elderly person" (75 years or older)!! That said, I am still chased by daily chores as usual, and this "old man" has no real sense of his age yet...
"Everyone, I am causing you trouble." "No, I am continuing to cause you trouble."
Looking back, even I am surprised that events that might happen once a decade at a "normal" brewery occurred—or rather, were made to occur—one after another.
This year, in January, the space-brewed Dassai is scheduled to return to Earth. Beyond that, I believe I will have more "outrageous" things to report, as usual. I cannot disclose the details yet, but please look forward to them.
I ask for your continued friendship and support throughout this year.
May 2026 be a year of brilliant progress for all of you.