13th-generation BrewmasterChobei Yamamoto
Born in 1981 in Gose, Nara Prefecture, after graduating from the Department of Life Science and Biotechnology at Kansai University, I worked at Hankyu Department Store. In 2008 I joined the family business, Yucho Shuzo Co., Ltd., becoming the company's 13th-generation head and president in 2014. In 2019, marking the brewery's 300th anniversary, I formally assumed the hereditary name Chobei.
My interests from an early age were centred around cars, including Mini 4WD models and radio-controlled vehicles. After attending a continuous-track school from junior high through university, I spent my student years deeply immersed in my interests: in junior high school (after a short-lived basketball career, I became absorbed in the works of Ryōtarō Shiba and Macintosh computers), in high school (yacht club), and at university (aviation club).
Well-versed in individual pursuits, I joined Yucho Shuzo less well-rehearsed in collaborative endeavours. After joining, however, I learned through hands-on work on the brewing floor not only the craft of sake brewing but also the importance of collaboration and gratitude.
Today, guided by the vision "Preserving Japan's beauty 100 years beyond – through the art of sake brewing", I oversee the Gose-machi-gura, where Kaze no Mori is brewed; the Kyōhō-gura, home to mizuhana; the Sanroku-gura, where S Kaze no Mori is crafted; and the Yamato Distillery.
Devoting each day to these three breweries and the distillery, I work to ensure that they move forward together with a shared focus on the future.
