Rihaku is named for the famous Chinese poet Li Po (known in Japan as Rihaku) who lived from 701-762 and was famous for his love of sake and how he drew his inspiration from it. He was known to have said, "I drink a bottle and can write 100 poems." Founded in 1882, Rihaku proudly boasts the highest average rice milling rate of all Japanese sake breweries. The toji continues to use the same traditional methods as they did in the late 1800’s; except now they employ the help of selective technology which results in a better sake. Rihaku’s koji-making machine uses metal “fingers” to mix the koji every few hours, which allows for tighter control of temperature and moisture resulting in cleaner and more consistent koji. Rihaku is located in the Shimane Prefecture, the Toji is Mitsuo Yoshioka, and president is Yuichiro Tanaka.