The blog

In 1924, at the age of 23, Tozaburo Hasegawa founded Maruto Hasegawa Kosakujo in Sanjo, primarily producing clamps for carpenters. Then, impressed by the modernity of certain tools, he acquired Niigata's first spring hammer in 1932, abandoning manual forging which had been the norm until then, and mechanizing his production to be able to manufacture cutting-edge tools as well. Maruto Hasegawa Kosakujo also launched the KEIBA brand with its distinctive horse logo, which would become an active and pioneering element of the city of Sanjo. After World War II, KEIBA tools flooded the American market where DIY stores were proliferating,...

Niigata Prefecture has established itself as a land of sake, but it has also become the kingdom of another brewed beverage: craft beer, especially since 1994 when the liquor tax law lowered its requirements by more than a third regarding the minimum volume of beer to be brewed per year. A number of breweries and microbreweries were then established throughout the area, taking advantage of Niigata's pure water and focusing on local and regional characteristics, notably through the use of an evocative name or a memorable logo. For example, the phoenix that constitutes the logo of Tsumari Beer, the first...