Yes. The current brewery is actually our second location—the first one was, as the name suggests, in Gora. Our company originally started as a restaurant, and since many of our guests came for sightseeing, chef Nobu encouraged us, saying, “Why not start a brewery?” That was the spark that got us going. Thankfully, demand grew quickly, and since our brewing capacity couldn’t keep up, we expanded to build a second facility.

We were very happy to receive the invitation. The WPÜ staff had often visited our PUB STOP, and we had long been saying, “Someday, let’s do something together.” The timing was finally right—our new brewery was built, operations stabilized, and when the invitation came, we thought, “Now’s the time.” So we gladly agreed. We’re truly grateful for this opportunity.

Well, we’ve collaborated with other companies in OEM-style projects before, but WPÜ stands out for their passion and proactive attitude toward beer. As brewers, that made working together a lot of fun. We’re also genuinely excited to see how the final product turns out. If at any point you feel, “Actually, we’d like to change this!” (at the time of this interview, the beer wasn’t yet completed), please don’t hesitate to let us know (laughs).

Yes, we have brewed dry-hopped lagers before. But this is our first time using adjuncts such as lemongrass and black pepper, which makes it especially exciting. The most important part is how to bring out their aroma. If it’s too strong, it becomes hard to drink. If it’s too weak, you can’t even tell it’s there. Striking the perfect balance—that’s our job.

As you can see, much of the process is done by hand. There’s a lot of physical labor, and since we aren’t heavily mechanized, things take time. Thankfully, demand for our cans and bottles is high, so preventing stockouts has been a constant challenge.

We’re always open to collaborations whenever invited. This time it’s cans, but if there’s demand for smaller runs, we could also provide bottles. Brewing in such a special place as Hakone, we want to continue highlighting the region and do our part in bringing more vibrancy to the area.

Hakone is still a region where craft beer hasn’t fully spread yet, but WPÜ HAKONE is one of the few places enthusiastically embracing it. Our delivery company once mentioned, “In this area, we’re basically only delivering to GORA BREWERY and WPÜ.” (laughs) It may be a small start with a limited selection, but if we can work together to grow the craft beer culture in Hakone, that would make us very happy. We look forward to continuing this partnership!