Kentarou Aihara is the third-generation manager of the Aihara Liquor Store and took office at the age of 25 in the spring of 2005.
After retiring from the Ground Self-Defense Force, he actually first start to work as a mechanic in a car dealer before suddenly becoming store manager of a liquor store.
This can be seen as a jump into the local world of sake having a 2nd grade garage mechanic license, a large sized vehicle driving license, and some tools on the side.
Supermarkets and convenient stores reached their paroxysm of popularity at that time, which made the small retail liquor store he inherited to struggle. Kentarou’s parents actually first opposed him taking charge of the store, to an extent that his salary was established to \30,000 per month. After his wedding, a salary raise allowed his spending money to become \30,000 per month.

Local sake has a little firm image, but Aihara Liquor store welcomes every customer who wants to drink Japanese sake, even for first-timers. Kentarou Aihara himself was an average sake fan in the beginning and knew only little about alcohol before becoming the store manager. But as he says, it is important for the customers to enjoy selecting and buying the sake they will drink. He is also providing advices such as to put unpasteurized or premium sake in the fridge, and making recommendations on drinking temperatures, as sake can be enjoyed cooled, on the rocks, or lukewarm. Following the manager’s recommendations is just another way to deepen one’s fascination about the local sake.

Shiogama in the feudal period served not only as the gate-town of the Shiogama Shrine, for which the Sendai feudal lord, the Date Clan, showed a profound reverence, but also a gateway to Sendai Port. In addition to these regional advantages, the town developed significantly, thanks to other benefits including exemption from various taxes. The area is said to have boomed, with numerous inns and entertainment facilities standing side by side near the gate for the many travelers visiting the shrine. Amid such a historical background, in 1716 (the first year of the Kyoho era), it was said that our founder was granted a Sake brewing stock (an equivalent of a brewing license in modern times) by the command of the Date Clan (circa the era of the 4th Lord, Tsunamura Date and the 5th Lord, Yoshimura Date) and initiated sake brewing as the supplier of sacred sake to the Shiogama Shrine. Even now, we pray for the safety of our sake brewery and produce sacred sake for the Shiogama Shrine and the Shiwahiko Shrine. As the sake brewing season comes to an end, safe and sound, we provide the new sake as a votive offering to the shrines. Since a part of the land of our brewery was used for the local road expansion project in 1994, we constructed a new factory which is still in use. Our brewery has small-scale brewing preparation facilities and is not suitable for mass production. Therefore, we strive to produce our sake with a high-quality small-production approach in mind. Even with the changes of the brewery landscape and facilities over time, we share our brewing credo that has been passed down over the generations, throughout our history.