29-04-2025
Island distillery creates craft gin with zero CO2 emissions
From left: Hideaki Kito, Shunsuke Omoto, President Kunihiko Kadota and a new employee, Yu Nakamura, at the Goto Tsubaki Distillery in Goto, Nagasaki Prefecture (Yuta Kayaba)
GOTO, Nagasaki Prefecture—A gin distillery on the remote island of Fukuejima is doing its part to help the city of Goto achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050.
Goto Tsubaki Distillery in January switched from gas to locally generated renewable electricity to power its boilers used for distillation.
The company takes pride in using camellia seeds, a specialty of the isle in the Goto island chains, and other local ingredients to produce its Gotogin craft gin.
Now, it buys all of its electricity from wind farms, solar installations and other facilities on the island. It also uses an electric vehicle to deliver its products.
'The distillery has been reborn as one that runs solely on renewable energy generated from natural resources of a Goto island,' said President Kunihiko Kadota, 54. 'We want to continue producing gin that is in harmony with the island's nature.'
Gotogin sells well and is occasionally out of stock at stores.
The distillery produced 2,000 bottles a month after it was founded in December 2022. It has since increased monthly production to 5,000 bottles.
The company was established by Kadota, an ex-employee of Kirin Brewery Co., with former Kirin colleagues Shunsuke Omoto, 60, and Hideaki Kito, also 60.
The trio were in the development team for the Kirin Hyoketsu series of canned shochu-based 'chuhai' beverages.
Kadota is currently in charge of overall management, while Omoto serves as the marketing director and Kito oversees production.
Yu Nakamura, 31, joined the company in June 2024 after moving to Goto from Aomori Prefecture.
The distillery hosts a 30-minute tour from 11 a.m. and from 2 p.m. every Saturday (tastings are unavailable).
Some people visit the distillery to seek advice on post-retirement careers from Kadota, who retired early, the president said.
