Sasanokawa Shuzo is a Japanese distillery founded in 1765 in Kōriyama, Fukushima Prefecture one of Japan's oldest distilling families, historically producing sake and shochu before developing whisky under the Yamazakura label. The Yamazakura range includes a blended whisky and the Asaka Single Malt the single malt distilled at the Asaka distillery within the Fukushima region, using Scottish-influenced pot-still production. Fukushima Prefecture's continental climate, with cold winters and warm summers, creates significant barrel temperature variation that drives active maturation.

Sasanokawa Shuzo/Yamazakura provides access to the regional Japanese whisky tier outside the internationally known Suntory (Yamazaki, Hakushu) and Nikka (Yoichi, Miyagikyo) houses from a distillery with genuine historical depth. The Asaka Single Malt is one of the few Japanese single malts with clear Fukushima regional provenance, and Sasanokawa's history as a 260-year-old family distillery adds narrative context beyond the modern craft wave. For programmes building a Japanese spirits section beyond the benchmark blends, Sasanokawa provides historical family-estate credibility from northern Honshu.