KANOSUKE DISTILLERY overlooks Japan’s longest sand beach, a beautiful, white strip that stretches as far as the eye can see. This is Fukiagehama, one of the country’s three largest sand dunes, which extends about 50 kilometres north to south through three municipalities: Ichikikushikino, Hioki, and Minamisatsuma. The East China Sea is calm in the summer, but the fierce winter winds whip up the sea waters occasionally, making for a unique climate within the warm Kagoshima Prefecture. The region is blessed with an abundance of crystal-clear groundwater, filtered and purified as it runs down the Shirasu Plateau.