Francesco and Sebastian meet at a Zen monastery in the Japanese mountains, where they practise intensively for a long time. It was there that they came up with the idea of using the rice from Francesco's family business for a European sake. Their enthusiasm eventually leads them to the traditional sake brewery Terada Honke, where they work for a season. There they also meet Jun, who enriches the team with his passion and expertise for sake from then on.

Katharina joins the team during this initial period. She supported the first brewing attempts in 2020 and has been helping to shape the company's structure and strategy ever since.

During the pandemic, the project became concrete: with NION as a strong partner, Reigen secured funding and the location in Berlin's Wedding district.

Together, they create the foundation on which Reigen stands today: a sake that combines Japanese tradition with European identity - brewed in Germany's first sake brewery.