It was around April 2019 when Tadatsugu Inoue of the Mii no Kotobuki sake brewery noticed the name of future U.S. presidential candidate Joe Biden appearing more regularly in the news, providing his business with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The coincidence of his brand being called Hojo Biden was not lost on Inoue, master brewer of the company based in Tachirai, Fukuoka Prefecture, leading him to think, "If this person can become president, our sake might really start selling."
Now, despite the economic downturn due to the coronavirus pandemic, demand for Hojo Biden — the part of the name shared with the U.S. president meaning pastoral beauty and rhyming with the English word Eden — has been brisk, to say the least.