Maebashi craft gin KWELI begins US exports, starting in Hawaii
Futago Distillery in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, has begun exporting KWELI, a craft gin made with Maebashi-grown cucumbers, to the US, choosing Hawaii as its first market.
A small distillery run jointly by a Japanese and an American has begun sending its gin across the Pacific. In August 2026, Futago Distillery in Maebashi, Gunma Prefecture, announced that it was starting overseas exports of its craft gin KWELI. The first market is Hawaii, with plans to expand to California around autumn and then to New York. Gunma is an inland prefecture north-west of Tokyo, and Maebashi is its capital.
Why Hawaii was chosen as the first market
Futago Distillery was founded in April 2023. Its co-founders are Keisuke Futakuchi, who is based in Maebashi, and Jean-Luc Kayigire, who lives in Los Altos, California. The company’s stated mission is to “reconnect a divided world”. Hawaii is a place where Japanese and American people and cultures have long mingled, and one that also evokes the history of war through which the present relationship between the two countries was built. For these reasons, the company explains, it chose Hawaii as its first market. The first shipment left on 20 August and was small: one pallet, 64 cases, 384 bottles in total.
“Green” with Maebashi cucumbers and “White” with juniper alone
KWELI comes in two varieties. “White” is made without any other botanicals (plants used for flavouring) so as to bring out the taste of juniper berries, the star of a gin’s aroma. “Green” is made by steeping Maebashi-grown cucumbers and several botanicals before distillation, giving a refreshing taste with a soft, melon-like aroma. Domestic prices, including tax, are 2,200 yen for 200ml, 4,500 yen for 500ml and 6,600 yen for 750ml. In 2026 it also came to be used in bars of five-star hotels, such as VIRTÙ at the Four Seasons Hotel in Tokyo and Spotted Stone at 1 Hotel Tokyo.
A step-by-step export model for a small distillery
What deserves attention is how the markets are chosen and ordered. Rather than launching across the whole of the US at once, the company gives each of three regions a distinct role and moves through them in turn. Hawaii is the first market, symbolising the company’s founding philosophy; California is a market with a mature craft spirits culture, using Los Altos, where a co-founder lives, as the base; and New York is positioned as the hub for presenting the brand to the world. The company regards Maebashi and Los Altos as a “Twin City” pairing linked by its two founders. It is also considering inviting overseas bartenders and industry figures to Maebashi, hoping to return the connections made abroad to the local area.
No launch in Europe has been announced so far. Even so, the way a low-volume distillery opens markets one by one, using personal connections as a foothold, offers a useful reference for introducing Japanese craft spirits to the EU. Information on new markets can be found on the official Instagram account (@futago.distillery). If you come across a Japanese cucumber gin, try the Green first with tonic or soda to appreciate its green, melon-like aroma. The juniper-only White would show the distillery’s thinking well in a simple classic cocktail such as a Martini.
Sources
This article was written by The Sake Wire editorial team, summarising the public sources listed above. Images are our own.
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