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Japanese Sake | Breweries, Regions & Culture

07SAKE — NIHONSHU

Sake (seishu) is a brewed drink made chiefly from rice, rice koji and water, fermented and then pressed. Koji turns the rice's starch into sugar while yeast turns that sugar into alcohol — both at once, in the same tank. This multiple parallel fermentation lies at the heart of sake brewing.

Which rice, polished how far; which water; which yeast. Each brewery's choices, and the skill of the toji and brewing team, give every sake its character.

  • BREWERIES
  • RICE
  • WATER
  • KOJI
  • YEAST
  • FERMENTATION
  • TOJI
  • REGION
  • VESSELS
  • HISTORY
A sugidama cedar ball with straw rope and paper streamers hanging against a white wall
Photo: Daderot / Public domain

SPECIAL DESIGNATIONS

The eight categories of the NTA's sake labeling standard. All require koji rice of at least 15%. Polishing ratio is the weight of polished rice relative to brown rice.

Source: National Tax Agency ↗
Special designation sake categories
DesignationIngredientsPolishing ratioNote
Junmai Daiginjo純米大吟醸酒Rice, rice koji≤ 50%Ginjo-style brewing
Daiginjo大吟醸酒Rice, rice koji, distilled alcohol≤ 50%Ginjo-style brewing
Junmai Ginjo純米吟醸酒Rice, rice koji≤ 60%Ginjo-style brewing
Ginjo吟醸酒Rice, rice koji, distilled alcohol≤ 60%Ginjo-style brewing
Tokubetsu Junmai特別純米酒Rice, rice koji≤ 60% or a special method
Junmai純米酒Rice, rice kojiNo requirement
Tokubetsu Honjozo特別本醸造酒Rice, rice koji, distilled alcohol≤ 60% or a special method
Honjozo本醸造酒Rice, rice koji, distilled alcohol≤ 70%
OTHER DESCRIPTORSSparklingNigoriKoshu (aged)NamazakeGenshu
Brewing tanks lined up in the dim interior of a traditional sake brewery
Enter the world of sake
A

Producers

  1. 01Dewazakura Sake Brewery出羽桜酒造EST. 1892
  2. 02DASSAI (DASSAI Inc.)獺祭（株式会社 獺祭）EST. 1948
  3. 03Gekkeikan月桂冠EST. 1637
  4. 04Hakutsuru Sake Brewing白鶴酒造EST. 1743
  5. 05Hakkai Brewery八海醸造EST. 1922
  6. 06Miyasaka Brewing (Masumi)宮坂醸造（真澄）EST. 1662
B

Drinks

ABV, polishing ratio, vintage, age and similar details appear only when confirmed by an official source.

  1. Dewazakura Oka GinjoGinjo
  2. Dassai Junmai Daiginjo Migaki Niwari SanbuJunmai Daiginjo
  3. Gekkeikan—
  4. Horin—
  5. Hakutsuru Maru—
  6. Hakkaisan—
  7. Masumi Yumedono—
  8. Masumi Sanka—
  9. Masumi Nanago—
G

Gallery

Product names, labels and logos shown are trademarks of their respective owners. Photographs are used under their creators' licences.
C

Stories

SOURCES

  1. 1杜氏と蔵人月桂冠株式会社 Gekkeikan · Official · accessed 2026-09-26
  2. 2「清酒の製法品質表示基準」の概要国税庁 National Tax Agency · Government · accessed 2026-09-26
  3. 3酒税法における酒類の分類及び定義（酒のしおり 2025）国税庁 National Tax Agency · Government · accessed 2026-09-26
  4. 4日本酒の製造工程日本酒造組合中央会 Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association · Industry body · accessed 2026-09-26

PHOTO CREDITS

All image credits →
  1. 1Sugidama — Daderot · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  2. 2Polished rice — Beatrice Murch · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  3. 3Rice koji — Forrest O. · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  4. 4Brewing tanks — 漱石の猫 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  5. 5Sake vessels — Culture Japon · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  6. 6Fushimi sake brewery — ignis · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  7. 7Rice terraces — ASAKAWA KOHJI · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  8. 8Sake bottles — koutalou · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  9. 9Sake cups (choko) — Culture Japon · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  10. 10Dassai junmai daiginjo — t-mizo · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  11. 11Dassai Junmai Daiginjo Migaki Niwari Sanbu — Breizhiz75 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  12. 12Dewazakura Sake Brewery — Suz-b · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  13. 13Matsumoto Sake Brewing, Fushimi — 663highland · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
  14. 14Gekkeikan brewery street in Fushimi — 663highland · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
  15. 15Gekkeikan komodaru barrel — Mariemon · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  16. 16Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum — 663highland · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons
  17. 17Wooden vats at Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum — ＋－ · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  18. 18Sakamizu spring water — ばばさま · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  19. 19Hakkaisan display booth — Rebirth10 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  20. 20Hakkai Brewery plant — Rebirth10 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  21. 21Hakkaisan komodaru barrels — 円周率３パーセント · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  22. 22Hakkaisan Yukimuro — Rebirth10 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  23. 23Hakutsuru Sake Brewing — 岩佐 栄三 · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
  24. 24Kikichoko tasting cup — Hideyuki KAMON from Takarazuka / 宝塚市, Hyogo / 兵庫県, Japan / 日本 · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  25. 25Exhibit at Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum — hslo · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  26. 26Koji-making — 杉山宣嗣 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  27. 27Sake barrel offerings at Meiji Shrine — Grendelkhan · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  28. 28Masumi komodaru barrels — At1973 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  29. 29Entrance of Cella Masumi — Ina-valley · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  30. 30Sugidama at Miyasaka Brewery — At1973 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  31. 31Cella Masumi tasting room — Ina-valley · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  32. 32Tokusen Masumi honjozo — At1973 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  33. 33Water jar at Cella Masumi — At1973 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  34. 34Wooden sake storehouse in Nada — Pastern · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  35. 35Saijo sake brewery on a snowy morning — 東広島市 · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  36. 36Sake brewing work in the morning — 東広島市 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  37. 37Sugidama (cedar ball) — Armandas Jarusauskas · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  38. 38Sake brewery in Takayama (Hirata Sake Brewery) — Bernard Gagnon · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  39. 39Tokkuri and guinomi — Kentin · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
  40. 40Yamada Nishiki sake rice — Simon-sake · CC BY 2.5 · Wikimedia Commons