Fukushima Prefecture won the most grand prizes at the Annual Japan Sake Awards for the third straight year, lifting the spirits of brewers still struggling with the effects of the nuclear accident there.
Fukushima Prefecture won the most grand prizes at the Annual Japan Sake Awards for the third straight year, lifting the spirits of brewers still struggling with the effects of the nuclear accident there.
Twenty-four of the 222 brands awarded grand prizes came from breweries in the disaster-hit prefecture in the northeastern Tohoku region, organizers of the 2015 competition announced on May 20. In second place were Yamagata and Niigata prefectures, with 15 grand prizes each.
“Producers in Fukushima are determined to overcome the adversity of the nuclear accident, thinking, ‘We shall make a good product,’” said Kenji Hiroki, 48, who runs the Hiroki Shuzo Honten in Aizu-Bange, Fukushima Prefecture. “I’m happy because I believe this means that the quality of Fukushima products was praised highly.”
His “Hiroki” brand won a grand prize.
The annual competition is organized by the National Research Institute of Brewing (NRIB) and the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association. Sake breweries from across the nation submit their new brews of undiluted “ginjo-shu” (sake made with highly polished rice) produced in July of the previous year and onward.
Twenty-four people, including National Tax Agency directors in charge of brewing technology, judged the quality of each brand. The winners are not ranked.
For the full list of grand prize winners, visit the NRIB website (