The Sake Wire
Japan's sake, shochu, whisky, wine and beer — reported daily for Europe.
Asakura Distillery wins rum's top honour at ISC 2026
Asakura Distillery in Fukuoka Prefecture has been named "Rum Producer of the Year", the highest honour in the rum category, at the international competition ISC 2026.
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RSS →- 26 Oct2026
A Premium Sparkling Sake, 'Shinsei', Pours on a Busan Film Festival Night
Sake brand SAKE HUNDRED served its sparkling sake 'Shinsei' at a networking event held during the Busan International Film Festival.
- 23 Oct2026
GI Harima Heads to France, Land of Wine, Bearing the King of Sake Rice
In 2021, the Harima sake brand GI Harima took its first step into overseas PR, in pandemic-era France.
- 21 Oct2026
Fukuchiyama, Kyoto brewery wins gold and silver at international beer competition
Two beers from Primary Barrels, a brewery in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto Prefecture, won gold and silver at International Beer Cup 2026, which drew 1,459 entries.
- 20 Oct2026
Masumi president Miyasaka explains why exports mean 'learning from the world'
Takataka Miyasaka, president of Miyasaka Brewing, the 364-year-old maker of Masumi, says exports are valuable not only for sales but for what the brewery learns from overseas.
- 19 Oct2026
Mead, the "world's oldest alcoholic drink", sees breweries multiply in Kansai
Breweries making mead, the "world's oldest alcoholic drink" fermented from honey, are opening one after another in Japan's Kansai region, including Kyoto and Shiga.
- 19 Oct2026
Two lagers brewed with Akitakomachi brown rice launch in Japan
Suzuki Matagoro Shoten, a rice wholesaler in Akita Prefecture, has launched two craft beers, Genmai Lager and Genmai Kuro Lager, made with its own home-grown Akitakomachi brown rice.
- 15 Oct2026
Ballpark brewery wins gold again at IBC2026
A session IPA from a brewery inside a Hokkaido baseball stadium, Sora to Shiba by Yo-Ho Brewing, has won its second gold medal at International Beer Cup 2026, following 2023.
- 15 Oct2026
Gifu sake meets overseas buyers at a trade meeting in Takayama
In Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, a trade meeting was held to introduce sake brewed in the prefecture to overseas buyers keen to source Japanese sake.
- 15 Oct2026
Nara Brewing wins double gold at the World Beer Cup
Nara Brewing, a craft brewery in Nara, won gold medals in two categories at once at World Beer Cup 2026, one of the world's largest beer competitions.
- 14 Oct2026
The Sweet Potato Shochu Recommended in Ho Chi Minh City: "Daiyame"
A Vietnamese noodle-shop owner recommended shochu to a Japanese reporter, a sign of sweet potato shochu taking hold locally as Japanese food exports grow.
- 12 Oct2026
A plum researcher's self-taught path to whisky in Kochi
A researcher who spent years developing plum products taught themselves whisky-making in a single year and now has their sights on the world with whisky from Kochi Prefecture.
- 12 Oct2026
Sake brewed from high schoolers' rice, "Enmusubi", wins Jury Award in Vienna
"Enmusubi", a sake brewed from rice grown by students at an agricultural high school in Niigata, has won the Jury Award, chosen by 10 sommeliers, at the first sake competition held in Vienna.
- 10 Oct2026
Red-fleshed apple rosé cider wins gold at a British competition
SAYA2025, a 100% red-fleshed apple rosé cider from Nagano conceived by Paris-based pâtissier Sadaharu Aoki, has won gold at a UK international competition.
- 09 Oct2026
Local rice, global reach: Emishiki Shuzo exports 30% of its output to 23 countries
Emishiki Shuzo in Koka, Shiga Prefecture, brews sake from locally grown sake rice and exports around 30% of its output to 23 countries.
- 09 Oct2026
Whisky experiment in space: University of Glasgow and Kyushu Institute of Technology
The University of Glasgow and Kyushu Institute of Technology will send whisky and cask wood into space on a tiny satellite in 2028 to study distillation and maturation.
- 09 Oct2026
Niigata's Midorikawa Shuzo releases its first kijoshu, "Kagutsuchi"
Midorikawa Shuzo in Uonuma, Niigata, has released its first sweet kijoshu, a sake brewed with sake in place of water, on the Japanese domestic market.
- 09 Oct2026
Soy milk fermented with sake yeast: Umenoyado's new liqueur
Umenoyado Shuzo of Nara has released SOYVIGNON, billed as the world's first liqueur made by fermenting soy milk with sake yeast, on 19 October.
- 09 Oct2026
The Accountant-Turned 14th-Generation Head Charting Tamanohikari's Global Strategy
At Tamanohikari Shuzo in Fushimi, Kyoto, a 14th-generation head who trained as a certified public accountant is taking sake to the world as Japan's spiritual culture.
- 08 Oct2026
Brewed first, dealcoholised after: non-alcoholic sake "Hayashi" arrives
Kojima Sohonten, a long-established Yamagata brewery, launched Hayashi in Japan on 15 October, a non-alcoholic sake made by removing alcohol from a brewed junmai sake.
- 08 Oct2026
Hokkaido's Kaminokuni Winery Exports to Kazakhstan for the First Time
Hokkaido's Kaminokuni Winery has begun selling a special edition of its wine with Kazakh labels at a Japanese-goods supermarket in Astana, its first move overseas.
- 08 Oct2026
Kochi sake heads to a trade fair in southern India
Japanese breweries lined up at a drinks trade fair in Bengaluru, India, where Kochi Prefecture pitched local sake paired with seafood to the Indian food and drink industry.
- 07 Oct2026
Fukushima's haccoba swaps koji with a Thai sato brewery
Fukushima craft sake brewery haccoba has joined forces with Devanom, a Thai maker of sato, a rice-based fermented drink, to co-brew using each other's koji, and will present the results in Thailand in
- 07 Oct2026
Ichinokura names new president for first time in 12 years as Shuhei Asami is promoted
At Ichinokura, a sake brewery in Miyagi Prefecture, vice-president Shuhei Asami is being promoted to president, changing its top management for the first time in 12 years.
- 07 Oct2026
Akita dog label on a winter nigori sake: Itteki Senryo 'Shun' series
Akita Hakko Kogyo of Yuzawa has released 'Shun Series 2026 Itteki Senryo Nigori Sake' (sake meter value -15) in Japan from 21 October, in limited quantities.
- 07 Oct2026
Cartel Suspicions Hang Over Japan's Four Big Brewers as Fair Trade Commission Launches Raids
Japan's Fair Trade Commission has raided Asahi, Kirin, Suntory and Sapporo over suspected shipment-price coordination spanning several years, and is weighing a criminal complaint.
- 07 Oct2026
Sado's new sake Rokushiki: 29-year-old brewery head turns the master brewer's instinct into data
Obata Shuzo on Sado Island has launched Rokushiki, brewed under Koki Wada, 29, a former IT worker who captured the master brewer's instincts in numbers.
- 06 Oct2026
Daishichi Sake Brewery releases limited kimoto junmai made with rice from revived terraces
Fukushima's Daishichi has released a limited kimoto special junmai made with rice from the revived Nishitani terraces, now in its second year.
- 06 Oct2026
Hokkaido farming co-operative launches limited-edition tomato craft gin
Hokkaido's JA Naganuma has released a limited edition of its tomato craft gin "vegin tomato", made with local tomatoes, in a joint project with a pro ice hockey team.
- 06 Oct2026
Island maturation and Mizunara casks: Nagahama Distillery's new blend
Nagahama Distillery in Shiga Prefecture released a limited blend on 20 October using whisky matured on Chikubu Island in Lake Biwa and whisky from Mizunara casks.
What is MADE IN AKITA?
The Sake Wire is published by MADE IN AKITA, a small importer in Amsterdam that brings sake, wine, beer and gin from independent producers in Akita, northern Japan, to the whole EU — including 180 ml tasting bottles so you can try before you commit.
The producers
Our producers in Akita →Eleven makers in Akita, northern Japan, behind the bottles we ship from Amsterdam.
Sake · DaisenOkuda Shuzoten
Sake · YokoteAzakura Shuzo
Sake · Akita City (Tsuchizaki)Naba Shoten
Sake · Gin · KatagamiKodama Jozo
Sake · YokoteDainagawa
Sake · Yurihonjo (Yashima)Sato Shuzoten
Sake · KazunoChitosezakari
Wine · Katagami (Tenno)Mutsumi Winery
Wine · Kazuno (Hanawa)Winery Konohana
Wine · Yurihonjo (Yashima)TOYOSHIMA FARM
Craft Beer · OgaOgresse Quete