Master brewer honoured as a 'Contemporary Master Craftsman' brings Takashimizu back to gold

At the National New Sake Appraisal held in spring 2026, Takashimizu, entered by the Goshono brewery of Akita Shurui Seizo, won a gold medal. The National New Sake Appraisal is one of the most closely watched competitions in the sake world, judging the quality of the year’s newly brewed sake on a nationwide scale. The brewery is in Akita Prefecture, a rice-growing region on the Sea of Japan coast of northern Honshu, and nine brands from the prefecture won gold this time.

A record of 20 consecutive golds, and the year it ended

Two years ago, Takashimizu set a record of 20 consecutive golds at the National New Sake Appraisal. According to the sake media outlet SAKE Street, the longest streak of consecutive golds still running as of the 2020 brewing year was Takashimizu’s 17. Last year, however, it missed out on gold. This year’s award marks its return after that one year away.

Akita Shurui Seizo was founded in 1944. From the 1970s onwards it expanded its sales to the Tokyo metropolitan area and beyond, becoming known nationwide through neon signs and television commercials. It has two production sites in Akita city, of which the Goshono brewery, built in 1998, is the relatively newer one.

A ‘Contemporary Master Craftsman’ and ten brewery workers

Leading the sake-making at Goshono is the toji (master brewer, the person in charge of brewing at a brewery) Hitoshi Kato, aged 70. Mr Kato has been named a ‘Contemporary Master Craftsman’ (Gendai no Meiko), an honour awarded by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare to outstanding skilled workers. Selection of a toji is a narrow gate, with perhaps one or none chosen in a given year. Mr Kato and ten kurabito (the craftspeople who work in the brewery) rebuilt the brewing with a small, elite team. The Asahi Shimbun reports that behind this return to gold lay the resolve of a master brewer who had reached the age of 70.

The sake entered in the appraisal is a special bottling into which the brewery pours its skills to the fullest. A toji from another brewery interviewed by SAKE Street also said that the techniques honed in making competition sake carry over to the sake sold on the market.

How to enjoy it in Europe

Most sake entered in the appraisal is of the daiginjo type. Daiginjo is sake brewed from rice polished down heavily, with an elegant aroma. The seimai-buai (rice polishing ratio) is a figure showing how much of the brown rice remains; the smaller the number, the more the rice has been polished. Daiginjo and ginjo sake are best served chilled to around 10–12°C in a wine glass that lets the aroma open up. They pair well with white fish and light starters. A gold medal is an assessment not of one particular bottle but of the brewery’s skill. If a retailer’s description or the label says ‘National New Sake Appraisal Gold’, it offers a clue to the maker’s ability. That skill can be expected to show in the same brewery’s everyday sake as well.