富久千代酒造Fukuchiyo Shuzo

Nabeshima Daiginjo won Champion Sake at the International Wine Challenge in London in 2011. The judges are tasting blind: hundreds of bottles, most of them from regions with longer international reputations. This one comes from a port town in Saga Prefecture. It produces 400 koku a year, which puts it among the smallest commercial breweries in Japan. It had never been on the front page before.

Fukuchiyo Shuzo was founded in 1923 in Hizen-Hama, a fishing harbor where the Tara mountain range meets the Ariake Sea. Soft, clean water from the Tara system filters down through volcanic rock toward the tidal flat below, one of the largest in Japan. The original house name was Moriju; the family renamed it Fukuchiyo after the war, meaning roughly "may prosperity last a thousand generations."

For most of the twentieth century the brewery made ordinary sake for the local market. By 1987, when Naoki Iimori took over as third-generation owner, the picture was grim: consumption falling nationally, small regional breweries losing ground to large producers and supermarket brands. Iimori spent three years developing something new with four young sake retailers in Kashima. The name for the new sake went to public contest. Nabeshima won — taken from the feudal clan that had governed Saga for centuries. The clan's living descendants gave permission. Commercial release began in 1998.

Early sales were slow. Then came seven consecutive gold medals at the National New Sake Appraisal, from 2003 through 2009. Then London. The historic brewery buildings in Hizen-Hama were registered as cultural properties in 2004, and the area is now a sake tourism destination under the Kashima Sakagura Tourism program. Annual production stays at roughly 400 koku, unchanged from the beginning. Iimori has not chased scale.

Key Facts

• Founded 1923 in Hizen-Hama, Kashima City, Saga; renamed Fukuchiyo after WWII, meaning "may prosperity last a thousand generations."
• Brewing water: subsoil water from the Tara mountain system (多良岳山系伏流水), filtering down toward Ariake Bay.
• Brand Nabeshima (鍋島) launched 1998 after three years of development by third-generation owner Naoki Iimori with four local sake retailers.
• Name chosen by public contest; approved by descendants of the Nabeshima feudal clan that governed Saga for centuries.
• 2003–2009: seven consecutive gold medals at Japan's National New Sake Appraisal (全国新酒鑑評会).
• 2011 IWC (International Wine Challenge): Nabeshima Daiginjo won Champion Sake, the competition's highest honor.
• Annual production approximately 400 koku; historic brewery buildings registered as cultural properties in 2004.