April, 2025
Sapporo Regional Taxation Bureau

• 1 Overview
• 2 List of Gold Prize Winners
• 3 Quality of Sake Entries
• Reference
  • 1. Purpose
  • 2. Dates and Venues
  • 3. Entry Categories
  • 4. Quality Examinations
  • 5. Presentation of Award Certificates
  • 6. Tasting Event for Sake Manufacturers
• Attachment 1
• Attachment 2
• Attachment 3

1. Overview

*Please refer to the Notice of Hokkaido Sake Awards 2024 (Excerpt) for details of the event.

• *1 Entry status of the previous brewing year is shown in parentheses.
• *2 Up to four entries per brewery allowed for Dosanmai ginjo-shu, Ginjo-shu, Junmai-shu categories. Up to two entries per brewery allowed for Keiseimai gokumi-shu category.

2. List of Gold Prize Winners

The following manufacturers won Gold Prizes (Tax Office order).

* JCN:Japan Corporate Number

3. Quality of Sake Entries

In this brewing year (July 2024-June 2025), rice grew well in Hokkaido, allowing sake breweries to utilize high quality sake-brewing rice due to much effort of rice farmers. Because rice was a little harder than normal year and then the nutrients of rice were harder to dissolve into sake fermentation mash, sake made in this year tend to have clearer flavor. On the other hand, though the first half of this brewing year was generally comfortable, climate of this brewing year was challenging for sake breweries, for there were heavy snowfalls in February and unusually warm days as well. Although sake breweries confronted such a difficult climate conditions, entries to Hokkaido Sake Awards this year were with excellent quality. Great sake-making techniques of each brewery, such as appropriate rice processing, koji-making and fermentation control depending on the character of rice and brewing yeast, were fully expressed in sake.

(1) Dosanmai ginjo-shu
Most entries were Ginjo-shu and Junmai-ginjo-shu made from sake-brewing rice varieties developed in Hokkaido such as Gimpu, Suisei, and Kitashizuku. Some entries were made from Yamadanishiki cultivated in Hokkaido.

(2) Ginjo-shu
Most entries were Ginjo-shu and Junmai-ginjo-shu made from rice cultivated in Hyogo prefecture, which is major production region of sake-brewing rice.

(3) Junmai-shu
Most entries were Junmai-shu made from Gimpu,Suisei, or Kitashizuku cultivated in Hokkaido.

(4) Keiseimai gokumi-shu
This is a new category started 5 years ago. This is the second time awarding Gold Prize for winners of this category. The characteristics of the entries for this category were “rich, full-bodied taste” derived from gently polished rice.
Most entries were made from rice cultivated in Hokkaido, and fully expressed the characteristics and techniques of each sake-brewery.

Notice of Hokkaido Sake Awards 2024 (Excerpt)

1. Purpose

The purpose of Hokkaido Sake Awards is to promote progress and improvement of sake-making techniques of sake breweries and consequently contribute to the development of the alcoholic beverage industry through evaluating the quality of sake produced during the brewing year 2024, commending sake-breweries with outstanding sake-making techniques, and holding a tasting event for sake manufacturers.

2. Dates and Venues

(1) Quality Examinations
Date: March 13, 2025 (Thu.) ~ March 14, 2025 (Fri.)
Venue: Office of Analysis and Brewing Technology, Sapporo 2nd Common Government Office Building

(2) Award Ceremony and Tasting Event for Sake Manufacturers
Date: April 8, 2025 (Tue.)
Venue: Auditorium, Sapporo 2nd Common Government Office Building

3. Entry Categories

There are four entry categories: Dosanmai ginjo-shu, Ginjo-shu, Junmai-shu and Keiseimai gokumi-shu.
 Sake applied to the categories Dosanmai ginjo-shu, Ginjo-shu, and Junmai-shu must be undiluted sake brewed at the manufacturer’s own licensed production sites during the brewing year 2024.
 Sake applied to the Keiseimai gokumi-shu category must be sake brewed at the manufacturer’s own licensed production sites during the brewing years 2021-2024.
Other entry standards are as follows:

(1) Dosanmai ginjo-shu
Entries are limited to sake that can be labelled as daiginjo-shu or junmai-daiginjo-shu under “Labelling Standards for the Manufacturing Process and Quality of Sake”, manufactured from 100% Hokkaido rice.

(2) Ginjo-shu
Entries are limited to sake that can be labelled as daiginjo-shu or junmai-daiginjo-shu under “Labelling Standards for the Manufacturing Process and Quality of Sake” (excluding items meeting the description of (1) above).

(3) Junmai-shu
Entries are limited to sake that can be labelled as junmai-shu under “Labelling Standards for the Manufacturing Process and Quality of Sake” and are made from rice with a seimai-buai (rice-polishing ratio) of 55% or higher.

(4) Keiseimai gokumi-shu
Entries are limited to sake that meet ① or ② below. (Ingredients other than rice, rice-koji, and water are limited to sake-kasu, jozo-alcohol, shochu, and sake.)

①Usage rate of rice whose seimai-buai (rice-polishing ratio) is 80 % or higher is 75 % or above, and seimai-buai of all rice ingredient is 60 % or higher.

②Sake made from rice with a seimai-buai of 75 % or higher.

• *Refer to Attachment 1 regarding “Labelling Standards for the Manufacturing Process and Quality of Sake.”
• *Refer to Attachment 2 for the manufacturing status of ginjo-shu and junmai-shu, etc.

4. Quality Examinations

(1) Jury
Experts with sake-making knowledge and sensory evaluation experience are appointed by the Director of the Office of Analysis and Brewing Technology from National Research Institute of Brewing, sake-making instructional institutions and sake manufacturers with 3 or more years of sake-making experience.

*Refer to Attachment 3 for the jury members.

(2) Quality Examination Methods
Quality examinations are conducted by comprehensively evaluating the taste and flavor (scaled score) and pointing out taste and flavor characteristics (profile).

(3) Comprehensive Evaluation Standards
Respective jury members make evaluations based on their own rich knowledge of manufacturing technology and sensory evaluation experience.

5.Presentation of Award Certificates

After compilation of the results of the comprehensive evaluation for each category, the entries finishing in the upper rankings (approximately 40% of entrants) shall be commended as Gold Prize winners, whose manufacturers will be presented with award certificates.

6.Tasting Event for Sake Manufacturers

The tasting event for sake manufacturers is held to allow entrants to mutually evaluate and study all entries.

Participants are associates of the sake manufacturing industry (excluding those under 20 years old).

Gold Prize winners will be denoted with a gold tag on their bottle.

Attachment 1

Labeling Standards for the Manufacturing Process and Quality of Sake (Overview)

National Tax Agency Notice No. 8, November 22, 1989

○ Labeling Tokutei meisho (specific designations) of sake

Attachment 2

Manufacture Status of Ginjo-shu and Junmai-shu

　During the brewing year 2023 (July 2023 – June 2024), the manufactured quantities of ginjo-shu, junmai ginjo-shu and junmai-shu (20% ABV equivalent) in Hokkaido were as follows:

※The numbers in parentheses are percentages relative to all sake.

Attachment 3

Hokkaido Sake Awards 2024 Quality Examination Jury

* JCN:Japan Corporate Number