Welcome to Issue #127 of SIN and 2025!
From the team at SIN we would like to wish all our subscribers and readers nothing but the best for the New Year with hopes that the “year of the snake” brings happiness, health and good fortune.
For the sake industry this could be a bumper year, with all sorts of possibilities on the horizon. You can check the bottom of this newsletter for a couple of John Gaunter’s specific predictions for 2025, but we’re sure it will be an eventful year, so stick with us as we do our best to bring you all the sake industry news to you as it happens.
And now for the news…
Editor's note: In SIN#125 we pondered the practice of private label brands submitting sake brewed under contract into sake competitions such as the Luxembourg Sake Challenge. We have received clarification that in the case of the Sake Challenge it is in fact the brewery that submits the sake and not the contracting company.
Brewery Devastated By Fire
Nagano- In the early morning of December 23, a fire broke out at Furuya Shuzōten reportedly destroying the 130-year old brewery completely. No injuries were reported.
The tragedy came just one month after the brewery was awarded the highest honor platinum award at the Luxembourg Sake Challenge. The brewery is known for its flagship brands WaWaWa and Miyama Zakura.
Full details of the destruction have not yet been released, however the Nagano Brewers Association has set up a donation fund to assist the brewery.
JG: We have seen several such stories in the news as of late, highlighting how old wooden structures like traditional sakagura can be so susceptible to devastating fires. We have also seen how recovery funds can help some recover from even that kind of destruction (see the article on Mizutani Shuzo in Aichi below). The city of Saku in Nagano where Furuya Shuzo is located is a significant sake-brewing town with just about a dozen breweries there. Let’s hope and pray that Furuya Shuzo recovers fully in time.
古屋酒造店 , 和和和 , 深山桜
Can’t Get Enough Of That GI Stuff
Fukushima- Hot on the heels of the announcement of UNESCO’s recognition of traditional sake brewing methods as Intangible Cultural Heritage, comes the approval of the sake brewing industry’s seventeenth regional GI (geographic indication) certification.
Located in the Aizu Region of Fukushima Prefecture, the city of Kitakata and the town of Nishi-Aizuchō are home to 12 sake breweries including Homare Shuzō, Yamatogawa Shuzō, Kitanohana Shuzōjo and Sakaegawa Shuzō.
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