How low/high can you go

Niizawa Shuzō (Miyagi Prefecture), makers of the super-low polishing 7% NIIZAWA and NIIZAWA KIZASHI ranges, teamed up with art project company ARTLOGUE to hold a competition for contemporary artists–with the winning works adorning their sake labels. 

The Grand Prize was won by Yoichi Ochiai for “Liquid Universe”, which will appear on the label of the 2025 NIIZAWA daiginjō (720 ml, made with Miyagi-grown Kura no Hana rice polished to 7% and in-house yeast, 16% ABV, SMV ±0, acids 1.5, amino acids 0.9, JPY 85,800 [approx. EUR 470/USD 550]).

The Kizashi prize was won by Akihito Okunaka for “INTER-WORLD/Cocooner: Apparent motion of celestial bodies”, which will appear on the label of the 2025 NIIZAWA KIZASHI daiginjō (720 ml, made with Miyagi-grown Kura no Hana rice polished to 7% and in-house yeast, 16% ABV, SMV ±0, acids 1.4, amino acids 1.0, JPY 55,000 [approx. EUR 300/USD 350]).

——
I think the second prize-winning work is an inflatable sculpture with its photo on the label, but whether I’m right or not you can see that Niizawa have successfully made an artful jump into a new pricing/marketing bracket. 

世界最高峰350時間かけ7%まで精米した最高級日本酒「NIIZAWA」と「NIIZAWA KIZASHI」。世界トップレベルのアーティストによるラベルデザインをまとい11月11日より発売開始 (Nico Video News, 11 Nov 2025)