I haven’t come across a sake x tennis story before, but the puns are strong!
Fushimino, a sake made with the Kyoto sake rice Iwai grown without pesticides or agrochemicals, was presented as a welcome gift to international athletes competing in the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships 2024. It was also offered in the hospitality lounge, advertised in the event brochure and had publicity banners placed in the spectator seats, the first time a sake has been chosen to feature in the event.
Iwai (祝) means celebration, so as well as being used for toasts at the tournament its advertisement in the competition brochure positioned it as a drink to celebrate life’s milestones. The banner in the main tournament area also placed Fushimino in the view of an international audience.
Fushimino won a gold medal in the junmai daiginjo division at Kura Master 2024, and its cultivation of Iwai without pesticides or agrochemicals aims to create rice fields that will provide a safe home for wildlife, especially birds, for the next 100 years. The fruity and aromatic junmai daiginjo is made from Iwai polished to 35%, pasteurised once and has 16% ABV. A 720 ml bottle costs JPY 36,300 (EUR 220/USD 237), with the Fushimi no Shizukudori costing JPY 53,000 (EUR 320/USD 345) plus shipping. Recommended serving temperature is 8°C or below.
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Although the press release does not mention Fushimi brewery Masuda Tokubee Shoten, makers of Tsuki no Katsura, former CEO Tokubee Masuda is visible in the photo of unnamed individuals in a rice field, and the brewery is named on the Fushimino site.
農薬・化学物質を一切使用せずに栽培された米「祝（いわい）」でつくられた日本酒ブランド「伏見乃 FUSHIMINO」がテニスの国際大会に華を添える (10 October 2024, Mainichi Shinbun, Japanese)
Fushimino (English)
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