Update on the Annual Japan Sake Awards

There is still very little information in English coming out from Japanese government or quasi-government agencies working with sake, so it was a pleasant surprise to see the National Research Institute of Brewing (NRIB) emailing their overseas list with an update on the Annual Japan Sake Awards, also known as the National New Sake Appraisal (a more direct translation of the Japanese 全国新酒鑑評会). The annual contest is jointly organised by the NRIB and JSS, and has been running almost continuously since 1911.

Any company with a sake brewing license can enter, and larger companies with multiple licenses to cover multiple sites can enter once per site/license. The sake must be ginjō-shu (either ginjō or daiginjō), undiluted (genshu), and brewed during the previous brewing year (in this case, between summer 2022 and early 2023).

Interestingly the competition entry rules also specify that sake submitted must have a certain level of acidity and no added aroma compounds – I didn’t know brewers were allowed to add aroma compounds so that’s an interesting requirement. I’ll see if I can find out more… Entering the competition costs JPY 15,400 for JSS members, and JPY 23,100 for everyone else.

There were 818 entries in 2023, which sounds low compared to the estimated 1,200 breweries and/or licenses. Of those 818, 394 (48%) won prizes, and just 218 (27%) won Gold Prizes. Judging (blind tasting) ran from mid-April to mid-May, with one round of preliminary tasting and one final round. The ratings from judges are not only used for the contest but also sent to the brewery to allow them to continue developing their brewing skills, which fits in with NRIB’s remit of improving brewing and distilling skills.

There is also information on the Honkaku Shochu and Awamori Contest.