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Unparalleled sake
brought to perfection over many years


Unparalleled sake
brought to perfection over many years
Yamagata prefecture, one of Japan’s leading sake regions— The town of Shirataka sits at its center, and one sake storehouse, Kamogawa Sake Brewery, was founded in 1741 during the Tokugawa shogunate. For nearly 280 years we have maintained traditional sake-brewing methods.
In the past, Japan wished to produce the best possible sake for state guests. Kamogawa Sake Brewery was one of the breweries that stepped up to this challenge. What they aimed to brew was kijoshu, the highest grade of sake. While ordinarily sake is brewed with water, kijoshu is instead brewed with sake, giving it a refined thickness and sweetness, plus a unique, mellow aroma.
At this time, the person entrusted with this process was Shichishiro Suzuki, the 12th head of the house of Suzuki. Starting in 1972, Shichishiro devoted himself completely to studying kijoshu and its creation for the next three years. However, his work was left deep in a storehouse, and none knew of it when he passed away. For forty years afterward, none knew of his kijoshu’s existence.
The world’s oldest kijoshu
and award-winning koshu


The world’s oldest kijoshu
and award-winning koshu
“What is that sake?”
At the IWC (International Wine Challenge), the world’s largest wine competition, the winner of the koshu (aged sake) trophy in the sake awards caused a stir among the judges.
At the center of this maelstrom was a jet-black sake with an alluring gleam. Called forth from the depths of its storehouse was Shichishiro’s kijoshu.
The surprise it caused was natural. After all, no one had heard of the world’s oldest kijoshu reaching maturity in over forty years. It was simply unheard of in the field.
The instant the sake reaches your mouth, a rich sweetness spreads through it, igniting a once-in-a-lifetime sensation that will cause you to forget all else. It is a drink that defies definition, and its incomparable nature caused one person to utter the following.
“This is what a miracle tastes like.”
The time had come, and the old vintage created by Shichishiro that had slept for so long in Shirataka had finally awakened to be labeled as the world’s finest koshu.
Cultivated over millennia,
the miraculous terroir of Shirataka.


Cultivated over millennia,
the miraculous terroir of Shirataka.
The town of Shirataka in Yamagata prefecture is the home of Kamogawa Sake Brewery. This small town, surrounded by a chain of mountains stretching east and west, and built across the Mogami River, sits at the foot of Mount Shirataka, a volcano that is said to have erupted approximately one million years ago.
This eruption, one of the ultimate creators of life, generated springs of incredible quality, and was one of the elements that shaped the rich and fertile land of the Shirataka area.
The bountiful springs throughout the area. The rich soil that nourishes “Sawanohana” rice. And the very life of the land— Shishishiro’s kijoshu takes all of these gifts, places them in perfect harmony, wraps them in Miyama washi, traditionally made paper filtered from Shirataka mulberry, and finally enshrines them in boxes made of local cedar.
We call it “KUROKOHAKU”.
Guided by the nature surrounding Shirataka, it has grown into a form that is beyond sake. It is a work of art, and a physical manifestation of Shirataka’s climate.
Seeing nature as she is
and providing her raiment


Seeing nature as she is
and providing her raiment
Each box is unique, wild, and yet divine.
They are made from cedar trees taken from the natural forests of Shirataka.
The hardness of its wood is double that of ordinary cedar, making it unsuitable for mass production, and making the region unknown for forestry. However, this means that the area has been left untouched by man, and the woods are pristine. When it is cut, the fragrance released creates a sensation of life that cannot be ignored.
The person entrusted with the creation of the boxes is Shuji Nakagawa, a woodcarver based in Shiga prefecture. Renowned worldwide as a master of wooden tubs, he continues to perfect his traditional craft even as his gaze scans the horizon for new innovations.
“You cannot approach the shape you desire. Once you have an image in your mind, you follow it and your work ends up an imitation.”
What are trees trying to give us? Asking that again and again, what do they answer? He continues asking, and nature guides him toward shapes. The form that looms ahead seems to be in awe of nature and to question a world that has lost its respect for it.
Washi paper that exhibits
Shirata's nature and tradition


Washi paper that exhibits
Shirata's nature and tradition
Japanese people have long been familiar with handmade paper, known as washi, which is known for its unique texture, but the hand-filtering process gives it layers of fiber that lend it a great deal of strength. It is used in repairing world cultural assets because it is said to last a thousand years.
Shirataka has its own history of papermaking, called "Minyama washi", that goes back to the Muromachi period (16th century). This paper is made with rare pulp from a specific part of the white-barked paper mulberry tree.
Miyama washi is filtered carefully with a process called "cross filtering" to give the paper warp and woof like fabric. Its durability is a step above other washi, making treasured for official documents by the Uesugi clan of the Yonezawa domain , and provided as tribute to the Tokugawa shogunate as the extraordinary quality paper.
Trees grow from Shirataka's favorable weather, rich soil and springs, and the people who live there use their skills in a continued tradition to turn them into sublime paper.
Miyama washi is an embodied element of Shirayama's wilderness, making it an ideal way to give shape to Kurokohaku.
Seeking quality that reaches
into the realm of art
The Sake Artisan project is a collaborative effort between craftspeople working in fields with long traditions with a mission to seek out new value and share it with the world and into the future.


Seeking quality that reaches
into the realm of art
The Sake Artisan project is a collaborative effort between craftspeople working in fields with long traditions with a mission to seek out new value and share it with the world and into the future.
Its aim is to find allure that cannot be measured by current standards while bringing about treasures that could never be found in a world that seeks only profit. Its other goal is to take inimitable works created by artisans who speak for each region of Japan and share them with the world.
Being in a certain place and touching its life gives you insight into it. We strive to create encounters that will provide opportunities to refresh your thoughts and feelings.
“Following the initial impression of the nose, it shifts to an earthy scent reminiscent of roasting, perfume, high-quality hardwood, and Cuban cigars and black truffles, progressing to aromas of forest, game meat, and caramel as it reaches completion.”
“Even after nearly 50 years of aging, this sake provides a moving experience, with the distance and depth of flavor proving the true potential of sake.”
Chef sommelier de l'Hotel de Crillon,*France
Mr. Xavier Thuizat
KUROKOHAKUテイスティングノート
Chef sommelier de l'Hotel de Crillon,*France
Mr. Xavier Thuizat
Today, I have the great privilege of trying the renowned KUROKOHAKU of the Kamogawa sake brewery for you.
This bottle showcases the miraculous Shirataka terroir.
Why miraculous? Because a million years ago, the volcanic eruption of Mount Shirataka obliterated the area, but also gave it new life. There was a real renewal here, because the eruption led to very fertile land, which the Mogami river flows through, a remarkable river in the Yamagata prefecture.
And now, a Kijoshu has been born out of that great and weighty local past.
A Kijoshu is a sake made from a combination of Mogami waters and Sawanohana rice, the local Yamagata prefecture rice.
A dense, deep Kijoshu which manages to reproduce all of the energy of the local terroir, the famous Shirataka terroir, with subtlety, complexity, and elegance.
As far as tasting this great Kijoshu goes, its visual appearance is remarkable, it is amber and topaz in color, with rather stunning flashes of green.
It has a lovely thickness, and is rather dense and dark; that said, it has energetic light reflections moving through it.
The nose is very moving on arrival, remarkably intense, the bouquet has this great complexity that is fairly amazing, pretty incredible, really.
The aromatics have a calming vibe.
The aromatics move through roasted, sandalwood, fine wood, Cuban cigar, and sometimes even black truffle notes, with this earthy, underwood, gamey, caramelized side rounding things off.
It is a sensational bouquet, which reflects the passage of time.
At almost 50 years old, this is the oldest Kijoshu currently in existence, aged 50 years, so it is of course highly refined, with not a single whiff of alcohol. It has great wisdom, great complexity to it.
The mouth feel is up to the wisdom of the nose, which is to say it has an attack that is relatively dry, straightforward, refined, and then getting into the thick of it, things become a bit more fleshed out, gaining in intensity, in texture – there is something suave about them.
Of course, this is a Kijoshu, a sweet sake, but here that is really subdued, and the end of the mouth feel is very direct.
You get those same honey-like, fine wood aromas.
The complexity, the precision, and the purity are remarkable, but often, of course, there is also this persistence to it, which leads to a very strong mouthfeel and great palatability.
It is a sake that food could easily complement, of course, in two ways. I would like suggest that you, why not, showcase it alongside the cooking of Christopher le Squer here, the chef at the Georges V in Paris, with his famous onion soup au gratin, which is one of the star appetizers at this iconic restaurant, and which will provide some depth and texture, creating a subtle, elegant conversation.
And why not also have it with a pithiviers of little hunting birds, with sweet chestnut honey on top to create a bit more complexity and make things all the more indulgent.
This is a great gourmet sake to be had with fine foods, to be sure, but it is also a sake for meditating around that I recommend you enjoy in a small exclusive group, at the end of a meal, to really be sure that you steep yourself, in a calming and meditative setting, in all this great sake’s textures and flavors.
An exceptional sake, unrivalled on Earth, and aged 50 years, which is exceedingly rare for Japanese sake.
Here, we have living proof that Japanese sake’s potential can go very far, and take us back a half-century, with its sensations still intact.
Thank you very much.