Fukuchō Hakubi Junmai Sparkling

Nowadays, sparkling sake is more common, but thanks to the efforts of Imada Miho's father, sparkling junmai nigori sake had already gained a reputation as a regular product in the 20th century. However, due to its nature, it was a complicated product facing many problems caused by leaking stoppers and quality fluctuation due to bottle fermentation. In sparkling sake, the yeast is kept alive in the bottle. Once the alcoholic taste and the amount of carbon dioxide are well-balanced, heat sterilisation stops the yeast from being active. This stabilises the quality and makes shipping possible without using cool delivery. Heat sterilisation after the second fermentation is made possible by special pressure- and heat-resistant caps and bottles, which are different from those used for regular sake. According to the brewery, this results from a long process of trial and error.

Imada's Fukuchō Hakubi Sparkling (富久長 スパークリング日本酒 白美 HAKUBI) should be served well chilled.

Imada Brewery is located in Akitsu, Higashi-Hiroshima, facing the Seto Inland Sea and was founded in 1868. Hiroshima is one of Japan's top regions of sake production; the prefecture ranks among the top six in annual sake production. The region is famous for its soft water and smooth sake with a solid, lively fragrance. The brewery is run in the fifth generation by Imada Miho (今田美穂), one of the few female tōji (brewmaster) in Japan. She learned the trade from her father, Imada Yukinao but also enrolled in the National Research Institute of Brewing and later graduated from Meiji University's law faculty. After working for the cultural activities section in a Tōkyō department store, she returned to Hiroshima and took over the brewery. In 2020, the BBC included her in their list of the world's 100 influential women of the year.

Hiroshima is renowned for its ginjō-style sake varieties with beautiful fragrances and refined flavour. Imada Miho has continued and perfected the art of ginjō: in 2017, her Fukuchō ginjō won the platinum award for Junmai sake at Kura Master 2017, an annual contest selecting the best sakes from over 550 sake brands across Japan. Imada also experimented with heirloom rice varieties that had been out of use for centuries, created her hybrid yeast starter, and experimented with white kōji.

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