Imada Fukuchō Karakuchi Junmai

Fukuchō Karakuchi Junmai (富久長 辛口純米), Imada's classic junmai sake, is light-bodied and crisp, has a soft, delicate flavour, has a clean aroma and a dry finish, unique to Fukuchō. This is the perfect bottle for drinking at home and a splendid pairing for Japanese food like sashimi and boiled fish. As of the brewing season 2021, Fukucho employs a rice polishing technique called shingin (真吟), a "flat" polishing method that removes only the outer layer of proteins without scraping the essential starch contained in the core of the grain. It results in a cleaner, more refreshing sake.



We revisited the Karakuchi Junmai in October 2022, which was as delicious as the first time. The label below is the same as displayed on the official website.

2019 edition:

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.

More info on Imada Brewery: