Ninki Ichi Kiokejikomi Ginjō

Ninki Ichi Kiokejikomi Ginjō (人気一 木桶仕込み吟醸) is dry with a gorgeous scent, fermented in traditional wooden vats. Kiokejikomi (木桶仕込み) means precisely that: brewed in a wooden tub. After the pressing, it is pasteurised once to prevent oxidation. The ginjō has a delicate and complex taste not found in similar brews produced in stainless steel tanks. Ninki recommends chilling and drinking in a wine glass to explore the full potential of this traditional yet new sake laboriously brewed in a wooden barrel.


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Ninki Brewery, founded in 1897, is located in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture. Nihonmatsu overlooks the Abukuma mountain range to the east and the Adatara mountains to the west. The underground water of Mt. Adatara, where the thawed water soaked into the soil to be polished by rocks over forty years, turned it into a clear water source containing many minerals. It is the most suitable water for sake brewing. Ninki Brewery uses locally grown rice and focuses exclusively on producing ginjō sake. Ginjō sake is made by slow fermentation at low temperatures when the yeast is less active.

There were many breweries in Nihonmatsu in the past. However, in the early Showa period, several of them disappeared, including the Naganuma family's Hanakasumi (花霞), the birthplace of tōji Kotaro Takamura's wife, Chieko. Among them was a brand called "Ninki" (人氣), considered a befitting trade name for sake because it translates to "brewed by people, with all their energy". The brewers also wanted to express their aim of striving for the highest quality by adding "Ichi" (number one) to their company name: "Ninki-Ichi".