Award ceremony for Japanese alcohol held in Paris

The award ceremony for the Kura Master competition for sake and other Japanese alcoholic beverages for France for fiscal 2024 was held in Paris on Wednesday.

The Prix du President top prize in the sake category was given to “Shirayuki Daiginjo Itami Morohaku,” made by Konishi Brewing from the city of Itami, Hyogo Prefecture. In the category of shōchū and awamori distilled spirits, “Araroka Matsufuji,” from Matsufuji in the town of Kin, Okinawa Prefecture, won the same highest award.

A total 1,223 of sake products and 197 shōchū and awamori products were put up for the competition, and they were evaluated by about 120 jurors from France’s restaurant industry.

A juror for sake praised Shirayuki Daiginjo Itami Morohaku, saying that it has a complex flavor with many elements beautifully harmonized. Konishi Brewing President Shinuemon Konishi expressed joy, saying: “(The winning of the award) is a result of our sake brewing (since the establishment of the company).”

Araroka Matsufuji received a juror comment that the reviewer’s heart was moved. Kazuaki Sakiyama, chief of Matsufuji, expressed gratitude and attributed the prize winning to the dedication of its employees.

Prix Alliance Gastronomie, an award given to alcoholic beverages going very well with food, was given to “Tengumai Yamahai Jikomi Junmaishu,” a sake product from Shata Brewery in the city of Hakusan, Ishikawa Prefecture.

Referring to the powerful earthquake that hit the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture on Jan. 1, Keiichiro Shata, an executive of the brewery, said that post-disaster reconstruction would take more than a decade and that he wants people in Europe to visit the prefecture.