Niigata Prefecture is one of the most well-known sake prefectures in Japan, front runner of the jizake boom of the 1980s and famous for its "tanrei karakuchi" sake, or light, dry and crisp style. For a long time this style was the height of fashion and it remains popular, as it seems to fit "contemporary city drinkers." As regards the number of breweries, Niigata is the second highest in Japan (after Hyogo), with 92 breweries (2015). It total output is the third largest (after Hyogo and Kyoto).

The natural environment is of course very favorable: cold winters, clean and crisp air, plentiful natural water and in summer relatively many hours of sun which is good for the rice harvest. But most of all it is the snow that makes the sake here: as snow clouds rolling in over the Japan Sea from the Asian continent shed their heavy load in the wide plains of Niigata, the prefecture has seven locations in the top ten of "highest snowfall" in Japan - and we are talking about real snow here, between 11 and 17 meters on an average annual basis! What does the snow do for sake brewing" It not only provides a good cold climate, but also a very stable cold atmosphere, with little ups and downs. This is excellent for long-duration, low-temperature fermentation, which in turn leads to clean, smooth and graceful sake.
Niigata is also one of the country's most important rice producing areas - its food rice Koshihikari is very popular among Japanese consumers...