Asahi Sake Brewery Although Asahi Sake Brewery is a small brewery in Yamaguchi Prefecture, it is known for producing Dassai, a sake that is loved all over the world.
1. Thorough commitment to quality
Asahi Sake Brewery has a thorough commitment to quality when brewing sake. Using Yamada Nishiki, a rice suitable for sake brewing, as the main ingredient, we use our unique rice polishing technique called “Dassai Polishing" to produce high quality sake rice. By milling the entire amount at a high polishing rate of less than 50%, we are able to produce sake with a clear taste without any harsh flavors. We abolished the toji system that was common in sake breweries, and by having all brewers involved in sake brewing, we aimed to stabilize and improve quality.
*Toji system
The toji system is a system in which sake is produced by a toji, a group of craftsmen at the sake brewing site, and brewers working under him. It started in the middle of the Edo period and spread nationwide after the Meiji period.
2. Innovative challenge
Asahi Sake Brewery continues to challenge new things while preserving traditional sake brewing methods. In 1989, we released “Dassai 23," which was groundbreaking at the time. In 2017, we opened “Dassai Farm" to grow Yamada Nishiki in-house. In 2023, we started a sake brewing project using AI.
3. President Hiroshi Sakurai’s charisma
Hiroshi Sakurai, the president and representative director of Asahi Shuzo, is known for his charisma. We actively communicate our management philosophy and passion for sake brewing. It has been featured in many media outlets, contributing to increasing awareness of Asahi Shuzo and Dassai. He is always trying new things and breaking the conventional wisdom in the sake industry, and even though he is over 70 years old, he is still active and continues to make his dreams come true. We are also actively venturing into overseas markets, such as building a warehouse in New York.
