ikki deliver news from Japan regarding Sake and trading business monthly.

Please find the monthly ikki news of January 2020 as below;

Fukushima local Sake rice “FUKUNOKA” 福乃香

On 23rd December 2019, Fukushima prefecture announced that they named the new local Sake rice “Fukunoka”(福乃香).

Fukushima has been studying to develop new Sake rice for breweries in Fukushima, and found “Fukushima No.50”. With the support from 11 breweries in Fukushima prefecture for 2 years, the prefectural government decided to encourage this rice and named Fukunoka.

Fukushima had local Sake rice called “Yumenoka”(夢の香), but Fukunoka has stronger so easier to grow, and Shinpaku(心白) inner core of rice which has less protein, leading to noise in taste, so it is preferable by brewers.

(Ref. Fukushima prefecture)

Miss Sake 2020

                                                                                                   (Miss Sake Hyogo 2020 Selection)

In December 2019, there was a selection of Miss Sake Hyogo in Kobe city, Hyogo. The photo above is the scene in the selection and Miss Ikumi Takayama standing center is Miss Sake Hyogo 2020.

In 13th of January, there was a showcase of Miss Sake 2020 Finalist from 20 prefectures. They are going to the final selection in 25th March 2020 to be Miss Sake Japan 2020.

In addition to the Miss Sake Japan, there will be Miss Sake International will be selected in oversea countries.

National Tax agency budgeted for Japanese Sake export 10 times more 2020

National Tax Agency in Japan will budget 10times more in 2020. It is aimed to find new route to export Sake . They will set Export promotion office to negotiate with foreign countries for custom and duties.

The export amount of Sake is growing every year and in the period of Jan-Nov 2019, total export amount approximately 211 billion JPY which is record high.

They will support local brewery association for GI and also deregulate the license of alcohol production to increae the competitiveness in the world market.

(Ref. National tax Agency)