Twice Crowned at the IWC: How Sawahime from Tochigi Crafts Sake Without Compromise

Inoue Seikichi Shoten, located in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture, is the brewery behind Sawahime. The brewery has twice won the Champion Sake award—the highest honor in the IWC (International Wine Challenge) Sake Division—in 2010 and 2022. In the 17-year history of the IWC Sake Division, only two breweries have achieved this remarkable feat: Dewazakura Sake Brewery of Yamagata and Inoue Seikichi Shoten.

Led by brewery owner Hiroshi Inoue, Inoue Seikichi Shoten is also a frequent gold medal winner at Annual Japan Sake Awards. After becoming president in 2013, Inoue entrusted the role of toji (master brewer) to the younger Tamotsu Sato, yet he still personally oversees the care of the koji—the heart of sake brewing.

With a determination to create the ideal koji and an uncompromising approach to quality, Inoue Seikichi Shoten continues to refine its craft. We visited the brewery to see firsthand the passion and precision that drive their sake making.

Top image: Brewery owner Hiroshi Inoue (left) and Toji Tamotsu Sato (right)

Born into a Brewing Family, Yet Slow to Embrace the Craft

Though now celebrated for his achievements, Hiroshi Inoue’s path to sake brewing was anything but easy.

Born as the eldest son of the fourth-generation owner of Inoue Seikichi Shoten, Inoue admits that, as a teenager, he didn’t find much appeal in the family business. After World War II, it was standard practice in Japan’s sake industry for toji (master brewers) and their brewing teams to handle all production during the winter months, while brewery owners focused mainly on sales and management.

Inoue’s family brewery was no exception. “But I found myself more drawn to brewing than to business,” he recalls. “In high school, I helped out in the brewery during winter when the toji asked for assistance, and I realized how fascinating the work was. At that time, Japan’s sake industry was already facing a shortage of skilled toji as the older generation was retiring. I began to feel strongly that I should become a kuramoto-toji—a brewery owner who also brews.”

With this determination, Inoue enrolled in the Department of Fermentation Science at Tokyo University of Agriculture in 1993. The program attracted many students from similar backgrounds, most of whom followed a typical path: study fermentation academically, then train at other breweries or liquor distributors before returning to take over their family’s operations.

Inoue planned to do the same, but fate had other ideas. The brewery’s longtime Nanbu Toji, Yoshio Odanaka, urged him otherwise: “I want to teach you everything I know about brewing as soon as possible. Come straight back after graduation.”

Answering that call, Inoue returned to the brewery in the autumn of 1997, working under Odanaka for two brewing seasons. They lived and worked side by side, and Odanaka’s teaching style was distinctly old-school: “Watch and learn, do it yourself, and think hard about what you’ve done. You’ll learn more from failure than from success.” “In those first two years,” Inoue recalls, “I was still a novice—completely absorbed, running on instinct. But under my mentor’s close guidance, I knew I was gaining invaluable hands-on experience.”

Then, just as the 1999BY brewing season approached—his third—Inoue received shocking news: Odanaka’s family informed him that the toji had been ordered by his doctor to stop brewing and would not return that year.

Becoming Acting Toji in Only His Third Year

The news of Toji Odanaka’s sudden absence threw the entire brewery into turmoil. Although the Nanbu Toji network was extensive, it was nearly impossible to find a replacement so close to the start of the brewing season. Inoue’s father was deeply concerned: “There’s no way my son can take over as toji right away. We might have to skip brewing this year or source sake from another brewery instead.”

But before anyone could make a decision, Hiroshi Inoue spoke up instinctively: “I’ll do it. I’ll find a way to brew.”

“It was reckless youthful confidence,” Inoue admits with a laugh. “But knowing Odanaka-san’s personality, I was sure that if we decided to skip brewing, he’d defy the doctor’s orders and crawl back to the brewery if he had to. I thought the only way to make him focus on recovery was to keep brewing ourselves, no matter how anxious I felt.”

Although Odanaka never returned that season, Inoue soon discovered that his mentor had quietly reached out to many fellow Nanbu Toji working in Tochigi Prefecture, asking them to support the young brewer in his absence.

“I was amazed by the strength of the Nanbu Toji network,” Inoue recalls. “One after another—about one every three days—different toji came by to offer advice. Of course, each of them had their own brewing philosophy, and their opinions often contradicted each other, leaving me completely bewildered at times,” he laughs. “But it turned out to be a valuable experience. It showed me firsthand that there are countless ways to make sake—sake brewing is truly ‘saka-ya banryu,’ meaning every brewer has their own path. That realization helped me shape my own direction.” At the time, around the year 2000, it was still rare for a kuramoto (brewery owner) to serve as toji. Rumors often spread that “breweries without traditional toji produce inferior sake.” To avoid damaging the brand’s reputation, Inoue kept the toji’s absence secret and threw himself into brewing with the team.

That winter, they completed their first batch of Sawahime under his leadership. When local brewing experts, Nanbu Toji mentors, and instructors from the prefectural research center tasted it, their verdict was: “Not bad at all.” “It was a huge relief,” says Inoue.

That season, they brewed about 30 batches, and despite the enormous pressure, the team—guided by the lessons Odanaka had instilled—managed to finish without any major mistakes or accidents.

Even more astonishing, at the Tochigi Prefecture Ginjo Sake Research Competition held in the spring of 2000, Inoue’s sake won first place, surprising many seasoned toji and mentors. “Honestly, that was pure beginner’s luck,” he says modestly.

Inoue continued to identify himself publicly as “acting toji” until, at age 29, he passed the Nanbu Toji certification exam and officially assumed the title of toji.

A Bold Declaration: Brewing Exclusively with Tochigi-Grown Rice

For most sake breweries, losing their toji would be considered a serious crisis. But Hiroshi Inoue chose to see it differently — as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reexamine and reinvent the very foundations of his brewery’s approach to sake making.

What he set his sights on was ambitious: to brew every bottle — from everyday sake to top-tier daiginjo — using only rice grown in Tochigi Prefecture, creating a truly local sake in every sense of the word.

“In the sake world, it was common knowledge that to win high honors at competitions like the Annual Japan Sake Awards, you had to use Yamadanishiki — especially the famous strain from Hyogo Prefecture,” Inoue explains. “And of course, Yamadanishiki is a fantastic rice; it’s easier to make ideal koji with than almost any other variety. But I used to wonder, even as a student: what’s the point of a Tochigi brewery winning gold with rice from Hyogo? Does that really contribute to our local economy or identity? So I went ahead with it — against my father’s objections. Even if it limited what we could do, I believed that would become the identity of a new era of Sawahime.”

Determined to make his conviction visible, Inoue printed the phrase “Shin Jizake Sengen” (True Local Sake Declaration) on every label. Beginning with the 2004BY brewing season, Inoue Seikichi Shoten achieved full conversion to 100% Tochigi-grown rice.

Of course, the decision not to use celebrated out-of-prefecture varieties like Yamadanishiki made koji making far more challenging.

“To craft a top-class daiginjo, you need tsukihaze-type koji, where the mold penetrates deep into the rice grain rather than coating the surface (so-haze). There are plenty of manuals and reference data for working with Yamadanishiki, but for Tochigi varieties like Gohyakumangoku, Hitogokochi, and Tochigi-sake No.14, we had to rely entirely on our own experimentation and instinct.”

Meanwhile, Inoue’s unconventional stance drew criticism and skepticism from others in the industry.

“Some people said, ‘That brewery only makes oddball sake,’ or ‘They just want to stand out by doing something different.’ Even our bank told me to ‘stop chasing dreams and be realistic,’” he recalls.

Yet Inoue never wavered.

“My motivation was pure — I simply wanted to make the best possible sake from our own region’s rice. Yes, that raised the bar much higher for us than for other breweries, but it also made the process more creative and fulfilling. In the end, I think it allowed us to build stronger relationships with local farmers and to lay the foundation for a unique theory of what true local sake can be.”

Champion Sake at the IWC with Tochigi Rice “Hitogokochi”

The results of Hiroshi Inoue’s bold new approach began to show tangibly in the 2006BY brewing season. That winter, a daiginjo brewed entirely with Tochigi-grown Hitogokochi rice won a Gold Medal at the Annual Japan Sake Awards — the first such honor for the brewery.

Out of 981 entries submitted from across Japan, only 252 sake received Gold, and among those, fewer than 20 were made with rice other than Yamadanishiki. For a Tochigi brewery to win gold without using Yamadanishiki was truly an exceptional achievement.

The following year, Inoue repeated the feat, proving that high-level sake could indeed be made with local Tochigi rice. His success inspired other forward-thinking breweries both within and outside the prefecture to enter competitions using their own region’s rice, sparking a new movement toward local identity in sake making.

Though Inoue emphasizes that “winning awards is not the ultimate goal,” he recalls being thrilled when he learned in 2007 that the International Wine Challenge (IWC) in London had launched a dedicated SAKE division.

“At the Annual Japan Sake Awards, about 25% of entries win Gold each year. But at the IWC, only 3–5% of all submissions receive a Gold Medal — and among those, one is chosen as the world’s best: the ‘Champion Sake.’ When I realized that local sake brewed from Tochigi rice could compete alongside Japan’s most renowned labels — and possibly even reach the top on a global stage — I felt a huge sense of motivation and purpose. It wasn’t just about prestige; it was about showing how this could contribute to our regional economy.”

That dream became reality in 2010, when Sawahime Daiginjo — made with Tochigi-grown Hitogokochi rice — was named Champion Sake at the IWC.

“Becoming No. 1 at an international competition was, of course, a great honor,” Inoue reflects. “But what moved me most was that the winning sake wasn’t made with Yamadanishiki — it was made with rice grown here in Tochigi. Everyone — from fellow brewers and farmers to local officials — celebrated as if it were their own victory. In that moment, I felt deeply rewarded for having believed in our ‘True Local Sake Declaration’ and persevering with it for ten years.”

Preserving His Unconventional Koji-Making Philosophy

Once Hiroshi Inoue felt that his pursuit of ideal sake brewing had reached a stable and consistent level, he decided it was time to pass the torch. Upon becoming president in 2013, he appointed Tamotsu Sato, his longtime right-hand man, as the new toji (master brewer).

“By then,” Inoue explains, “we had established our brewery’s standards for every key process—from rice preparation to koji making, yeast starter, and moromi management. I knew I could entrust it all to him.”

At Inoue Seikichi Shoten, the foundation of koji making rests on a single principle: “Everything must be done on the koji’s terms—not on human convenience.”

In most breweries, koji-making work is scheduled around workers’ hours for efficiency and to ensure a comfortable work-life balance. But at Inoue Seikichi Shoten, timing is dictated entirely by the condition of the koji. Every step—from steaming to spreading to turning—is decided flexibly, based on how the koji is behaving at that moment.

During our interview, Inoue suddenly paused and said, “I need to do the naka-shigoto (middle stage work on koji). Let’s take a short break.” The author was invited to observe the process firsthand.

Adapting entirely to the pace of the koji means that tasks often fall outside of regular working hours—sometimes deep into the night.

“When that happens, it’s up to the brewery owner who lives here to take care of it,” Inoue says with a smile. “That’s why even now, I still personally handle most of the koji care myself.” At 49, Inoue continues to work as a kojiya—a koji craftsman.

Another distinctive feature of Inoue’s brewing method is the intentionally dry environment in the koji room. His goal is to produce sake with a rich, full flavor that finishes clean and light, leaving no heaviness on the palate. To achieve that, the koji mold must penetrate deeply into the rice grain rather than remaining on the surface.

“The ideal condition,” Inoue explains, “is when the surface of the rice is completely dry while a small amount of moisture remains inside. Because koji mold is a living organism, it seeks out moisture and oxygen—so it naturally grows inward. Yamadanishiki has a shinpaku (starchy core) that retains both water and air, which makes it easier for the mold to grow deep. But most Tochigi rice varieties lack a distinct shinpaku, so after washing, we let them absorb more water than Yamadanishiki before steaming.”

After that, the rice surface is aggressively dried. The humidity inside the koji room is reduced to just 8-15%, and the rice is left to dry for three to four hours before sprinkling the koji spores (tane-koji). By comparison, textbooks typically recommend room humidity levels of 40% or higher, making Inoue’s approach radically different.

“The prefectural technical advisors often worry and say, ‘Koji won’t grow properly under such dry conditions,’ but it’s fine,” he says confidently. Even on the second day, when the koji enters the mori (mound) stage, Inoue deliberately creates a slight oxygen-deficient environment at the surface, encouraging the mold to burrow inward.

Once the koji is taken out of the room, it’s transferred next door to the finishing room, where dehumidifiers run continuously and fans blow for two full days until completion. Regardless of how much the hyphae have spread, the goal is to produce a firm, compacted rice-koji that sinks to the bottom of the moromi tank and slowly releases enzymes over time.

Through this meticulous, time-intensive process, Inoue continues to embody the philosophy that has defined his brewery for decades: to serve the needs of the koji—not the convenience of the brewer.

Winning a Second Champion Sake

Even after Sawahime Daiginjo won its first Champion Sake title at the International Wine Challenge (IWC) in 2010, Inoue Seikichi Shoten continued to submit entries every year—consistently earning high praise. Then, in 2022, the brewery once again reached the top, claiming its second Champion Sake title.

The 2022 competition featured a record 1,732 entries in the Sake Division—the largest in its history—and once again, the winning sake was brewed with Tochigi-grown Hitogokochi rice. Remarkably, the award-winning sake was not a daiginjo but a ginjo, a fact that gave Inoue particular satisfaction.

After two years of online announcements during the pandemic, the awards ceremony returned to an in-person event in London.

“Just being selected as a trophy finalist is an honor in itself,” Inoue recalls. “So when I heard it would be held in person again, I didn’t hesitate to fly to London.”

Surrounded by judges and industry peers, Inoue stood once more at the pinnacle of the sake world—more seasoned than at his first win in 2010, and filled with pride and fulfillment at achieving such recognition twice.

At the same time, Inoue’s sakes have also excelled domestically. Using Yume Sasara, a new sake rice variety developed in Tochigi Prefecture, his entries have earned back-to-back Gold Medals at the Annual Japan Sake Awards. More recently, he has dedicated himself to mentoring the next generation through study sessions of the “Shimotsuke Toji” system—a Tochigi Prefecture training program for young brewers, of which he was a first-generation participant. When asked about his next challenge, now that Sawahime has become widely recognized for its refined, full-bodied yet light-tasting local sake, Inoue’s answer was clear: sales.

“For over 20 years, I was so focused on brewing that I neglected the business side,” he admits. “I naively thought that high competition results would automatically lead to sales. As a result, about 60% of our sake stays local, 35% is exported overseas, and only 5% reaches other parts of Japan—almost none to the major domestic markets like Tokyo. Reputation is important, but nothing begins until people actually taste the sake. From now on, I plan to dedicate more time to steady, hands-on sales activities.”

Driven by that belief—“I just want people to try it”—Inoue has opened a tasting space inside the brewery, where visitors can sample 16 different Sawahime varieties freely from self-serve dispensers.

If you want to experience both the flavor and the passion behind Tochigi’s Sawahime, this tasting room is the perfect place to visit.

Brewery Information

Inoue Seikichi Shoten
Address: 1901-1 Shirasawa-machi, Utsunomiya-shi, Tochigi, Japan
Phone: +81 (0)28-673-2350
Founded: 1868
President: Hiroshi Inoue
Toji (Master Brewer): Tamotsu Sato
Website: http://sawahime.co.jp/index.html