Shichiken “Hoshi no Kagayaki” Honored with the President’s Prize at Kura Master 2026｜Sparkling Sake Born of Hakushu

From rice and water to bubbles formed inside the bottle, the Kura Master 2026 award offers a way to trace Shichiken’s development of sparkling sake.

A Historic First at Kura Master

At the Kura Master awards ceremony held in France on September 30, 2026, Shichiken Hoshinokagayaki Sparkling, known as Hoshi no Kagayaki, received the President’s Prize, the highest distinction in the sake competition. According to the head of the judging panel, this was the first time in Kura Master’s ten editions that the prize had been awarded to a sparkling sake.

Crafted in the Heartland of Hakushu

Shichiken is brewed by Yamanashi Meijo in Hakushu, Hokuto City, Yamanashi Prefecture. Bacchus Global handles Shichiken, but the award-winning Hoshi no Kagayaki is not currently part of its product range. This recognition provides an opportunity to explore the work behind the brewery’s sparkling sake.

The French Perspective on Craft

Kura Master is a competition for Japanese alcoholic beverages held in France, with sommeliers and restaurant professionals among its judges. In 2026, sake, honkaku shochu and awamori, liqueurs, and wine were evaluated in separate competitions, each with its own President’s Prize.

The head of the sake judging panel described Hoshi no Kagayaki as combining accessibility with complexity and conveying a high level of technical skill. To understand the background to this recognition, it helps to consider both how its bubbles are formed and the brewery’s development of that method.

Grounded in Hakushu’s Water and Rice Farming

Yamanashi Meijo’s history began in 1750, when founder Ihei Kitahara encountered the water of Daigahara in Hakushu and began brewing there. Using Hakushu’s water remains part of Shichiken’s approach to sake making.

The work extends beyond the brewery. In 1999, Yamanashi Meijo established the agricultural corporation Onakaya and has worked with a sake-rice producer group made up of local farmers. Choosing water, working with rice growers, and deciding how to brew that rice are connected parts of its production. The development of sparkling sake grew from this continuing work.

In his statement on the award, President Tsushima Kitahara acknowledged that conditions surrounding the supply of sake rice are far from easy. He stated that the brewery will continue to work with local farmers and to brew with Hakushu’s natural water.

Since 2015: Development and Secondary Fermentation in the Bottle

Shichiken released its first sparkling sake, Yama no Kasumi, in 2015 after five years of development. Hoshi no Kagayaki followed in 2016, and Mori no Kanade in 2017. By the time of this award, the brewery had been making sparkling sake for more than ten years.

Hoshi no Kagayaki is made through secondary fermentation in the bottle. Fermentation proceeds again inside a sealed bottle, allowing the carbon dioxide produced there to dissolve in the sake.

In sake brewing, koji enzymes convert rice starch into sugars, and yeast converts those sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide. During the usual brewing process, carbon dioxide can escape. Fermentation inside a sealed bottle retains the gas in the sake and provides its effervescence. In Hoshi no Kagayaki, both the brewing of sake from rice and the subsequent fermentation inside the bottle shape the product’s characteristics.

Even Within Shichiken, Brewing Methods Differ

The Shichiken products presented by Bacchus Global include SHICHIKEN Yama no Kasumi Sparkling-sake and SHICHIKEN Mori no Kanade Sparkling-sake. Both use secondary fermentation in the bottle, yet their production differs.

Yama no Kasumi is lightly cloudy. Its name and appearance evoke the mist around Mount Kaikomagatake. Mori no Kanade, meanwhile, uses sake rested in whisky casks from Suntory Hakushu Distillery, combining cask maturation with secondary fermentation in the bottle.

Even within one brewery’s sparkling range, retaining a lightly cloudy appearance or incorporating cask maturation creates different production paths. Looking at the stages where the methods differ makes it easier to explain each product’s character.

From the Award to the Brewers’ Work

When introducing sake in Bangkok, an award can attract interest. Explaining the fermentation process, Hakushu’s water, and the brewery’s work with local farmers gives that introduction more substance.

From Yama no Kasumi in 2015 to Hoshi no Kagayaki’s President’s Prize in 2026, Shichiken’s development shows how Yamanashi Meijo has combined the sake-making practices established in Hakushu with secondary fermentation in the bottle and different approaches for individual products. The award offers a reason to look more closely at that continuing work.

This article presents the award history and brewing methods of Shichiken for educational purposes. It does not promote the purchase or consumption of alcohol. Intended for readers aged 20 and over.

บทความนี้นำเสนอประวัติการได้รับรางวัลและวิธีการผลิตสาเกของ Shichiken เพื่อให้ความรู้ ไม่ได้ส่งเสริมการซื้อหรือการบริโภคเครื่องดื่มแอลกอฮอล์ สำหรับผู้อ่านที่มีอายุ 20 ปีขึ้นไป