News
Aramasa’s Sato Yusuke on Rebuilding Sake Through Rice, Yeast and Wooden Vats
Aramasa Brewery in Akita Prefecture and its president, Yusuke Sato, are the subject of the first part of a feature published by AERA STYLE MAGAZINE on August 27, 2026. The article follows the decisions behind a brewing approach centred on local rice, the Association No. 6 yeast, kimoto methods and wooden vats.
Returning to a Family Brewery
Sato returned to Akita in late 2007 after working in Tokyo as a journalist. He became president of the family brewery in 2012. The article describes an early period of reducing existing inventory and overall production while rebuilding the brewery’s production team and direction.
Rice and Yeast as Starting Points
Aramasa works exclusively with the Association No. 6 yeast associated with the brewery and with rice grown in Akita Prefecture. The feature describes experimentation with combinations of rice and yeast as part of the brewery’s search for a clearer expression of sake.
One result was No.6, introduced in 2011. The article places this sake in the context of the brewery’s use of its resident yeast, kimoto-style starters and an approach to acidity that differed from conventional expectations at the time.
Reintroducing Older Production Methods
The feature identifies three long-term directions in Sato’s work: sake made with No. 6 yeast and Akita-grown rice; junmai production using kimoto-style starters; and brewing with wooden vats and rice grown without agricultural chemicals in the brewery’s own fields.
Rather than presenting these choices as a break with the past, Sato describes them as a reintroduction of earlier practices within a contemporary brewery. The first part of the feature records how those choices have shaped Aramasa’s current production philosophy.
