Juyondai was featured in dancyu magazine
April 25, 2025
The star brand “Juyondai,” brewed in Murayama, Yamagata, first appeared in 1994. Its fresh, unheard-of taste instantly grabbed the hearts of sake lovers. It was also sensational that a 25-year-old heir of a traditional brewery personally took charge of the brewing. For more than 30 years since, the 15th-generation owner, Mr. Tatsugoro Takagi (then known as Akitsuna), has kept chasing his own idea of good flavor, ignoring passing trends. His attitude has inspired many young successors and sparked change across the sake world. This series explores how Juyondai reshaped the industry through the voices of other brewers, retailers, and restaurants. Part 2 follows the autumn of 1993, when Mr. Takagi quit his job in Tokyo after the head brewer suddenly retired and was asked by his father to make sake.
Flavor, name, label, price—everything was new.
Though he suddenly became head brewer, Mr. Takagi already knew the taste he wanted. He pictured the soft aroma of steamed rice at dawn in the brewery and the gentle sweetness that fills your mouth when you bite into a warm rice cake. By showing those comforting rice flavors, he hoped to reveal sake’s real charm. This idea was the opposite of the crisp, dry style that was trendy then, but he thought, “A brewer’s duty is to make the delicious sake he believes in and let customers enjoy it.”
He had studied brewing science at Tokyo University of Agriculture but had never made sake in a kura before. The first season was tough, with hard physical work from early morning until late at night. The stress of knowing he could not fail was huge, and after the brewing finished in spring, he was hospitalized. The sake he had risked his health to make was released not under the old brand “Asahitaka,” but as “Juyondai.” Its youthful, lively taste—found in the first four labels, such as Nakadori Junmai and Nakadori Junmai Ginjo—became an instant hit, something veteran brewers had never produced.
The next year he released the honjozo “Honmaru” (now classed as Tokubetsu Honjozo), and the industry shook. At that time, a good sake usually meant an expensive daiginjo costing over ¥3,000 for a 720 ml bottle. Honmaru offered a refined taste with a gentle ginjo aroma, yet one 1.8-liter bottle cost less than ¥2,000. It was called “price destruction,” but it opened the door for many other high-quality, reasonably priced sakes.
Mr. Takagi says he felt a need for good sake at easy-to-buy prices from his time helping customers in liquor shops. A friendly name like “Honmaru,” catchy words on the label such as “Hidden Tama-Gaeshi” on Honmaru or “Nakadori” on his junmai bottles, also drew consumers’ attention.
In the third year he launched a series of junmai ginjo made with different rice strains such as Yamada-nishiki, Omachi, Hattan-nishiki, and Aiyama. Vivid yellow, green, and pink labels trimmed with gold and silver stood out on store shelves. Today labels by rice variety or in many colors are common, but back then they were hardly seen and looked fresh.
Guided by the “absolute palate” he has honed since childhood, Mr. Takagi keeps making the sake he believes is delicious, without chasing fashion, to please his customers. Staying true to that first vow, he has devoted himself to brewing. Many younger brewers say they were motivated by his example; more than the author can count on two hands confess, “Without Juyondai, I might never have tried brewing myself.” The sake you love the most could also be a creation inspired by Juyondai.
