Juyondai was featured in dancyu magazine
April 11, 2025
Series: The New World of Sake Opened by “Juyondai” — The Work and Ripple Effects of 15th-Generation Brewer Tatsugoro Takagi
Juyondai burst onto the scene in 1994 like a comet. Its fresh taste grabbed people’s hearts and quickly turned it into a star label. For thirty years it has held the top spot. The fact that the brewer was the 25-year-old heir of the family was itself a revolution. By chasing a unique flavor that ignored trends, embracing the “kuramoto-toji” style where the owner is also the head brewer, choosing catchy names, and setting daring prices, Juyondai has led change in the sake world and still stands apart. In this series we look at how Tatsugoro Takagi—then called Akitsuna—of Takagi Shuzo in Murayama, Yamagata, reshaped sake, with comments from other brewers, retailers, and restaurants.
A single bottle released 31 years ago sparked a nationwide craze.
Today we enjoy a wide range of high-quality sake: crisp and dry, sweet like dessert, bright with acidity, or even sparkling. We can freely pick a bottle to match our taste, our food, or the moment.
But three decades ago sake choices were limited. The fashion of the time was “tanrei-karakuchi”—light, clean, and dry. Many drinkers turned to these dry styles as a reaction against cheap sake sweetened with added alcohol and sugar. Some even claimed the best sake should be as flavorless as water.
Then Juyondai arrived in 1994 with fruity aromas and lively, full flavors. It carried rich sweetness and umami, yet felt light on the palate and finished clean. Its sweetness was nothing like the heavy aftertaste of sake sweetened with added sugar. Sake lovers and experts were shocked by this new taste and soon swept up in excitement.
The brewer, Akitsuna Takagi (who took the name Tatsugoro in 2023), was only 25 and the owner’s son. This shocked the industry. Normally the owner handled business while an experienced, middle-aged toji led production. The toji, often farmers or fishermen in the off-season, lived at the brewery only in winter. For a young “son of the house” to replace the toji and brew the sake himself was almost unheard of.
The new label, brewed by a young heir, became a hit. Magazines and TV dubbed Takagi “a new star” and “sake’s Cinderella boy.” His shining example inspired other young owners and changed their mindset. Today, in many small and mid-size breweries, the owner also serves as head brewer—the “kuramoto-toji” model. Fewer seasonal toji are available, but Takagi’s success showed young successors they could brew sake themselves. Juyondai’s debut was truly epoch-making.
Why did Takagi choose to brew the sake himself, and what drove him to create such a fresh, unheard-of flavor?
Takagi Shuzo stands in Tominami, Murayama, Yamagata, an area famous for heavy snow. The brewery was founded in 1615, the year the Tokugawa shogunate unified Japan. Born in 1968 as the eldest son, Takagi always knew he would inherit the business. From grade school his grandfather trained his palate by having him taste foods side by side. In junior high he followed his father’s guidance and lived alone in Yamagata City. He later studied at Tokyo University of Agriculture’s high school and brewing department. After graduation he worked at Isetan in Shinjuku, selling sake. Two years later, his father—then 14th-generation Tatsugoro—told him the toji was retiring.
Because his father served as a prefectural assemblyman, Takagi was the only one who could manage the brewery. He returned home in 1993 and, at 24, joined the family business. His father asked him to take over brewing. “Our sales were falling and we couldn’t afford a new toji. I had no choice but to brew myself,” he recalls. The toji left, but the workers who had played with him as a child stayed and supported him. With the pride of a long-established brewery and a strong sense of duty, Takagi took his first steps as a “kuramoto-toji.”
