BREWERIES

NOGUCHI NAOHIKO SAKE INSTITUTE

In his nineties, Noguchi Naohiko still brews. Not out of habit. Not out of nostalgia. But because his life's singular purpose has always been clear: to make people happy. They call him "The God of Sake", a title earned through seven decades of devotion to the craft. Noguchi-san is the living legend who revived the ancient Yamahai method and ignited the Ginjo boom of the 1980s, fundamentally reshaping modern sake as we know it. His present brewery, the Noguchi Naohiko Sake Institute, founded in 2017 and tucked in the mountains of Ishikawa Prefecture, is both a temple and laboratory, a space where tradition breathes and innovation hums quietly in the background. When Régis Camus approached him with the concept of Assemblage, there was mutual recognition. Two grandmasters. Two cultures. One shared obsession with perfection, giving life to PRESTIGE I

NIIZAWA

 In the heart of Miyagi Prefecture, where the Ou Mountains meet pristine waters, Niizawa Brewery has crafted sake since 1873. But it was the devastation of the 2011 earthquake that would define its modern chapter. When the earth shook, the brewery fell. Yet from the rubble, Iwao-san rebuilt, not just structures, but spirit. His dedication became legend, a testament to the quiet strength that defines Japanese craftsmanship. Years later, another seismic shift: in 2018 Iwao-san passed the torch to Nanami Watanabe, who became Toji at the age of 22, then the youngest female Toji in Japan. A bold choice that speaks to tradition evolving, not ending. Today, Watanabe-san honors the legacy while writing her own. Her sake carries the weight of history and the lightness of renewal. LABEL NOIR embodies this duality: rooted in a brewing history that began in 1873, elevated through the art of Assemblage.

URAKASUMI

Urakasumi survived wars, earthquakes, and centuries of change—not by resisting evolution, but by embracing it with grace. Led by its president, Koichi Saura, the brewery is known for providing sacred sake to the Shiogama Shrine and for Kyokai No. 12 yeast, which originated at Urakasumi. The result is LABEL ORANGE, our Junmai Daiginjo that captures the essence of coastal Japan.

DEWAZAKURA

In the snow-laden valleys of Yamagata Prefecture, Dewazakura has been brewing sake since 1892. But it was in the 1980s that they would change everything. While most breweries reserved their finest Ginjo sake for competitions and private collections, Dewazakura dared to ask: Why shouldn't everyone experience this? They helped make Ginjo sake more widely accessible, a shift that opened the world to sake's true potential.

Their brewing philosophy mirrors the landscape that surrounds them: pure, unpretentious, shaped by patience and the changing seasons. The cold mountain water, the quiet devotion of craftsmen who understand that great sake cannot be rushed.

Our LABEL AZUR honors Dewazakura's pioneering legacy while unlocking new dimensions of flavor through the art of Assemblage.

KONISHI

Konishi have been brewing in Itami, the birthplace of clear sake (seishu), since 1550. Fifteen generations have inherited and refined a single vision: to preserve the essence of their craft while reinventing it as something endlessly new. This proud heritage is reflected in their sake, a liquid embodiment of grace and rigor. Centuries later, their spirit was reinterpreted by Régis Camus, with an Assemblage that breathes fresh complexity into their time-honored brew. Tradition doesn’t need to stand still to stay true.