In mid-August 2022, the Kura Master judges, judges, and secretariat staff visited Kitaya, the brewery in Yame City, Fukuoka Prefecture, where Kura Kura is produced. They observed the sake brewing methods and attention to detail. Through the images from the visit, we will introduce the appeal of Kura Kura and the background to its development.
The "Kura Master Sake Competition", which began in 2017, is a competition established as a forum to promote Japanese sake to the Western market. The judges are top sommeliers, barmen, and bartenders from first-class hotels in France. All of them are professionals active at the forefront of the French food and beverage industry.
In 2021, the Shochu and Awamori Competition was established, and at the prestigious first competition, Tsuruku 50/50 won the Platinum Award, which is equivalent to about 10% of the entries. Furthermore, it was selected as one of the Top 13, with two brands selected from each of the six categories of potato shochu, rice shochu, barley shochu, brown sugar shochu, awamori, and barrel storage (three brands of rice shochu only). This was a valuable opportunity for Tsuruku's taste to be recognized in the Western market.
The relationship between JAL and Kitaya was forged through the barley shochu "Gokuu"
Kakuzora is produced by Kitaya, a long-established sake brewery that has been in business for over 200 years in Yame City, Fukuoka Prefecture. The brewery is renowned for producing high-quality sake, using the rich underground water of the Yabe River and paying particular attention to the rice used as the raw material.
The relationship between JAL and Kitaya dates back about 20 years. At the time, in response to customer requests for shochu to be served on board, Kitaya's barley shochu "Goku" was introduced for use in Executive Class on international flights in 2003.
Goku was well received by customers and was offered for about 10 years. At that time, Kamagata Akio, who was the manager of the Cabin Service Planning Department, was the liaison with Kitaya in charge of selecting in-flight meals and alcoholic beverages.
Kamagata then became the first president of JAL Agriport, which was established in 2018. While energetically running the company, he began to think, "I want to balance the company's profits with contributing to local agriculture. I wonder if we can create an original product using sweet potatoes from Narita City, where the company is located?"
It was Kitaya who came up with the idea of developing sweet potato shochu and said, "Let's team up again to make the best shochu."
Kotaro Kinoshita, the seventh generation head of Kitaya, was moved by Kamagata's enthusiasm. "Thanks to JAL and Mr. Kamagata, Goku has traveled the world and brought joy to many people. Now it's my turn to give back to Mr. Kamagata and live up to his expectations," he said, readily agreeing to develop and produce JAL's original potato shochu. After a year of trial and error, Kakuzora was born.
We'll take you behind the scenes of JAL's work, including inside stories on the introduction of the A350 and the development of in-flight meal menus.
The contents published are accurate at the time of publication and are subject to change.
