The Po valley in the Northern Italy is known for production of its world class fermented food, such as prosciutto of Parma, Culatello, and Parmesan cheese. They have extremely advanced technology in aging process for their rich home-grown products that local people have honed over a long period of time in their natural conditions. When one looks for a similar place with such techniques in Japan, people would mention Akita in the first place.　(74 words)

Kinmon Akita SAKE Brewery is situated in Daisen-shi, south east part of Akita prefecture, the rice producing center of the prefecture. The place is well known in the country for "All Japan Fireworks Competition", which is held every year in August along the Omono river. It is a giant event where 600,000 fireworks fans gather in a town of 90,000 inhabitants.
Sake ranks the first among the specialties of Akita food. Besides, there are other fermented foods using rice malt, as rich in rice production. Such examples include: "sandfish sushi", a sushi using marinated Sailfin sandfish, a main fish of Akita; "Shottsuru", a fish sauce made of sandfish; and "Iburi-zuke (smoked pickles)", pickles of smoked vegetables like radish, smoked over an open fireplace, and marinated with rice bran and salt.

These productions are graced by long winter with heavy snow derived from the humid Japan sea. Winter in Akita, always with serene earth and rough sea, creates what we can call a natural enclosure, providing an optimal and stable humidity and temperature.
From hundreds of years ago where there was no scientific knowledge or refrigerator, the ancestors of people in Akita has been fascinated by the wonders of fermentation and accumulated know-how to enhance tastes. The masterpieces of food, called specialties today, are founded on a complex combination of industries and societies with a broad base of knowledge that numerous people have contributed in the background. We can say that fermentation culture of Akita is a part of rich civilization of Tohoku region.

Today, people have a stereotyped idea that the best sake is pure rice brewed. However, when pure rice sake is matured for long time, it is impossible to remove negative impact of hiochi lactobacillus. When we were tearing our hair out, it was the people at wineries, brewing grapes, who gave us a great encouragement. "Why do you stick to the old thinking? For Champagnes, sugar is added at the end of the process to adjust flavor, for example." We, Kinmon Akita SAKE Brewery, have devoted ourselves to sake brewery that is uniquely possible to this place, refining 'umami' the core essence of sake. Pairing with European and Japanese fermented foods, the aged sake surprisingly enriches the taste of these foods by its 'umami'. We believe that this 'umami' taste further continues to widen and deepen the flavors of various food items and will open a scope for a new savory experience. It was such a reputation that made our aged sake well received in Europe. It also means that we appealed the new value of sake with our product recognized as world-class.