Nada: The Sleeping Giant

Sake On Air

Nada is a well-known name in the world of sake. Almost a brand, it is associated with the area whose sake dominated the Edo (Tokyo) market in the later part of the Edo period (1603-1868), and it is still the largest sake production area in Japan.

Despite this track record, “Nada sake” can sometimes be reduced to an association with “Industrial sake” and carry a slightly negative image. We think it is important to set a few facts straight!

In this episode Andrew Russell, sake brewer at the iconic brewery Kenbishi, John Gauntner and Sebastien Lemoine discuss Nada and its sake: the area’s boundaries (across 3 cities today) and history, the sake style, the huge contribution it made to the development of the sake brewing industry (processes, tools, sakagura design).

That history was rough at times and Nada breweries last showed their strength and resilience at the occasion of the 1995 Hanshin earthquake. It led to deep changes in the area. Nada breweries can make any sake, and it should not be a surprise that Hyogo (including 9 Nada breweries) collected the largest number of gold medals at the New Sake Appraisal Competition in 2024.

Last but not least, our 3 hosts are sharing a number of tips about places our listeners can visit there to discover or experience more.

For anyone curious about Andrew Russell, make sure to check out his tours and website on OriginSake and or listen to his podcast (Sake Deep Dive, co-produced by Jim Rion)

As always, if you have questions or comments please do share them with us at [e-mail] or head over to our Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook we would love to hear from you!

We’ll be back very soon with plenty more Sake On Air.

Until then, kampai! This episode has been made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association. Sake on Air was created by Potts-K Productions and is produced by Export Japan. Our team is Justin Potts, Miho Ota, Cindy Bissig, Sebastien Lemoine, John Gauntner, Chris Hughes, Rebekah Wilson-Lye, Marie Nagata, Christopher Pelegrini, Arline Lyons, Shuso Imada, and Frank Walter. Our theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” was composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.