A Fresh Breeze
for A New Time
Nagai Sake Brewery, Gunma Prefecture's long-established sake brewery founded 135 years ago
A new breeze is wafting through the traditional world of sake. The MIZUBASHO Artist Series brings you the “Nagai Style” in these fun and casual sakes to enjoy at any dining occasion. This artist collaboration series features stylishly designed bottles with a beautiful label illustrated with a Mizubasho.
The mizubasho is a plant that grows naturally, especially in cold regions, where the water is pure. It appears like a pretty white fairy when it begins blooming quietly in thawing water. The MIZUBASHO brand aims to make sake that is beautiful and pure, just like the mizubasho flowering in pure water.
There are three sakes in the new lineup—sparkling, still, and dessert. The MIZUBASHO Artist Series offers new possibilities for enjoyment based on the concept and story behind the sake, not on the traditional characteristics of rice-polishing ratio or category, such as junmai-shu or ginjo-shu unique to sake.
This concept is at the core of the MIZUBASHO Artist Series.
Contributing to Society
The MIZUBASHO Artist Series offers you the opportunity to contribute to society simply by enjoying this sake in your daily life. The Mizubasho flower on the label represents one of Gunma Prefectures natural attractions, Oze National Park. This beautiful flower used to grow in abundance in Oze, but its numbers have fallen dramatically in recent years due to major changes in the natural environment brought on by global warming. We long to see the Mizubasho bloom all over Oze once again. To support this cause, part of the proceeds from our MIZUBASHO Artist Series are donated to environmental conservation activities in Oze.
We hope you will enjoy this sake knowing you are helping to protect this beautiful natural environment and contributing to a better future.
Our sake fully embodies this sentiment.
A New Story of Sake and Women
Women are seeking more freedom and flexibility in how they enjoy sake. And they are responding passionately to the possibilities of our new MIZUBASHO Artist Series.
Today’s women are making shining achievements across a variety of fields. Their lifestyles are diversifying and bringing change, and this diversity extends to their relationship with sake. We are offering them a sake experience for a new lifestyle where sake is a part of their everyday life. The concept is for an “easy, fashionable, and enjoyable” sake. Come discover this attractive lifestyle, fashioned by the MIZUBASHO Artist Series, for yourself.
To convey our concept a sake to enjoy more casually, the MIZUBASHO Artist Series is collaborating with outstanding women at the forefronts of their fields and sharing their interviews, recipe ideas and offering tasting events.
The MIZUBASHO Artist Series aims to create added value for our sake through art. Each year we invite an artist who supports the Oze Mizubasho Project to create a label design featuring the Mizubasho flower.
Our third label is a work by Hiroko Otake, a Japanese-style painter who supports environmental conservation activities for Oze and women empowerment, both embodied by the MIZUBASHO Artist Series.
This label depicts a Mizubasho flower and an Asagimadara butterfly on a background inspired by the beautiful scenery of Oze. She uses the traditional Japanese painting technique of gold leaf as a design background to depict the beautiful golden land of Oze and the “unchanging beauty” the Mizubasho flower symbolizes.
Ms. Otake believes that the MIZUBASHO Artist Series is an opportunity for people to rediscover the charm of Japanese sake and appreciate the diversity of Japanese culture.
MIZUBASHO Artist Series
Floral Sparkling 2023
This sparkling sake has floral notes reminiscent of the pretty white flowers of the Mizubasho. We made it in a casual style by using our unique in-bottle secondary fermentation technology that has evolved from many years of research. The soft, silky foam is in harmony with the flavors of white peach and apple.
Alcohol content: 12% / Capacity: 360ml
MIZUBASHO Artist Series
Still Sake 2023
This sake is characterized by a smooth, light taste. It has the elegant sweetness of lychee, a taste of fresh fruit, and a slight grapefruit flavor. Our aim was to create a sake that while gentle, can expand when encountering a wide range of flavors. It can be enjoyed casually with a variety of dishes.
Alcohol content: 13% / Capacity: 720ml
MIZUBASHO Artist Series
Dessert Sake 2023
Our dessert sake is finished with an elegant sweetness reminiscent of passion fruit and apricots. It’s the perfect drink when you want to take a break and reward yourself for a job well done or a day well spent. Whether you drink it as is or combine it with sweets, fruits, or cheese, this is a dessert sake certain to make you smile.
Alcohol content: 12% / Capacity: 300ml
Nagai Sake Brewery has a long tradition of producing sake in Gunma since 1886. Yumi Katsura is known globally for bringing traditional Japanese beauty to the world. Now they are partnering on a new sparkling sake.
The MIZUBASHO Artist Series special AWA SAKE (sparkling sake) is the perfect drink for any celebratory occasion. It was created through a collaboration that combines the concepts of tradition and innovation shared by both companies.
The label depicts the white and green of the mizubasho flower in a modern, checkered pattern. The AWA SAKE glass silhouette features the Nagai family crest—four squares in a circle—and Yumi Katsura’s arrow family crest used in markets abroad.
This is a modern, cool-looking AWA SAKE that fits well with a variety of table designs, whether Japanese, Western, or Japanese-Western fusion. Your guests will also be surprised and happy searching for the two hidden hearts.
MIZUBASHO with Yumi Katsura
This is a full-fledged sparkling sake that combines the technique of secondary fermentation with traditional sake manufacturing methods. It’s presented in a bottle derived from the Champagne region.
Born from the concepts of tradition and innovation shared by both Nagai Sake Brewery and Yumi Katsura, we call this the “AWA SAKE that spins happiness”. It is perfect for any celebratory occasion.
This is a full-fledged sparkling sake that combines the technique of secondary fermentation with traditional sake manufacturing methods. It’s presented in a bottle derived from the Champagne region.
Born from the concepts of tradition and innovation shared by both Nagai Sake Brewery and Yumi Katsura, we call this the “AWA SAKE that spins happiness”. It is perfect for any celebratory occasion.
We use 100% of the rare edible rice Yuki Hotaka, which has won the highest number of gold medals in the National Rice and Taste Analysis Appraisal Contest. Producing using local ingredients is important to us so we also use KAZE yeast from Gunma Prefecture.
The scent is reminiscent of green apples, muscat grapes, and white flowers. The fine and soft bubbles created by low-temperature aging under thorough temperature control create a transparent, rice-derived tartness. The sweetness and umami are well balanced, and it bursts comfortably in the mouth.
Alcohol content: 13% / Capacity: 720ml & 360ml
We use 100% of the rare edible rice Yuki Hotaka, which has won the highest number of gold medals in the National Rice and Taste Analysis Appraisal Contest. Producing using local ingredients is important to us so we also use KAZE yeast from Gunma Prefecture.
The scent is reminiscent of green apples, muscat grapes, and white flowers. The fine and soft bubbles created by low-temperature aging under thorough temperature control create a transparent, rice-derived tartness. The sweetness and umami are well balanced, and it bursts comfortably in the mouth.
Alcohol content: 13% / Capacity: 720ml & 360ml
A portion (5%) of the proceeds from the MIZUBASHO Artist Series will be donated to activities to support the restoration of Oze’s natural environment, culture and history through the Oze Mizubasho project.
