Sake Data

Sake Awards by Prefecture

Name: Japanese sake competition awards by prefecture
Creator: Yamato-dō
License: https://www.yamato-do.com/about

Which part of Japan brews the most decorated sake? We counted every competition award held in our database — 1,460 wins across 46prefectures — and grouped them by the brewery’s home prefecture. Fukushima leads, followed by Yamagata, Miyagi, and Akita. Every number below is an exact count from source-linked award records, not an estimate.

Which prefecture wins the most sake awards?

Across 1,460 competition awards in the Yamato-dō sake database — drawn from the NRIB National New Sake Appraisal, Kura Master, and SAKE COMPETITION — Fukushima Prefecture wins the most (99 awards), ahead of Yamagata (92), Miyagi (86), and Akita (82). Most of Fukushima’s lead comes from the national NRIB appraisal (44 of its 99 awards), where its breweries have a long record of gold prizes.

#	Prefecture	Awards	Breweries	Brands	Kura Master	NRIB	SAKE COMPETITION
1	Fukushima福島県	99	33	42	15	44	40
2	Yamagata山形県	92	27	27	39	39	14
3	Miyagi宮城県	86	20	24	38	18	30
4	Akita秋田県	82	19	21	35	30	17
5	Nagano長野県	71	31	32	25	37	9
6	Hyogo兵庫県	70	24	25	31	34	5
7	Niigata新潟県	69	39	42	25	33	11
8	Mie三重県	60	15	18	16	21	23
9	Hiroshima広島県	59	20	21	14	24	21
10	Tochigi栃木県	58	14	15	19	24	15
11	Kochi高知県	49	14	16	15	14	20
12	Ibaraki茨城県	48	13	16	13	13	22
13	Gunma群馬県	42	12	17	18	13	11
14	Iwate岩手県	40	10	11	14	17	9
15	Shizuoka静岡県	40	12	12	25	8	7
16	Yamaguchi山口県	38	11	12	7	10	21
17	Gifu岐阜県	29	11	11	23	5	1
18	Saga佐賀県	27	8	9	16	4	7
19	Okayama岡山県	26	9	10	11	11	4
20	Aomori青森県	25	9	9	11	11	3
21	Fukuoka福岡県	25	11	11	16	5	4
22	Chiba千葉県	24	5	6	12	7	5
23	Ehime愛媛県	24	8	8	9	6	9
24	Fukui福井県	24	9	10	17	7	0
25	Kyoto京都府	23	13	14	5	16	2
26	Nara奈良県	21	8	10	8	7	6
27	Saitama埼玉県	21	11	11	7	13	1
28	Toyama富山県	20	8	9	11	7	2
29	Aichi愛知県	19	8	8	9	9	1
30	Shimane島根県	17	8	8	7	7	3
31	Oita大分県	16	6	6	11	3	2
32	Yamanashi山梨県	15	3	4	6	3	6
33	Shiga滋賀県	14	5	5	6	4	4
34	Ishikawa石川県	12	8	8	6	6	0
35	Hokkaido北海道	11	8	8	4	6	1
36	Wakayama和歌山県	11	5	5	8	1	2
37	Kanagawa神奈川県	10	4	4	6	3	1
38	Nagasaki長崎県	10	7	7	4	4	2
39	Osaka大阪府	7	5	5	0	7	0
40	Kagawa香川県	6	2	2	5	1	0
41	Tokushima徳島県	6	2	2	4	2	0
42	Kumamoto熊本県	5	3	3	4	1	0
43	Tottori鳥取県	4	2	2	1	3	0
44	Tokyo東京都	3	1	1	2	1	0
45	Kagoshima鹿児島県	1	1	1	0	0	1
46	Miyazaki宮崎県	1	1	1	0	0	1
	Total	1460	—	—	578	539	343

The breweries and brands columns count distinct producers within each prefecture, so they are not summable into the total row (each brewery and brand sits in exactly one prefecture).

How this is counted

Source dataset: the brand_awards table in the Yamato-dō sake DB — 1,460 rows, each carrying an official source_url. No estimated values are used.
Contests covered: Kura Master (578), NRIB (539), SAKE COMPETITION (343). NRIB is the National New Sake Appraisal (全国新酒鑑評会).
Method: each award row is joined from its brand to its brewery, and the prefecture is read directly from the brewery record. Counts are computed exactly — no rounding, no sampling.
Coverage: 46 of 47 prefectures hold at least one award. Awards excluded for a missing prefecture: 0.
These competitions are a curated sample of major sake awards — not every award ever given. They reflect the brewing excellence most often cited internationally.

Cite this: Source: Yamato-dō sake DB, n=1,460 competition awards (Kura Master, NRIB National New Sake Appraisal, SAKE COMPETITION).

See the winners themselves on the award-winners pages, or read why these regions brew the way they do in our guide to Japan’s sake regions.

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