The two characters “純米 (junmai)” on a sake label show that no brewer’s alcohol (jozo alcohol, 醸造アルコール) has been added. The only ingredients are rice, rice koji (kome koji, 米麹) and water. Rice koji is steamed rice on which koji mold (麹菌) has been grown. It turns the starch in the rice into sugar.
“Junmai” is part of a special designation (tokutei meisho, 特定名称) set by national standards. Only sake that meets the conditions may use it. The special designations as a whole are explained on the Types of sake page.
The four names that include “junmai”
There are eight special designations, and four of them include “junmai”. The differences between the four are how much of the outer part of the rice has been polished away, and how the sake is made.
| Name | Rice polishing and brewing method |
|---|---|
| Junmai-shu (純米酒) | No requirement |
| Tokubetsu junmai-shu (特別純米酒) | At least 40% of the outer rice polished away, or made with a special production method |
| Junmai ginjo-shu (純米吟醸酒) | At least 40% of the outer rice polished away, and made by ginjo brewing, in which the sake is fermented slowly at a low temperature |
| Junmai daiginjo-shu (純米大吟醸酒) | At least half of the outer rice polished away, and made by ginjo brewing |
How much of the rice has been polished away is shown by the “rice polishing ratio (seimai buai, 精米歩合)”. The rice polishing ratio is a number that shows the weight of the rice that remains after polishing as a share of the original brown rice. A ratio of 60% means that the outer 40% has been polished away.
Junmai-shu has no rule on rice polishing
Until 2003, junmai-shu also had a condition of “a rice polishing ratio of 70% or less”. Later, advances in equipment and technique made it possible to make sake comparable to junmai-shu even with rice that did not meet this condition. As a result, sake made only from rice, rice koji and water was split into “junmai-shu” and sake that could not be called junmai-shu, sold side by side, and the difference had become hard to understand.
So the standards were revised in January 2004, and the rice polishing ratio condition for junmai-shu was removed. Instead, sake with a special designation became required to show the rice polishing ratio right next to the list of ingredients on the label. You can see how much the rice for a junmai-shu has been polished by looking at the bottle.
“Tanaka Rokujugo (田中六五)” from Shiraito Shuzo (白糸酒造) in Fukuoka Prefecture is a junmai-shu brewed with a rice polishing ratio of 65%. → Article on Tanaka Rokujugo
Rice and rice koji alone do not make a sake junmai-shu
To be called junmai-shu, a sake must meet other conditions besides its ingredients. These conditions apply to all eight special designations.
- The rice used for the rice koji must be at least 15% of the weight of the rice used as an ingredient
- The brown rice must be graded third class or higher in the agricultural product inspection, or be brown rice of an equivalent standard
In addition, good aroma, taste, color and luster are also conditions.
Sake that does not meet the conditions cannot use a special designation. Sake without a special designation is called “futsu-shu (普通酒)”. When a futsu-shu label uses words similar to a special designation, it is supposed to state clearly, right next to those words, that the sake is not special designation sake.
The only difference between junmai and non-junmai is brewer’s alcohol
The four types without “junmai” (honjozo-shu, tokubetsu honjozo-shu, ginjo-shu and daiginjo-shu) have a small amount of brewer’s alcohol added. Brewer’s alcohol is alcohol made from ingredients that contain starch or sugar. The amount that can be added is limited to 10% of the weight of the polished rice used as an ingredient.
Adding an appropriate amount of brewer’s alcohol to sake while it is fermenting (the moromi, or fermenting mash) makes the aroma stronger and the taste cleaner. It also helps stop the growth of lactic acid bacteria, which spoil the aroma and taste of sake.
Whether a sake is junmai or not is a category of ingredients, not a ranking of quality. The taste of sake comes from everything together: the rice, the koji, the yeast, the fermentation, the pressing, the heating and the storage.
Telling them apart on the label
Look at the “原材料名” (ingredients) section on the back label of the bottle.
| How the ingredients are written | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 米、米こうじ (rice, rice koji) | No brewer’s alcohol has been added |
| 米、米こうじ、醸造アルコール (rice, rice koji, brewer’s alcohol) | Brewer’s alcohol has been added |
Even if you cannot read Japanese, the two characters “純米” are a useful mark when you point at a bottle in a liquor store or a restaurant.
The Dassai (獺祭) brewery in Yamaguchi Prefecture makes only junmai daiginjo. → Article on Dassai
Even under the same brewery or the same brand name, the special designation differs from product to product. When you buy, please check the label of each bottle.