A limited quantity of "Shumei Celebration Sake Dan Junmai Daiginjo" is arriving from Sasaichi Shuzo, a sake brewery with more than 360 years of history that brews sake with the clear water of Mount Fuji's Misaka mountains and offers ceremonial sake to Mount Fuji. The release celebrates Shumei: The Living Legacy of Kabuki, a film documenting the succession of Ichikawa Danjuro, the most prestigious hereditary name in kabuki, passed down since the Edo period. Advance orders open on September 15 through Sasaichi Shuzo's official online store (https://www.sasaichi.com/), with sales beginning on September 25, the same day the film opens.
Mount Fuji: A Bond Between the Ichikawa Family and Yamanashi
The Ichikawa family, bearers of one of kabuki's most storied names, traces its origins to Yamanashi Prefecture. Yamanashi, in the shadow of sacred Mount Fuji, has long been a place where the faith of Mount Fuji worship runs deep. To celebrate the continuation and flourishing of that lineage as depicted in Shumei: The Living Legacy of Kabuki, Sasaichi Shuzo — a Yamanashi brewery with more than 360 years of history that offers ceremonial sake to Mount Fuji — is releasing "Dan," one of its flagship labels. Brewed with the clear water of the Fuji-Misaka river system, "Dan" has been served in international first-class cabins and is highly regarded around the world. This cup, which brings together Mount Fuji's water, Yamanashi's history, and respect for the Ichikawa family, is offered in celebration of the release of Shumei: The Living Legacy of Kabuki.
About "Shumei Celebration Sake Dan Junmai Daiginjo"
Shumei Celebration Sake Dan Junmai Daiginjo, Special Edition (Limited Quantity)
Brewed with "Fuji Misaka Seiryusui," spring water refined by the Fuji-Misaka mountains and welling up within the brewery, this Junmai Daiginjo carries a rich flavor beneath a clarity that mirrors the purity of that water.
A smooth first sip gives way to gentle sweetness and rice-derived umami, followed by supple acidity that leads into a deep, quiet finish. Clear yet layered, it adds richness to a meal and to the moments spent over each cup.
The name "Dan" evokes the sunrise viewed from the summit of Mount Fuji, carrying both the pride of inheritance and the feeling of a new beginning.
It is offered as a special cup to celebrate the release of Shumei: The Living Legacy of Kabuki and to mark the dawn of carrying a name into the next generation.
- Rice: 100% special-grade Yamada Nishiki, grown in Yamanashi Prefecture
- Rice-polishing ratio: 35%
- Brewing water: Fuji Misaka Seiryusui (ultra-soft water, hardness approx. 8mg CaCO3/L)
- Volume: 720ml
- Comes in a presentation box
- Includes an accordion-fold booklet (798mm x 170mm) featuring Takashi Murakami's celebratory curtain artwork for Shumei: The Living Legacy of Kabuki
- Price: ¥44,000 (tax included)
Shumei Celebration Sake Dan Junmai Daiginjo
Brewed with the same "Fuji Misaka Seiryusui," this Junmai Daiginjo reflects the water's clarity in a smooth, clean palate and a clear finish.
A fruity, ginjo-like aroma carries elegant sweetness and balanced rice umami, while supple acidity tightens the flavor and leads into a translucent aftertaste. Its richness and clarity work in harmony, enhancing the dishes it is paired with.
The name "Dan" carries the feeling of a new beginning, drawn from the sunrise seen from the summit of Mount Fuji.
It celebrates both the release of Shumei: The Living Legacy of Kabuki and the passing of a name on to the next generation.
- Rice: 100% Yamada Nishiki, grown in Yamanashi Prefecture
- Rice-polishing ratio: 35%
- Brewing water: Fuji Misaka Seiryusui (ultra-soft water, hardness approx. 8mg CaCO3/L)
- Volume: 720ml
- Comes in a presentation box
- Includes a card (280mm x 60mm) featuring Takashi Murakami's celebratory curtain artwork for Shumei: The Living Legacy of Kabuki
- Price: ¥16,500 (tax included)
About the Film Shumei: The Living Legacy of Kabuki
"Ichikawa Danjuro" is the most prestigious hereditary name in kabuki, passed down since the Edo period. Its succession is more than a milestone in a single actor's career. Shumei: The Living Legacy of Kabuki, director Takashi Miike's first documentary feature, captures head-on the joint succession ceremony of the 13th-generation Ichikawa Danjuro Hakuen and his son, the 8th-generation Ichikawa Shinnosuke. The film screened in the Out of Competition section of the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, where it became the first Japanese film to win the festival's independent Cinema & Arts Award for Best Film.
Made possible after overcoming roughly two and a half years of delay caused by the pandemic, the film documents the story behind this historic moment: the responsibility of carrying on a storied name, a father's wish to pass his art to his son, and Shinnosuke, representing the next generation, stepping toward the future together with the kabuki tradition he inherits. It also records the creative process behind the celebratory curtain that the internationally renowned artist Takashi Murakami created for the succession ceremony, following Ichikawa Danjuro as he navigates, as a performer, the space between "inheritance" and "individuality," and depicting the continuation of kabuki culture where tradition, innovation, art, and life intersect.
- Cast: Ichikawa Danjuro, Ichikawa Shinnosuke
- Narration: 杏
- Director: Takashi Miike
- Curtain art: Takashi Murakami
- Producer: 紀伊宗之
- Producers: 田中傳次郎, 坂美佐子
- Production: OLM; PlanD
- Cooperation: Japan Actors' Association
- Special cooperation: Shochiku
- Distribution: K2 Pictures
© 2026 K2 Pictures / 3Top
About "Dan"
"Dan" takes its name from the sunrise that appears above the summit of Mount Fuji, representing the new life it brings. Otsuki, in Yamanashi, flourished as "Oiwake," the gateway where pilgrims bound for sacred Mount Fuji purified body and mind, and Sasaichi Shuzo has kept its brewery here for more than 360 years. Sasaichi Shuzo offers ceremonial sake to Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine, the spiritual center of Mount Fuji worship, and continues to uphold that reverence and tradition while carrying the region's faith forward through its sake-making.
At the heart of "Dan" is a brewing philosophy that pursues sake as the ideal companion to a meal. Its flavor, shaped by "Fuji Misaka Seiryusui" spring water rising from this sacred ground and by carefully selected sake rice, is deep, refined, and carries a timeless quality.
Traditional yeast and lactic acid bacteria, combined with long, low-temperature fermentation, draw out the essential umami of the rice to its fullest, enhancing whatever dish it is paired with and bringing a refined moment to any fine meal.
Each cup of "Dan" aims for a clarity and dignity befitting the light that descends from the summit of Mount Fuji.
A Modern Pilgrimage Route, From Otsuki to Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine
Sasaichi Shuzo offers ceremonial sake to Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine, a shrine sacred to Mount Fuji worship. When "Traditional Sake-Making in Japan" was registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, Sasaichi Shuzo held a commemorative ceremony there. Since the Edo period, the shrine has been known as a key point on "Fuji-michi," the pilgrimage route that travelers passed through Otsuki to reach before climbing Mount Fuji's northern trail. For more than 360 years, Sasaichi Shuzo has brewed sake with the clear spring water of the Fuji-Misaka mountains and rice grown in Yamanashi, offering that sake at local rites — including offerings at Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine and at New Year, the Hatsusaru Festival, and the Chinkasai — connecting Mount Fuji worship and pilgrimage culture to the present day.
Where to Experience Sasaichi Shuzo
On the brewery grounds in Otsuki, Sasaichi Shuzo runs a directly operated shop, Sasaichi Shuyukan, and a café, SASAICHI KRAND CAFE. The shop carries the local sake brand "Sasaichi," the Yamanashi wine brand "OLIFANT," and items available only on-site, while the café serves sake-lees sweets made with lees from sake brewed with Mount Fuji's spring water, including a Sasaichi Sake-Lees Cheesecake, a Sasaichi Amazake Sundae, and Sasaichi Amazake Granola, with flavors that change by season.
Sasaichi Shuyukan
Hours: 9:30 AM to 6:00 PM
Closed: Open year-round
SASAICHI KRAND CAFE
Hours: Weekdays 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM; weekends and holidays 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM (last order 3:30 PM)
Closed: Open year-round
In June 2026, Sasaichi Shuzo opened Sasaichi Shuzo Otsuki Station Fujisan-mon, its first joint venture with JR East, inside the waiting room of JR Otsuki Station — the starting point of the 400-year-old "Fuji-michi" pilgrimage route — turning the space into a place to experience the history, faith, and culture of the Mount Fuji foothills. The shop offers "Sasaichi," the sake brand served as ceremonial sake at Kitaguchi Hongu Fuji Sengen Shrine and brewed with "Fuji Misaka Seiryusui" spring water filtered over time through the strata of the Fuji-Misaka mountains, along with a non-alcoholic sake-lees soft-serve, "Fujisan Twist," a new non-alcoholic sake-lees shake, "Fujisan Shake," and a house-made "Sasaichi Amazake Granola" bound only with amazake.
- Store: Sasaichi Shuzo Otsuki Station Fujisan-mon
- Closed: Open year-round
- Address: Inside the ticket gates of JR Otsuki Station, 1-1-1 Otsuki, Otsuki, Yamanashi Prefecture
- Products: Sasaichi Shuzo's flagship sake "Yata Sasaichi"; non-alcoholic sake-lees soft-serve "Fujisan Twist"; non-alcoholic sake-lees shake "Fujisan Shake"; souvenirs including Sasaichi Amazake Granola and Sasaichi Sake-Lees Candy
Sasaichi Shuzo also runs an in-shop location inside "Tabi no Eki Kawaguchiko Base," a multi-purpose commercial facility at the foot of Mount Fuji, selling "Sasaichi," the brewery's oldest and most locally rooted brand.
- Address: 521-4 Kawaguchi, Fujikawaguchiko, Minamitsuru District, Yamanashi Prefecture (inside Tabi no Eki Kawaguchiko Base)
- Hours: 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM (follows the hours of Tabi no Eki Kawaguchiko Base; subject to change by season and day of week)
- Website: https://www.kawaguchikobase.com/
Where to Buy and Follow
- Official online store: https://www.sasaichi.com/
- Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sasaichi_shuzou/
- Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SASAICHISAKE
