Makino Shuzo· 牧野酒造

Kurabuchi, Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture · Est. 1690

Makino Shuzo has been brewing in the mountains of Gunma since 1690, making it the oldest sake brewery in the prefecture. Their own tagline says it best: tradition and innovation. In practice, these two things live side by side in the same building — embodied in two very different labels that together tell the full story of what sake can be.

The heart of the house is Oosakazuki (大盃) — deeply traditional sake that has been winning national competitions for decades. Refined, precise, and rooted in over three centuries of accumulated craft, it represents everything Makino Shuzo has mastered since the brewery's founding. This is sake for those who already know what they are looking for.

MACHO is for everyone else. Where Oosakazuki looks inward, MACHO looks outward — designed from the start to open up sake to drinkers who have never encountered it before, and particularly to a world shaped by wine and fine dining. The series is built as a journey through a full French-style tasting menu: it opens with a sparkling sake, light and celebratory; moves into a clean, fresh sokujo-style sake that pairs with delicate early courses; and builds toward richer, more complex kimoto expressions to match the weight of a main course. Each bottle in the series plays a specific role, much like a sommelier selecting a different wine for each stage of a meal. The labels — featuring muscular illustrated figures that could not be further from traditional Japanese aesthetics — make the playfulness of the project immediately clear. There are no rules here. Just sake, well-made, served at the right moment.

That both things come from the same brewery, and the same 330-year tradition, is precisely the point.