Arabashiri, Nakadori, Seme: What the Three Parts of One Press Mean

Arabashiri, nakadori and seme are the three names brewers give to the first, middle and last sake to flow out of a single press, so one tank of fermented mash yields three fractions that brewers describe as having different characters. They mark moments in a process rather than grades of quality, and Japan’s sake labelling standard neither defines nor ranks them. This guide explains what each word means, why the sake changes as the pressure rises, and how to read the words when you meet them on a bottle.

What do arabashiri, nakadori and seme mean?

Arabashiri (荒走り, “rough run”), nakadori (中取り, “middle take”) and seme (責め, from the verb 責める, “to press”) are the trade’s three names for the first, middle and last sake out of one press, and none of the three appears in the National Tax Agency’s 1989 labelling standard for sake (NTA, Notice No. 8, 1989, as amended).

Think of them as positions on a timeline rather than as three products. The press starts gently, the sake runs cloudy at first and then clears, and the final portion comes out under the strongest squeeze. The vocabulary belongs to brewers, not to the law, and different houses use variant names for the middle stretch, including nakagumi (中汲み) and nakadare (中垂れ).

What actually happens when sake is pressed?

In the National Tax Agency’s 2024 Sake Guide, pressing (上槽, jōsō) is the single step between fermentation and filtration that splits the finished mash into two products, sake and sake lees (NTA, Sake no shiori, 2024).

The mash, moromi (醪), is a thick mixture of liquid and rice solids at the end of fermentation; the whole route from rice to bottle is traced in how sake is made. The press separates the liquid from the solids, the solids are left behind as sake kasu (酒粕), and the liquid goes on to be filtered, diluted and bottled. What filtration does to it, with charcoal or without, is the subject of why sake is filtered.

Pressure is not applied all at once. One brewery explains that squeezing suddenly clouds the sake and affects its quality, so it raises the pressure little by little, and that pressing a tank made with 3 tonnes of rice takes about half a day (Asahi Shuzo, 2021). That slow ramp is what makes three named stages possible in the first place.

What is arabashiri, the first run?

Arabashiri is the first of the three fractions: in the traditional box press (槽, fune), the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association’s glossary describes it as the cloudy white sake that begins to run while the filled bags are still being stacked (Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association, glossary).

A brewery column from February 2022 adds that the run starts white and cloudy and counts as arabashiri until the sake begins to clear, at which point the middle cut begins (Watanabe Shuzoten, 2022). Because the first run still carries fermentation gas, the same column says, it can be faintly sparkling, with a crisp, lively taste and a bright aroma.

That is the brewer’s description, not a measurement, and it is worth holding lightly. What the word reliably tells you is when the sake came out, not what it will taste like in your glass.

What does nakadori mean in sake?

Nakadori (中取り) is the clear sake that follows the first run once the press has built gentle pressure, and a February 2022 brewery column describes it as the cleanest of the three, balanced in aroma and flavour and calm in character (Watanabe Shuzoten, 2022).

The naming is loose. The association’s glossary calls the sake that comes after arabashiri and before seme nakadare (中垂れ), while another brewery’s guide calls the same stage nakagumi (中汲み) (Sawanotsuru, 2019, updated 2022). The same column notes that collecting the middle cut on its own is laborious work, which is why it has traditionally been reserved for premium sake such as daiginjo. That extra effort is one plausible reason the word carries prestige.

What is seme, the last and hardest press?

Seme (責め) is the final fraction, squeezed out under the strongest pressure late in the press, and the same February 2022 column says that because the force is applied when little liquid is left in the mash, the sake is said to taste more complex (Watanabe Shuzoten, 2022).

The association’s glossary ties the word to the 責槽 (semebune), and Sawanotsuru simply describes seme as the end of pressing. Neither source calls it a defect. Complexity is not a flaw in wine, and there is no reason to read it as one here.

How is sake pressed, and what does that do to the three parts?

Brewers press sake in three main ways, an automatic press, a traditional box and hanging bags, and Sawanotsuru’s 2019 guide (updated 2022) describes them as applying strong pressure from two sides, pressure from above on stacked bags, and gravity alone (Sawanotsuru, 2019, updated 2022).

The same guide says the automatic press is less suited to delicate styles such as daiginjo, while box pressing suits them. Asahi Shuzo describes its automatic press as plates covered in filter cloth that are inflated with air, and describes box pressing, with around 150 stacked bags, as the traditional method used for competition ginjo (Asahi Shuzo, 2021).

Our reading is that the three words describe a rise in pressure, so how neatly they map onto a given sake depends on how it was pressed. None of the sources we checked measures what each method does to each fraction, so we have left out any alcohol or acidity figures.

Is nakadori better than arabashiri or seme?

No: none of the three words carries a grade, because the National Tax Agency’s 1989 labelling notice, which does regulate optional terms such as genshu (原酒), nama (生酒) and taruzake (樽酒), does not mention arabashiri, nakadori or seme at all (NTA, Notice No. 8, 1989, as amended).

A press is a sorting machine with a clock. One tank, pressed once, gives a lively first run, a calm middle and a more textured end, and which of those you prefer is a question of taste, not rank. Nakadori is prized because it is clean and balanced; a drinker who likes a little fizz or a little texture can reasonably prefer the others.

These words also answer a different question from the other label terms. Arabashiri, nakadori and seme say when in the press the sake came out. Nama, genshu and muroka say what happened afterwards: whether it was heated, diluted or filtered. A bottle can combine the two kinds of information, which is why the guides to what nama means on a label and muroka, genshu and nigori sit alongside this one rather than inside it.

How does this compare with free-run and press wine?

Winemakers use a similar idea, free-run for juice or wine that drains without pressing and press wine for what is squeezed from the rest, a split set out in the third edition of The Oxford Companion to Wine, published in 2006 (Robinson (ed.), 2006).

The parallel is one of sequence and pressure, not of chemistry. A sake press works on a fully fermented mash that contains rice solids, while free-run juice drains from freshly crushed grapes or from a fermentation vessel, so the two should not be matched fraction for fraction. What carries over is the attitude. The Companion treats press wine as potentially useful for blending rather than as a fault, and brewers likewise treat the later, harder-pressed portion as a different material to be used on purpose.

Will a bottle tell you which fraction it contains?

A bottle names a pressing fraction only when the brewer chooses to, because the optional-terms list in the National Tax Agency’s 1989 notice covers genshu and nama but not arabashiri, nakadori or seme (NTA, Notice No. 8, 1989, as amended).

Some breweries do release a single fraction. The February 2022 column features a product made from the middle cut alone, and says it is a demanding thing to produce. If you see nakadori, arabashiri or seme on a label, treat it as the brewer’s own description and look for the brewer’s explanation, because the standard gives you no definition to check it against.

Frequently asked questions

Is arabashiri the same as nigori?

No: arabashiri is named for when the sake leaves the press, not for how it looks afterwards, although the association’s glossary does describe the first run as cloudy white. Cloudy sake as a product category is a separate topic, covered in muroka, genshu and nigori.

Are nakadori, nakagumi and nakadare the same thing?

They name the same middle stretch of the press in different houses’ vocabulary. The association’s glossary uses nakadare (中垂れ), Sawanotsuru uses nakagumi (中汲み), and Watanabe Shuzoten writes nakadori (中取り) with nakagumi in brackets. Treat them as one slot rather than as three grades.

How long does it take to press a tank of sake?

One brewery puts it at about half a day for a tank made with 3 tonnes of rice (Asahi Shuzo, 2021). Other breweries, presses and tank sizes will differ, so treat the figure as one example rather than a rule.

Is seme the worst part of the press?

No: none of the sources we checked treats it as a fault. Watanabe Shuzoten says seme is said to taste more complex because of the force applied, and the National Tax Agency’s notice sets no grade for any of the three fractions.

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Sources

• National Tax Agency (Japan). Notice No. 8 of 1989, Seishu no seihō hinshitsu hyōji kijun (清酒の製法品質表示基準を定める件), current text as amended: optional labelling items (任意記載事項) such as genshu, nama and taruzake. nta.go.jp
• National Tax Agency (Japan). Sake no shiori (酒のしおり), 2024 edition: manufacturing process chart for seishu (酒類の製造工程図 (1) 清酒), showing pressing (上槽) producing sake and sake lees (清酒かす). nta.go.jp
• Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association (日本酒造組合中央会). Sake glossary (日本酒用語集): entries for arabashiri (あらばしり/荒走り), nakadare (中垂れ) and seme (責め). japansake.or.jp
• Watanabe Shuzoten (渡辺酒造店). Column on arabashiri, nakadori and seme (お酒の「あらばしり」「中取り」「せめ」とは？), 25 February 2022. sake-hourai.co.jp
• Asahi Shuzo (朝日酒造), KUBOTAYA magazine. Nihonshu no tsukurikata: moromi o shiboru “jōsō” to “hiire” kōtei (日本酒の造り方を解説！もろみを搾る「上槽」と貯蔵前の「火入れ」工程), 8 January 2021. asahi-shuzo.co.jp
• Sawanotsuru (沢の鶴), Sake Mizuki. Sakekasu to wa donna mono ka: shibori to jōsō kōtei (酒粕とはどんなもの？日本酒と酒粕を分ける、搾り～上槽工程について), published 27 May 2019, updated 11 November 2022. sawanotsuru.co.jp
• Robinson, J. (ed.). The Oxford Companion to Wine, 3rd edition, Oxford University Press, 2006: entry “free-run”. ckbk.com

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Written by Dr. Sake. We take sake apart — the chemistry, the history, the label — and put it back together in plain English. For weekly diagrams, label breakdowns and brewery notes, follow @thesakeanatomy on Instagram.