The Sake Anatomy › Sake Brand Index › Tatsuriki
No.144 · Brewery Profile
Tatsuriki龍力 · Honda Shoten 本田商店
Honda Shoten has centered its entire operation on Hyogo’s Special A Yamada Nishiki districts since the 1990s, milling its own rice in-house to control quality from grain to finished bottle. In 1979 its Daiginjo Kome no Sasayaki helped popularize the now-common practice of drinking daiginjo chilled, and decades earlier, in 1976, the brewery pioneered the industry’s first brewery-direct ‘kuradashi shinshu’ fresh-sake release — innovations tracing back to a family brewing lineage in the Banshu region reaching to the Genroku era.
Who makes Tatsuriki?
Honda Shoten, founded in 1921, has centered its entire operation on Hyogo’s Special A Yamada Nishiki districts since the 1990s, milling its own rice in-house to control quality from grain to finished bottle. Its family brewing lineage in the Banshu region traces back to the Genroku era.
What does Tatsuriki taste like?
Tagged Rich & Umami and Aromatic & Fruity. The Tatsuriki Junmai Daiginjo Akitsu and the Daiginjo Kome no Sasayaki YK-35 both rate 4/5 aromatic and 3/5 on body and dryness; the Tatsuriki Tokubetsu Junmai Kimoto-jikomi, brewed by traditional kimoto method, is fuller and more acidic at 4/5 across body, dryness and acidity.
Which bottle should you try first?
Start with the Tatsuriki Daiginjo Kome no Sasayaki YK-35, the historic bottling that helped popularize chilled daiginjo drinking in Japan since 1979.
How does Tatsuriki compare to other Hyogo breweries?
Hyogo also lists Kenbishi, tagged Rich & Umami, Fukuju, tagged Elegant & Refined and Dry & Crisp, and Okuharima, tagged Rich & Umami and Elegant & Refined. Tatsuriki shares the Rich & Umami thread with Kenbishi and Okuharima, but its added Aromatic & Fruity tag sets it apart from both.
Frequently asked questions
What did the Daiginjo Kome no Sasayaki help popularize?
The now-common practice of drinking daiginjo chilled, starting in 1979.
What was Honda Shoten’s other brewing innovation?
In 1976 it pioneered the industry’s first brewery-direct “kuradashi shinshu” fresh-sake release.
What rice does Tatsuriki focus on?
Special A Yamada Nishiki from Hyogo, milled in-house by the brewery.
The bottles
Tatsuriki Junmai Daiginjo Akitsu龍力 純米大吟醸 秋津
薫酒 Kunshu · Fragrant“Showcases Special-A Yamada Nishiki from the Akitsu district of Kato City.”
Tatsuriki Daiginjo Kome no Sasayaki YK-35龍力 大吟醸 米のささやき YK-35
薫酒 Kunshu · Fragrant“The bottling that helped popularize chilled daiginjo drinking in Japan, since 1979.”
Tatsuriki Tokubetsu Junmai Kimoto-jikomi龍力 特別純米 生もと仕込み
醇酒 Junshu · Rich“Traditional kimoto brewing for a fuller, more acidic, food-ready style.”
Reading the bars: an editorial flavor reading (0–5) of each bottle — Dry→Rich, Light→Full, Subtle→Aromatic, Low→High acidity — not laboratory values. The colored badge is the SSI four-type classification (薫酒 Kunshu · 爽酒 Soshu · 醇酒 Junshu · 熟酒 Jukushu). SMV and acidity appear only where the brewery publishes them.
Sources: taturiki.com