A regional sake brewer has released a product that comes with a hefty price tag, with a set of two 720-milliter bottles of sake made from Japan's famed Koshihikari rice — cultivated by hand and free of any chemicals or synthesized fertilizers — going for an eye-popping ¥330,000.
The unusually high price tag reflects the commitment of three people from disparate industries who were determined to create, through time and effort, something of lasting value, especially in an age of mass production and consumption.
Rice planting had just been completed when Kyodo News visited terraced paddy fields located deep in the mountains in Tokamachi, Niigata Prefecture, in June.