When the sake rice arrives at the sake brewery, it comes as genmai (unmilled, brown rice) in 30 kilogram brown paper bags, with a label on it.


The rice type, Yamada Nishiki, and its prefecture of origin, in this case Hyogo, is printed above the two stamps near the center. Below that, in a big, bold stamp, it says "tokujo," which indicates it is the highest of the five classes of rice. The smaller stamp is the name of the inspector. The four stamped characters in the lower box are the name of the rice grower, while the green label indicates it is Yamada Nishiki from "Special A designated plots."  For more on sake rice, click here.