Welcome to Issue #121 of SIN.
Let’s begin with a warm and hearty Happy World Sake Day to one and all!
For some of us, everyday is “Sake Day”, but still, October 1st is that extra special day marking when many breweries officially begin the new brewing season.
As always though, we also like to think of it as the day to honor, respect and thank all the people behind the sake we enjoy so much.
It’s also a day of sake events all around the world, which celebrate the wonderful, ever-growing community of sake lovers.
So while we raise a glass to the brewers who make the sake, let’s also raise a glass to ourselves. The sake world is a pretty great place!
And now for the news…
Let The Sake Fun Begin
Hokkaido- In SIN#113 we reported on the upcoming sake/fermentation theme park set to open in Niigata in 2025, however it looks like popular Hokkaido brewery Otokoyama has beaten them to the punch.
On September 13 the brewery opened its “Otokoyama Sake Park” to the public. The mini-amusement park offers a retail store to try and buy Otokoyama sake and other products, but the real fun lies in the featured 12-meter isshōbin slide which visitors can ride by entering the opening of the bottle.
The park, which is designed to appear in the shape of an ochoko when viewed from above features other playground equipment for children to enjoy while parents can enjoy the more grownup activities (although all ages are permitted on the slide!).
The brewery aims to widen the appeal of sake tourism by creating a space where families and even those not so interested in sake can enjoy.
Source - Nikkei
JG: A little known fact is that the airport closest to the brewery, Asahikawa Airport, has direct connections to China that bring in a lot of tourism from overseas. Certainly this will instantly become one tourist destination, but it should also help boost the already-great image of their sake. Looking forward to walking into the mouth of a giant sake bottle, too.
男山
Oriental Sake Awards
Hong Kong- The third annual Oriental Sake Awards (OSA) results were announced in Hong Kong on September 5. The competition is growing to become one of the largest on the international sake calendar, judging 356 sake from 147 breweries.
Unsurprisingly given the success of aromatic styles and high end sake in the region, the focus of the competition falls largely on such varieties over nine categories.
The division winner of each category was as listed below:
Junmai Daiginjō/Junmai Ginjō and Tanrei Light Division (13 gold medals):
Niizawa 2022, Niizawa Jōzōten (Miyagi)
Junmai Daiginjō/Junmai Ginjō, Hōjun Aromatic and Rich Division (7 gold medals): Zaku Honotomo Nakadori, Shimizu Seizaburō Shoten (Mie)
Daiginjo/Ginjo Tanrei Light Division (1 gold medal):
Sawanoi Daiginjō Kō, Ōzawa Shuzō (Tokyo)
Daiginjo/Ginjo Houjun Aromatic and Rich Division (2 gold medals):
Gazan Daiginjō, Tsurumi Shuzō (Aichi)
Honjōzō DIvision (2 gold medals):
Sakata Nishiki, Seto Shuzō (Kanagawa)
Junmai Umami Nōjun Rich Division (2 gold medals):
Gunma Izumi Chotokusen Junmai, Shimaoka Shuzō (Gunma)
Junmai Tanrei Light Division (1 gold medal):
Denyǔ Tokubetsu Junmai Shu, Takanoi Shuzō (Niigata)
Sparkling (2 gold medals):
Atago no Matsu Sparkling 2nd fermentation in bottle: Niizawa Jōzōten (Miyagi)
Namazake Division (3 gold medals):
KID Shibata’s Junmai Daiginjo be fresh! Heiwa Shuzō (Wakayama)
MVP (Most Valuable Producer)
Niizawa Jozoten (Miyagi)
Full listing of winners (in Japanese) is available here
JG: Congratulations to all winners, and to the promoters of the OSA. There are a lot of sake competitions around now, but this one seems to have gravitas.
Data Analysis Removing The Guesswork
Aichi- A new software program has been developed by the Nagoya Tax Agency which can calculate fermentation levels which are collated into visual data.
The program, amusingly named Moromi Yell, is currently being used by a number of the breweries in the region as a useful tool to not only monitor data, but also keep records for future use.
Upon entering data such as moromi alcohol content and volume of added water, the program immediately displays the chemical progression of the fermentation process in graph form.
The tool visualizes the optimum timing for pressing and allows sake brewers to make sake without relying solely on intuition or experience. The system also displays the fermentation level of sake that has won gold medals at the National New Sake Competition, making it possible to compare the results and use them as a reference.
One brewery which has adopted the program is Mizutani Shuzō, a brewery which lost much of its brewing data in a fire in May this year (see SIN #112). This season, the brewery will be renting space at a nearby brewery, where they will use Moromi Yell to input the remaining data they have in hopes to accurately recreate their sake.
Moromi Yell was actually first released in January 2023 and is being used by at least 40 breweries in the Tokai region and some more breweries in Tohoku region have shown interest.
Fukui Shuzō in Aichi has reported they were able to reduce staff working hours by introducing the system. The toji , Kousei Ou, welcomes the system as a method to brew by calculated timing as opposed to relying purely on his experience.
*In Japanese Yell written as エール is an adopted English word used as more as a cheer of encouragement.
Source - Yomiuri
JG: Seems like an awesome tool that will remove much of the guesswork in sake brewing. I am interested to see how many brewers adopt this tool. Who knows; maybe the industry will be collectively shoutin’ about Yell. I hope, though, that it does not completely remove the need for intuition and experience.
水谷酒造(千瓢）福井酒造（四海王）
Pour One Out For Kikuisami
Yamagata- In news that we never like to report here at SIN, Kikuisami, known for Kikuisami and Sanjuro Kuninshu has declared bankruptcy due to difficulty in operating in the post COVID environment.
In 1973 a three brewery merger established Hounan Shuzō. The brewery’s flagship sake, Kikuisami sake became popular and by 1980, had brought in JPY400 million (USD2.7mil) in yearly sales. In 1992, the brewery changed the company name to Kikuisami and enjoyed continued success winning several golds at the Japan Sake Awards
Unfortunately sales gradually declined due to the popularity of shochu and by the time COVID hit annual sales had declined to JPY71 million (USD489K).
The brewery filed for bankruptcy with total debts of JPY97million (USD670K).
Source - NTV | NHK
JG: I was surprised to see this as their sake has always been fairly easy to find, at least in my opinion. Then again, Tohoku is a somewhat crowded sake market, so perhaps competition was just too much to navigate.
菊勇 （菊勇、三十六人衆）鳳南酒造
Shibuya “Beauties” Visit The Southern Beauty
Iwate- Many talk of the need to widen the appeal of sake among younger drinkers, but Nanbu Bijin has really gone straight to the source in a recent endeavor to attract younger drinkers.
In a collaborative effort with CGO Dot Com, a planning and promotions agency, the brewery recently held an event for some of its “gyaru performers”.
Firstly, for the uninitiated the explanation of gyaru might be necessary. Beginning in the seventies and eighties, gyaru was a term used to describe young girls (gals) who wore particularly heavy makeup, wild colored hair, exotic fingernails and promoted extreme fashions. The subculture still exists today, although not as common as its peak in the nineties.
Nanbu Bijin recently hosted a number of gyarus at the brewery to show them how sake is made and how to enjoy sake, and also to gain some insight from the gyarus as to how to appeal to younger audiences.
Moving forward, Nanbu Bijin’s CEO Kosuke Kuji plans on creating some new labels in collaboration with the gyarus which he hopes will help improve the image of the young folks of Shibuya as well as foreign visitors to Japan.
A video of the visit is available on YouTube, which, even without subtitles, is an entertaining documentation of the experience.
Source - NewsDig
JG: This is right up Kuji-san’s lane; good for him. Highly entertaining and likely to be highly effective marketing too.
南部美人
Rice Shortage Pushes Sake Prices AND Tempers
Japan- For the past few months Japan has been experiencing a severe shortage of rice available to the general population. The shortage has come about as a result of last year’s extreme summer, which brought about lower yields and inferior quality of rice and subsequently reduced distribution.
As a result, the price of rice has gone up, taking with it the price of related products such as rice crackers, sake and mirin.
The price of packed rice will rise 10~14 percent on shipments from November. Rice crackers will see an increase of up to 22 percent depending on the manufacturer from October 1.
For sake, the country’s number one sake producer, Takara Shuzō, has announced it will raise prices on selected products from 1~23 percent for shipments from October. Mirin and cooking sake prices will also rise by up to 33 percent ...
On top of the issues brought about by last year’s heatwave, transportation costs and the weak yen have also contributed to the strains on pricing.
Although this year’s rice crop is beginning to hit the shelves easing the shortage, rice prices are expected to remain high for the time being. Unfortunately, collateral damage amidst consumer dismay at the high prices has come in the form of anger directed toward sake breweries.
Akana Shuzō in Shimane Prefecture recently came under fire after a social media post went viral, blaming them as being among sake breweries that use table rice such as Koshihikari, for hoarding rice, and subsequently causing prices to rise and shortages for the general populace. Amid the anti-sake brewery sentiment the post stirred up, president of Akana Shuzō, Takaaki Mishima was forced to defend his brewery and the wider industry by declaring that people need to take a calmer approach and understand that breweries obtain rice through legitimate distribution channels that are separte from general consumers.
Source - FNN | Sankei
JG: My own personal opinion, since you all explicitly asked ;-), is to refuse to dignify unreasonable online complaints; just don’t engage. But maybe it is not that simple…
赤名酒造 （絹乃峰）
Industry Stirrings…
Ishikawa- It has been ten months since the devastating earthquake that shook Ishikawa Prefecture and left a number of sake breweries in turmoil. One of the affected breweries was Sogen Shuzō, which suffered significant structural damage to its brewing facilities.
Although repairs are yet to be completed, the brewery announced online that brewing preparations have begun and the brewery hopes to have its first shiboritate available by November. Good news indeed.
JG: Great to hear. I have always loved Sogen, and in fact recently had a chance to taste through their lineup again at a distributor tasting. I am sure they will pick up right where they left off.
宗玄酒造
Does The Government Even Care?
By John Gauntner
In the course of my work overseas, I often have had to convey the true state of the sake industry to people that are themselves in the alcoholic beverage industry. That means telling them how sake has been in decline since 1973, how many brewers have gone under over that time, and that sake is now less than seven percent (ouch!) of all alcohol consumed in Japan. Many are surprised, of course, that the national beverage of Japan – as fascinating and wonderful as it is in so many ways – is seemingly just barely surviving.
Naturally enough, many people then ask, “Isn’t the Japanese government doing anything about this? Don’t they support the sake industry?” And the answer is yes, of course, there is much government support. It may not be so visible to us, but it is there. And, it may be limited in its effectiveness since there are so many factors that are either out of the government’s control, or considered to be inappropriate.
For example, government support cannot do anything that would help sake gain domestic market share over other domestically produced beverages like beer, whiskey, shochu or wine. That would be unfair and not in the government’s interest either. Whatever they do must at least potentially benefit the producers of all alcoholic beverages, or at least be open to all related business entities.
One of the most public and proactive programs is a series of grants (that go by one of several project names) for companies aiming to retool, improve their production infrastructure, become more competitive, or just plain survive. I have over the past few years worked as an outside, third-party assessor on these projects, which are announced two or three times a year.
The process is fairly simple: there are publicly available guidelines and application processes, and businesses that qualify, such as producers, distributors and marketing/ sales entities, can apply. There is a ton of paperwork, but it is all relevant as the application calls for market analysis, predictions, financial projections and more.
The official objectives for these grants include promoting traditional beverage production methods, product differentiation, promoting cultural appeal, branding, overseas expansion, participation in overseas fairs and expos, and the somewhat dubious GI (Geographical Indication) programs.
Some actual examples of projects that have applied for grants in the past have included things like funds to build an easily accessible parking lot to help a retailer grow sales based on their location on a well-traveled road, building on-site tasting rooms, buying modern machines that facilitate on-site tasting to help facilitate increasing sales, and rebuilding the front of the kura to enable selling product directly from the brewery to passers-by, be that foot traffic or bicycle traffic. Clearly, all of these are good uses of such grants that will surely show return on the government’s investment.
Other, more technical examples include things like modern pasteurization equipment to ensure product stability during shipping, and digital stock management equipment like barcode and QR code readers to help companies that may be hundreds of years old to modernize.
Some less tangible examples include developing a range of pairings for a company’s product line, or developing sake presumably suited to overseas consumers. There are also a handful of more artistic projects, like aging sake at the bottom of lakes, or in dams, for long periods of time, which not only has its own appeal but renders electricity less necessary.
Lately, much of the program is focused on exports of alcoholic beverages. This could include things like funding travel overseas to develop said markets, or other production and marketing efforts that support export.
These are in line with a change the Ministry of Taxation made a few years ago, to grant new sake brewing licenses to new breweries if and only if the sake is brewed for export only. That change has had its fans and detractors, but it is here to stay. Some say that it is hard to have a product sell well overseas when it does not have any domestic presence or reputation, but some embrace that challenge. Also, there is likely more than meets the eye to these changes in terms of future possibilities for the companies involved (that’s all I’m sayin’).
This article was inspired by the fact that very recently I saw that this year the National Tax Administration (NTA) is setting aside a whopping 3.48 billion yen (about US$24.2 million at today’s exchange rate) for such grants. Of that, about 37 percent has been earmarked for domestic projects, which is just over twice the amount that was used for this year, 2024. The rest was for overseas market projects. Note too that within those larger sums the grants are broken into smaller sums earmarked for specific types of grants.
Many of these grants are quite effective and do achieve their objectives, often with lots of peripheral benefits too. As they are feted out quite strictly, it is surely fair to say that most of them are successful.
The above programs are one way in which the government supports the sake industry. There are others too, including the efforts and activities of an organization called JETRO, which stands for Japan External Trade Organization, which is a government-related trade organization run under the auspices of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).
JETRO works across a very wide range of industries, and is not at all limited to sake or alcoholic beverages. As the name of the organization implies, it focuses on export rather than domestic activities. While the organization cannot favor or help one company or group of companies over another, they are very proactive and effective in promoting sake overseas, all around the world.
One interesting and little-known fact related to this is that sake brewers do not pay alcohol tax on sake that is exported. That means the government does not get that revenue on sake sent to overseas markets. Why, then, would they put so much effort into promoting exports?
There are a number of good reasons. Supporting sake exports helps increase awareness of sake, and sake education that will contribute to the popularity of sake worldwide. It will also help domestic producers to be more profitable and financially healthier, which is always a good thing. And remember, while the government may miss out on sake taxes, it can still benefit from corporate taxes. So suffice it to say that they know what they are doing.
Beyond all of this, the NTA for years has given tax breaks to smaller sake producers with the intent of helping them set aside funds to retool and modernize for the future. This legal change, known as “Special Taxation Measure 86,” has been extended multiple times, and the companies to which it applies, as well as the tax breaks, have changed. It is in fact a bit vague, but regardless, it is one more example of industry support provided by the government.
Remember, while the government employees may love sake themselves (let’s hope so!), all of this support has the ultimate objective of increasing alcoholic beverage tax revenue. Which is fine, of course; I’m all for that. And if, as a side benefit, we all get to enjoy more good sake, then it becomes win-win and win again.
Sake Industry News. Issue #121.