Welcome to Issue #126 of SIN.
This is our last issue before Christmas and the New Year, so here at SIN we’d like to take the opportunity to thank all our subscribers for being with us through 2024.
We wish you all the very best for the holiday season and hope that however you spend it, and whomever you spend it with, you find a way to make sake a part of the celebrations.
We’ll see you again in 2025!
And now for the news…
Kōji Gets Recognized
Japan- Except for those that have been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks, readers will be well aware of the big announcement of UNESCO’s approval of traditional sake brewing methods using kōji as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
This is, of course, wonderful news for all the people that worked hard to make this happen. Here at SIN we often say things along the lines of, “anything that puts a spotlight on sake is surely a good thing,” or “anything that gets more people drinking sake is surely a positive step.” While we still stand by these quotes, it’s fair to say this UNESCO announcement really got some folks exceedingly excited. One industry player was quoted as saying “even if it gets just one more person drinking sake, it will have been worth the effort.” But to be honest, if this announcement only gets one more person drinking sake, the whole thing should be considered an objective failure.
So what does it all mean? Well, first of all, let’s look at what UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage actually is.
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