Sake Production Looking Ahead to a Hundred Years in the Future — Relocation of a Sake Brewery out of the Prefecture —
| Date of interview | May 17, 2021 |
|---|---|
| Targets | Koji Yamada, President, Michizakura Shuzo Co., Ltd. |
Your brewery was established in Nakatsugawa City, Gifu Prefecture in 1877, then you relocated to the Town of Higashikawa, Hokkaido in November 2020. Can you tell us why you decided to relocate?
I feel that it is a very unique municipality, of all of Hokkaido. The speed of reaction from the town office and the agricultural cooperative is high, and the communication is smooth.
It also has plenty of meltwater from Mt. Daisetsu, and is rich in water supply. I am impressed that they can fill the paddies with water without fighting over it, even though they have an enormous rice production area and large rice paddies spread throughout the town.
I was not worried much about the change in water that I would use for sake brewing after moving from Gifu to Hokkaido. I knew it from the experience of instructing Japanese sake brewing in Mexico in the past. While water in Japan is soft, the hardness of water in Gifu is 8, and around 120 even in Nada Ward, Hyogo Prefecture, where it is considered that the water is hardest in Japan. On the other hand, the hardness of water in Mexico was surprising 230, but it still resulted in good sake with Michizakura taste that received good evaluation in the unveiling party that was held in Tokyo. It led to my confidence that sake brewing was possible anywhere in Japan.
In addition, I feel that they are getting heavy rainfalls more frequently due to the recent abnormal weather in Hokkaido, even though typhoon landfalls are still relatively rare. Luckily, we have not suffered inundation damages due to the large areas of drainage canals and rice paddies that have a large capacity of water storage. A stronger concern is the effects of strong winds, but I am sure we can prepare sufficiently by taking measures such as bringing the things that are stored outside into the warehouse or the storehouse.
The cooling work which had been a problem at Nakatsugawa has become much less troublesome and costly as the rice cools sufficiently by the outdoor air temperature alone. Although winter in Hokkaido is indeed hard, I do not feel it is difficult to live, because I do not go out much.
After moving to Higashikawa Town, how do you feel about the appeals of this town and sake brewing here?
I feel that it is a very unique municipality, of all of Hokkaido. The speed of reaction from the town office and the agricultural cooperative is high, and the communication is smooth.
It also has plenty of meltwater from Mt. Daisetsu, and is rich in water supply. I am impressed that they can fill the paddies with water without fighting over it, even though they have an enormous rice production area and large rice paddies spread throughout the town.
I was not worried much about the change in water that I would use for sake brewing after moving from Gifu to Hokkaido. I knew it from the experience of instructing Japanese sake brewing in Mexico in the past. While water in Japan is soft, the hardness of water in Gifu is 8, and around 120 even in Nada Ward, Hyogo Prefecture, where it is considered that the water is hardest in Japan. On the other hand, the hardness of water in Mexico was surprising 230, but it still resulted in good sake with Michizakura taste that received good evaluation in the unveiling party that was held in Tokyo. It led to my confidence that sake brewing was possible anywhere in Japan.
In addition, I feel that they are getting heavy rainfalls more frequently due to the recent abnormal weather in Hokkaido, even though typhoon landfalls are still relatively rare. Luckily, we have not suffered inundation damages due to the large areas of drainage canals and rice paddies that have a large capacity of water storage. A stronger concern is the effects of strong winds, but I am sure we can prepare sufficiently by taking measures such as bringing the things that are stored outside into the warehouse or the storehouse.
The cooling work which had been a problem at Nakatsugawa has become much less troublesome and costly as the rice cools sufficiently by the outdoor air temperature alone. Although winter in Hokkaido is indeed hard, I do not feel it is difficult to live, because I do not go out much.
Please tell us about the characteristics of brewers’ rice “Suisei” and “Kitashizuku,” which you planted newly with the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives Higashikawa Branch (JA Higashikawa) as the raw material.
I used Suisei for the first time in 2021. I had some expectations as I have discussed with various breweries and chief brewers about the brewers’ rice in Hokkaido since I was in Honshu, but it was more difficult than I thought when I actually used it. It is quite difficult to bring out the taste, and it is a challenge to figure out what to do in the future. On the other hand, I have used Kitashizuku since 4 years ago and had a general idea, so the resulting taste was as expected. I used the rice produced in Higashikawa Town for the first time, and ended up with sake that has depth to the taste.
While it will also depend on how much span there will be to the climate change, I expect that it will be possible to continue sake brewing smoothly for at least the duration of the generation after me. Even so, I feel that warming is advancing in Hokkaido as well. It has become the second largest producer of rice in Japan, even though it had not been suited to rice production in the beginning.
A project to produce Yamada Nishiki, a favored brewers’ rice in Honshu, in Hokkaido was launched 5 years ago. Since it is an altricial breed which can only be harvested around October 10 even in Honshu, it grows only in areas where certain sunlight hours can be assured. There is someone who produces it in Hokkaido every year, and not many hulls fill. He has been growing it by using the filled hulls in the following year and continued it for 5 years now. I hear that he is going to expand the planting area next year and finally come to the stage where he can ask a brewery in Hokkaido to test brew with it.
Unlike those harvested in Honshu, Yamada Nishiki in Hokkaido have thick and short stems. I am hoping that the brewers’ rice adapted to the land will be cultivated steadily after several years of tries.
Do you think that more brewers will relocate to continue sake brewing in the future?
My business happened to be small, and our conditions made it easier to relocate as we did not have many machines. Many breweries are having a hard time trying to decide whether or not to relocate, but it is not so easy because there are issues about facilities, etc.
In addition, those who have roots in the community and continued sake brewing for 200 or 300 years have connections in the community, and it would feel quite daunting to suddenly start thinking “let’s relocate,” compared to the history of Michizakura Shuzo which is only about 140 years.
Even though there are areas in Honshu that suffer a lot under heavy rains and typhoons, they basically have to adapt and go on at their location because it is not so easy to relocate. I expect that breweries that cannot introduce large facilities will start closing the business one after another because of this. I am also expecting that there will be cases in which sake brewing will be continued in other locations in the form of corporate acquisition. In that case, Hokkaido may be a really good choice.
Another matter is that Hokkaido has a smaller proportion of sake breweries to the population than Honshu. Of the Japanese sake consumed in all of Hokkaido, less than 20% is produced within Hokkaido. 80% comes from Honshu. That is, Hokkaido has a lot of potential for consumption of Japanese sake.
Right now, there are only 15 breweries even though Hokkaido is such a large land. I hear that there used to be nearly 30 breweries in just the Asahikawa City area. Things may become interesting if there are much more breweries in Hokkaido, even small ones like ours.
They are also focusing efforts on development of successors in an industry-academia cooperation, including development of a brewery at the Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine by the Kamikawa Taisetsu Sake Brewery last year. I think it is an excellent attempt, and expect that breweries will increase in the future.
(Date of publication: October 8, 2021)
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