Deep in a darkish warehouse the sake sleeps, saved in rows of big tanks, every holding greater than 10,000 liters of the Japanese rice wine that’s the product of brewing strategies courting again greater than 1,000 years.
Junichiro Ozawa, the 18th-generation head of Ozawa Brewery, based in 1702, hopes sake-brewing will win recognition as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, when the choice is made subsequent month.
“We all the time take into consideration the individuals who’re having fun with our sake after we make it. I am now so excited, imagining the faces of all of the individuals around the globe,” he informed reporters Wednesday throughout a tour of his brewery on the pastoral outskirts of Tokyo.
Sake, the drink of alternative for the the Aristocracy in “The Story of Genji” — Japan’s most celebrated work of literature — has been widening its attraction, boosted by the rising worldwide reputation of Japanese delicacies.
Sake exports from Japan whole greater than 41 billion yen ($265 million) a 12 months, with the largest locations being the U.S. and China, in keeping with the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Affiliation.
That is up from about 22 billion yen in 2018. However exports nonetheless make up a tiny fraction of general sake manufacturing in Japan. Brazil, Mexico and Southeast Asia, in addition to France and the remainder of Europe, all locations the place Japanese eating places are gaining reputation, are beginning to take a liking to sake.
What’s key to sake-making, which takes about two months, together with fermentation and urgent, are the rice and the water.
For a product to be categorized Japanese sake, the rice have to be Japanese. The comparatively comfortable high quality of freshwater in Japan, just like the provides offered by the 2 wells at Ozawa Brewery, can also be vital.
Amongst Ozawa’s sake is the full-bodied fragrant Junmai Daiginjo, one of many prime choices, with 15% alcohol content material and costing about 3,630 yen ($23) for a 720-milliliter bottle.
Karakuti Nigorizake is unrefined sake, murky and never clear like traditional sake, with 17% alcohol content material and a rugged no-nonsense style. It sells for two,420 yen ($16) for a 1,800 milliliter bottle.
The spiritual connotations of sake are evident on the brewery. The massive cedar-leaves ball hanging below the eaves is a logo of a shrine for the god of sake-making. In Japan, sake is used to purify and to have fun. Sips from a cup signify the sealing of a wedding.
“Sake isn’t just an alcoholic beverage. It’s Japanese tradition itself,” stated Hitoshi Utsunomiya, director of the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Affiliation.
The UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage designation is given to not simply historic monuments but in addition practices handed down generations, comparable to oral traditions, performing arts, rituals and festivals.
It isn’t meant for use for industrial functions. However sake officers make no secret of their hope that it’ll enhance international gross sales, serving to the custom keep alive amid competitors from beer, wine and different fashionable drinks.
Amongst earlier Intangible Cultural Heritage inclusions are Kabuki theater and Gagaku court docket music from Japan, in addition to Sona, that are drawings on sand in Angola; the Chinese language zither referred to as guqin and Cremonese violin craftsmanship from Italy. Washoku, or Japanese delicacies, gained the honors in 2013.
One motive for sake’s rising reputation around the globe is that its easy taste goes nicely with sorts of meals, together with sushi, spicy Asian and Western dishes, says Max Del Vita, a licensed sake sommelier and co-founder of The Sake Firm, an import and distribution retailer in Singapore.
“These brewers are cultural stewards, passing down strategies via generations and mixing historical practices with quiet innovation,” he informed The Related Press. “Sake is greater than a drink. It’s a dwelling embodiment of Japan’s seasonal rhythms, neighborhood values and creative heritage.”
