Former teacher takes over brewery with no master brewer, guided by neighbouring rival
At Oimatsu Shuzo in Shiso, Hyogo, which halted brewing when it lost its master brewer, a former high-school teacher with no sake-making experience is the new president and is learning from a nearby br
Hyogo Prefecture, which stretches west of Kobe, is one of Japan’s leading sake-producing regions. In its western mountains lies the city of Shiso, home to Oimatsu Shuzo, whose toji, the master brewer who leads all brewing at a sake brewery, has left. As a result, the brewery has had to skip brewing for the first time since its founding. At small breweries in rural Japan, an ageing workforce and a lack of successors are not unusual. The absence of a single person can decide whether a brewery survives.
From the classroom to the brewery
The person trying to rebuild the brewery is its new president, a former high-school teacher. They had no experience of sake making at all. According to a report by Kansai TV, the new president has begun a challenge, together with former pupils, to keep the brewery’s history from being broken. The goal is to hold the first pressing of new sake (hatsushibori) this November.
Why a “rival” is teaching
The new president is training at nearby Sanyo Hai Shuzo. In the ordinary course of things it would be a “rival” brewery competing in the same region, but Sanyo Hai Shuzo agreed to teach the technique. Their words, “If both breweries make delicious sake, it’s exciting,” show how they think. If one brewery disappears, the sake culture of that area thins out too. In regions where the population is falling, choosing coexistence over competition and raising successors together is becoming the realistic option.
How to enjoy this story in Europe
It is not yet known whether Oimatsu Shuzo’s sake will reach Europe once brewing resumes. Even so, this story gives you a way to imagine what lies behind the bottle. When choosing sake, try looking at where the brewery is located as well. You may find that even sake from the same prefecture differs in character from one brewery to the next. If you spot a sake from Hyogo, comparing it with one from a nearby brewery is a pleasant way to enjoy it. In Japan, new sake also appears on the market from autumn into winter. News of the first pressing in November is also the signal that the year’s brewing has begun.
Sources
This article was written by The Sake Wire editorial team, summarising the public sources listed above. Images are our own.
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