Sankei News reports on prefectural production and consumption of goods made with raw materials from inside the prefecture, which are proving popular in Mie.
It mentions two sake and a shōchū, all of which came onto the market in December.
The shōchū Shishū Hayato (志洲隼人) is made from sun-dried Hayato sweet potatoes, a local speciality in the city of Shima.
The potatoes are steamed, peeled, then sun-dried to produce the local speciality called kinko. This is then used as raw material by shōchū distillers Iseman in Ise. Just 600 720 ml bottles of Shishū Hayato Gold, made using the sun-dried kinko only, and 3,000 720 ml bottles of Shishū Hayato Standard, made using kinko and the peel generated during its manufacture, were put on sale from 13 December 2017.
Suzukaisan (鈴海山) the first sake made using only rice from the Suzuka area, was developed as part of a PR push by the Suzuka branch of the Japan Agriculture cooperative, showcasing their rice cultivation. 3,000 bottles went on sale on 7 December 2017.
The sake Marugoto Yokkaichi no Sake (sake entirely from Yokkaichi) MARU-YON was stocked in five specialist shops in Yokkaichi city and nearly sold out on the spot. It’s made entirely from the sake-specific rice Kami-no-Ho (神の穂, divine ears/spikes of rice) harvested in the Hobo district of Yokkaichi city, and brewed in the Sakuracho district by the Ito brewery. Its sale was restricted to shops in Yokkaichi city, with 600 720 ml bottles and 800 1.8 l bottles shipped on 16 December – with almost none remaining two days later. A member of the production committee commented that they produced sake completely inside the prefecture before, but had not achieved 100% local consumption so it was important to them to have the sake consumed in the city.
Links
- Original article (Japanese, Sankei News, 19 December 2017)
- Ito brewery (Japanese)