Future present

Attempts are underway in Misato, Miyazaki Prefecture, Kyushu, to revive a sake that disappeared half a century ago. On 12 September 2022, members of the project trying to bring the sake back attempted to sample yeast from the base of old wooden barrels it was brewed in. The sake was brewed from the early Showa period until Showa 40 in the Kitagonyushita area of the city, and was known as Isuzu Bijin (いすゞ美人).

The project was kicked off in July by local residents aiming to revitalise the city and members of Miyazaki University. 20 team members visited the brewery where Isuzu Bijin was once brewed to try to get hold of the yeast, sampling the base of a barrel measuring over 1 metre with cotton swabs and wiping down pillars and walls.

Any yeast in the samples will then be cultivated for about a month before ones capable of brewing sake yeast are isolated and a brewery Nobeoka City in starts test brewing. The same rice used 50 years ago is also now under cultivation, with a view to having enough to brew with in 3 years.

Natsuko Fukura of the Miyazaki Prefectural Food R&D Center, who is in charge of cultivating the yeast, admitted that after so much time had passed there was a chance they would not find anything viable.

(NHK News)