Will sake follow in the steps of washoku?

As I have received a scanned copy of a newspaper article on the UNESCO listing of “traditional knowledge and skills of sake-making with koji” from my 94-year old de facto father in law, I’m going to assume everyone reading this newsletter has heard about it.

There are plenty of articles in English on the listing and reactions to it, so in line with my efforts to bring you information only available in Japanese – and in this case only if you were in Kansai at the right moment – I will instead report on a special ceremony held to celebrate the listing.

Held on Sunday 8 December 2024 at the Former Okada Residence and Sake Brewery in the historical sake centre of Itami, the event was attended by a who’s-who of the wider Japanese brewing and distilling world, including koji starter makers, sake brewers, shochu distillers, mirin makers, toji guilds, academics, heads of prefectural brewing associations and heads of supporting organisations such as the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association (JSS, the national umbrella for prefectural brewing associations), the National Research Institute of Brewing (NRIB), the Brewing Society of Japan (BSJ) and the Agency for Cultural Affairs.

Representatives of the JSS, the Preservation Society of Japanese Koji-based Sake Making Craftsmanship and the Japan Toji Guild Association about to break open barrels to celebrate the UNESCO listing. (Although the barrels were empty to avoid damage to the historic building.) Photo © 2024 Arline Lyons.

The speakers took the opportunity to thank the many – too many to name – people and groups who supported the application, with many saying that although UNESCO recognition was a huge achievement it was still only the beginning and they were already looking forward to what the listing can be used for.

Seen as the 2014 listing of washoku, the traditional dietary culture of Japan, is credited with the global spread of Japanese restaurants, some news articles suggest UNESCO status could do the same for sake. Most brewers I’ve spoken to didn’t have such high hopes, instead expecting anything from increased awareness of sake both inside Japan and abroad to no change at all.

After a round of short speeches, attendees were treated to a performance of traditional brewing songs by a group of Tamba Toji working to preserve them, highlighting the many other traditions intertwined with sake brewing. 

And the wide range of attendees pointed out many more connections not visible to those outside the industry: academic Katsuhiko Kitamoto of the Japanese Society for Brewing Science called for more basic research into koji itself, while President Hisashi Fukuda highlighted the NRIB’s continued role in training new brewers.

There were also a few laughs, such as when Director Utsunomiya of the JSS revealed that when he was called to comment on the UNESCO listing NHK didn’t know that koji was used to make shochu, and when Tada Itaru of the Kyushu Honkaku Shochu Association pointed out that shochu distilleries don’t have altars to the gods because – unlike the supposedly divine origins of sake – humans had to figure the process out all on their own.

You can also hear me talk about the UNESCO listing with Sam Boulton on the Izakaya Happy Hour podcast (Spotify – Apple) and on an upcoming episode of Sake on Air with Cindy Bissig and Frank Walters. (Should be out very soon!)

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Looking at the specifics in the application, it’s limited to using rice or barley as raw materials, and specifies checking the moisture content of processed raw materials “by hand”, controlling the growth of koji “by hand” and managing fermentation in the moromi “by hand” – which begs the question of how far “by hand” can be stretched.

The other interesting condition was “add no additives except water” which seems to rule out aruten/non-junmai sake.