Japanese Sake : All Japan News,Inc

宮水とは、どのような水なのか 
 

 

「宮水」（みやみず）とは、兵庫県西宮市の海岸近くの特定の地下から汲み上げられている地下水のことで、灘酒の名声を全国に広めた第一の要因といわれる。
 
この水が醸造用水として非常に優れた水であることが発見されたのは、天保11年のことである。魚崎に酒蔵を構えていた酒造家・山邑太左衛門は、西宮で造る酒のほうが常に優れていることに気づいた。そこで、同じ米を使ってみたり、双方の杜氏を交代させてみたりしたが、どうしても西宮の酒に軍配が上がる。そこで、西宮の梅の木蔵の井戸（梅の木井戸）の水を魚崎の蔵に運んで仕込んでみたところ、優れた酒ができた。このことから山邑は、水が酒の品質を左右していたことをつきとめ、天保11年以降は灘の蔵でも西宮の水を使うようになった。そして、この酒が江戸でも大好評を博したことから、灘をはじめとする多くの酒造家がこの水を求めるようになったという。当初は「西宮の水」と呼ばれていたのが、いつの間にか略されて「宮水」となったとされる。
 
この水の秘密については、昭和に入ってから科学的な調査・研究が行なわれ、ほぼ解明されている。それによると宮水は、西のほうの夙川（しゃくがわ）や御手洗川と、北のほうの六甲山の裏側から流れる武庫川（むこがわ）の水が伏流水となって合流し、さらに、宮水地帯で南側から浸透してくる海水とわずかに接触して成り立っている。そして、井戸の深さは4～5ｍと比較的浅いが、その直下の地層に存在する貝殻の層が、この水の性質を決定づけているという。
 
成分を分析した結果、この水には1リットル当たり2.7mgという多量のリンが含まれているが、これほど多量のリンを含む水は、他のどの酒造地域でも例がないという。リンの他、カリウム、カルシウムの含有量も多いが、これらの無機成分は麹カビと酵母の増殖を助けて安定した発酵を行なう重要な役割を持っている。これは、地下水が貝殻（主としてトリ貝）の層を通過する際に、貝殻の無機成分を溶解しながら湧出してくるためで、炭酸を多く含んだ武庫川の水がこれら成分の溶解に好都合となっているそうだ。また、酒造用水の大敵は鉄分で、これが含まれていると酒が褐色に着色されてしまうのだが、宮水には鉄分はほとんど含まれていない。これは酸素を多量に含んでいる夙川の伏流水が鉄分を酸化し、貝殻の層で濾過されてしまうためといわれる。
 

Acquire the techniques of a sake sommelier with your five senses  

 

In Japanese, kikisake - commonly referred to as sake tasting - is to understand the fragrance properties of sake and other beverages using all five senses – “vision,” “taste,” “smell,” etc. 

 

Tasting the sake and verbally expressing the sake fragrance and flavor with one’s own five senses is important. 

 

What is sake tasting? 

 

The purpose of sake tasting is different according to each position. For example, the master sake brewer and sake brewery workers taste sake while brewing to determine the quality and shipment time, while sake sommeliers - who sell and serve sake in restaurants and sake shops – taste sake to understand the characteristics of each sake and reflect on how to explain each sake and propose how to best enjoy each sake to customers.  

 

Also, the purpose of tasting sake for general consumers is to determine which sake best suits one’s own preferences.

 

 

By Ryuji Takahashi
 

 

The “27th Shimbashi Koichi Matsuri (Festival)” was held in the middle of summer near the “Shimbashi Station” in Minato Ward, Tokyo, a popular hangout spot among business professionals, on July 25 and 26. The Koichi Festival was named to invite residents, workers, and visitors to the Shimbashi Station area to stop by and have fun for an hour. Many food stalls were set up in three locations – Karasumori-Dori street, areas surrounding the New Shimbashi Building (“SL Square”), and Sakurada Park – where the Yukata (unlined cotton summer kimono) beauty pageant was held, along with plenty of entertainment and outdoor events over a two-day period. 
 
The festival, scheduled to start at 12:00 noon until the day before, was delayed until 3:00 PM due to the scorching heat. On the first day, I couldn’t stop sweating in drizzling rain due to the maximum humidity. Visitors totaled approximately 14,000 in two days. I wiped my sweat as I headed towards the Nihonsakari booth of a close friend. 
 
Familiar aluminum can-shaped bottles (“bottle cans”) and raw, unprocessed, undiluted sake lined the Nihonsakari booth, along with chilled sake, perfect to enjoy while strolling the festival sites. I purchased two bottles of raw, unprocessed, undiluted sake and strolled through the food stalls before the rain got heavier. Food stalls sold omuyakisoba (omelet fried noodles), skewer-grilled scallops, sake by the Fukushima Prefecture Sake Brewers Cooperative, and beer, while the stage showcased live taiko performances, Hawaiian Hula, and Bon Odori (traditional Japanese regional folk dance). The festival offered great food, beverages, and live performances. 
 
I couldn’t leave the festival in just short of an hour. I previously helped in food stalls, before the festival was canceled for 4 years due to the coronavirus pandemic. The festival finally resumed last year in 2023. Despite initial concerns over the turnout, many visitors came and enlivened the festival, no different from previous years. The pandemic popularized work-from-home and remote work, which reduced the number of commuters to the office. Yet, the turnout seemed high at the Koichi Festival, held at a popular hangout spot for business professionals, in fact, even higher than previous years. The rain started to get harder while strolling, so I sought shelter from the rain in the New Shimbashi building. 
 
I visited the “Jinsei Sakaba,” a sake pub and restaurant introduced in a previous report, where I presented the Nihonsakari raw, unprocessed, undiluted sake I purchased earlier as a souvenir. I asked if the building got crowded during the Koichi Festival and was told business was the same as usual. The restaurant inside the building has many repeat patrons, thus customers who come from the festival during peak business hours are sometimes turned away. The owner said, “The weather is often rainy on the day of the Koichi Festival.”  
 
Hot weather with heavy rainfall is common during summer festivals. Still, I felt excited to attend a festival that was previously canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. As the summer festival season soon ends in each region and the Olympics are now over, and once the summer baseball games are over, fall is fast approaching. Next, I’m planning to find and attend a fall festival. 

By Kosuke Kuji
 

 

This is the third report on young Japanese consumers and Japanese sake, the last report for this series. 
 
“Sake Jump,” a community of young Japanese sake brewers in their twenties to early forties, actively introduce their original sake brands to popularize sake among young consumers. 
 
This group holds sake tasting events twice a year. Their sake tasting events this year were held at the Keyaki Hiroba, a restaurant and shop inside the Saitama Super Arena, an impressive? venue. 
 
All three organizations introduced in this series organized “outdoor tasting events.” 
 
Tasting events held in a hotel conference room can seem intimidating and can increase the registration fee for participants. Therefore, the group organized outdoor tasting events to reduce the intimidation factor and the registration fee for participants, an effective strategy to attract interest. 
 
NTT DOCOMO, INC. is a sponsor of this tasting event, organized by “Sake Jump,” to further reduce the cost to participants. Saitama Super Arena Co., Inc. is also a special collaborator. The National Tax Agency, the supervisory authority of our sake breweries, also supports this tasting event in their powerful line-up of supporters. 
 
I’m confident that all the parties involved desire to introduce the appeal of Japanese sake to young consumers. 
 
I look forward to seeing more events like this held in the future.
 
 
 

 

 

日本の酒蔵の数

 

日本、焼酎の酒蔵の数は消費量の減少とともに減っているが、それでも日本全国に約1600か所ある。どの地域に酒蔵が多いのかを紹介してみたい。日本酒の蔵元が多い印象のある新潟や、生産量の最も多い京都を思い浮かべるだろうが、実は九州の鹿児島が一番多い。

 

酒造メーカーの多いトップ5： 

 

1位　鹿児島県酒造組合　109

 

2位　新潟県酒造組合　90

 

3位　長野県酒造組合　81

 

4位　兵庫県酒造組合連合会 71

 

5位　福岡県酒造組合　64

 

地域別の酒造メーカー数：

 

東北・北海道　226

 

関東　191

 

中部　379

 

近畿　234

 

中国　155

 

四国　81

 

九州　378

 

地域的には、2位新潟県、3位長野県のある中部地域が1位で379箇所となり、九州は378か所とかなり多いことがわかる。中部では、日本酒メーカーが多いの対して、九州は焼酎メーカーが多いのが特徴。

 

By Kosuke Kuji
 

 

This is the second report about young Japanese consumers and Japanese sake. 
 
The previous report was about a social gathering organized in Asakusa district, while this report is about another social gathering organized in Shibuya district. 
 
As you know, Shibuya district is a renowned gathering place for the Japanese youth, a district that represents young consumers. I also frequented the Shibuya district when I was young. 
 
The “Sake Park” event is held at the newly renovated Miyashita Park as the venue in the Shibuya district. Held this year for the third time, many youths from Shibuya district gather every year. 
 
This event attracts 25 sake breweries and 5 craft sake brewers (unrefined sake producers not licensed to brew sake) from nationwide. 
 
Artists also participate in this event. DJs start performing live at the venue in the afternoon, etc., where sake is enjoyed in a lively environment characteristic of Shibuya district.
 
Guests dancing to the rhythm of the music with a cup of sake in hand is an interesting sight unique to Shibuya district, also captured in video footage. 
 
The event is attended by “gyaru” (young “gals” wearing loud, bold, and expressive street fashion, a subculture of Japanese street fashion popularized in the 1990s), young IT professionals, and other guests who enjoyed sake with music, a sight atypical from the usual sake sampling events attended by old men only, which shed a ray of hope into the future of the Japanese sake industry.    
 
Encouraging the consumption of sake served in a sake pub is a difficult way to attract young consumers, who might hesitate to step inside. Therefore, serving sake with live music and performances by DJs in the Shibuya district is a great way to attract young consumers to try sake, a highly promising effort in my opinion.