in other areas to follow the example of those in the worst hit regions. Japanese consumers have discovered the unique taste of these beverages thanks to the brewers in Tohoku, and they have started drinking more of them. Jizake’s rise in popularity also gives hope to the rest of the profession that has seen the consumption of sake decline since the mid 70s. According to Takeharu Tomohiro, editor-in-chief of Bacchante magazine, at least a hundred new sake bars have recently opened in Tokyo that only serve regional sake. The owners are often young people and 70% of their customers are also young and many of them women. While in the capital people are enjoying discovering jizake, in the areas that were damaged the drink remains a ritual source of comfort, by which people can connect with nature and the spirit of those who have died. After the 11th of March, the role of local sake was crucial for the people who were evacuated. Jizake has always played a part in every period of life. From birth to death, as well as at weddings, the construction of houses or the launching of a new fishing boat, sake has a its role in every one of these moments. Behind every one of these breweries full of hope is the determination and devotion of sincere men who are akin to abstemious, hard-working monks in monasteries. Kesennuma is a famous fishing city in Miyagi prefecture and home to the Otokoyama brewery, founded in 1912. This brewery restarted its sake production a mere two days after the tsunami hit, even amidst the chaos of the aftershocks. “People asked me to get back to work in order to keep the local industry running,” recalls the brewery’s boss Sugawara Akihiko. “We had no electricity or petrol. There was no light, no water, but we decided to start up production anyway.” he tells. And he was right to do so. Thanks to the distribution of sake and other products, people took interest in Kesennuma and the media arrived en masse to cover the event. “As a local brewer, I needed to raise hopes with Kesennuma’s sake,” adds Sugawara. “There was no way we could compromise our aim of producing the best sake. Even if it meant I had to resign or the company went bankrupt, I would go on making sake”. Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture is only a few kilometers north of Kesennuma and saw 1,773 fatalities from the tsunami. The city’s symbol is a pine tree, the only one to have survived the disaster. The Suisen brewery, a cultural icon of the city, lost everything after the tsunami and several employees were carried away by the great wave. Thanks to the presence of hundreds of cherry trees and local people who would gather to admire the trees in bloom, the gods have always blessed this brewery. It is a place that strengthened the ties between the local population, their ancestors and nature. There was a miracle, even as everything was swept away by the fury of the tsunami, as one barrel of
SASAKI Ko for Zoom Japan
FoCUS
A waterfall in Izumigatake, northwest of Sendai. Water is fundamental to the production of sake.
sake escaped the disaster, balanced on the top of a pillar. It was taken to be a profound message by the brewery, as this was the first in a series of 36 decorative barrels and bore the number one 1. “When I saw it among all the mess, I took it to be a message encouraging us to continue making sake and rebuilding the place,” says Konno Yasuaki, a master-brewer at Suisen. He accepted the challenge and restarted the sake production on another site in Ofunato, near Rikuzentakata. Neither the tsunami, nor the Fukushima nuclear power accident succeeded in breaking the cycle of sake brewing. Suzuki Daisuke, who succeeded Suzuki Shozo, transferred his brewery to Yamagata
prefecture, where his family was evacuated after the earthquake. The original site was just 6 kilometres from the stricken power plant. On the 11th of March his brewery was swept away, and the rice farmers with whom he worked all died. Both his company and his city were completely destroyed but three days later, his neighbours came to see him to ask him to continue making sake. He agreed and kept his word. By a miracle, some shubo (yeast starter), an essential ingredient in the production of sake, had been sent to a laboratory outside the city. It allowed him to start up production again only two months after the disaster. He had to go into hospital with depression but nevertheless continued april 2014 number 20 zooM JAPAN 7