2 1. The program covers the entire process from planting through to bottling. 2. Wataru Mizuguchi and Yasufumi Arai are the drivers of the program. 3. The students profile Western tourists for brand name and marketing ideas. 4. Student drawing the process.
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Can you imagine a 16-year-old in the UK learning how to brew a dark London Porter at school? Or an Aussie teen spending classroom hours learning to vinify a crisp bottle of Sauvignon Blanc? I wouldn’t have thought so either! But right here in Niseko, the local high school and the local distillery are joining forces. What they’re doing and the reasons why are fascinating.
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ataru Mizuguchi from Niseko Shuzo sake factory and Yasufumi Arai, Vice Principal of the Kutchan Agricultural High School, have together built a program to develop farming and production skills amongst students, all in the name of creating delicious Japanese sake. The program sees 14 students aged 16 and 17 learn every step in the process of sake rice cultivation, from seeding and planting, through rice field maintenance to harvesting, drying and storing. From there, Niseko Shuzo teaches the students the fundamentals of sake production, with lessons on washing, soaking and steaming the newly harvested rice, mixing with yeast, pressing, filtering,
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pasteurizing and, ultimately, bottling and labelling the product. The students are shown the traditional ways of hand-planting and harvesting the rice, though the focus of the program is on modern methods of farming, with the students each taught and given the opportunity to operate heavy-duty machinery. At key milestones throughout the process, local people and foreigners have been invited along to see the progress and be involved themselves. For example, locals joined the students to harvest the rice in muddy fields. “We thought it would be a good idea to involve local people in the sake making process,” says Mizuguchi, “so this product will be created hand-in-hand with the people of Niseko. It’s been fun to see local businesspeople getting involved.” Involving foreigners benefits the students too, as Niseko’s year-round demographic becomes increasingly international and the benefit of developing English skills becomes ever more important for young Japanese students. “We want to develop students to become contributors in local industry in the future. They gain communication and English skills when foreigners participate in the program,” says Arai. “By asking the students to explain what they have been taught