24-5 Sakuragaoka-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0031
Tel: 03-5456-8082 Fax: 03-5456-8388
Mail: info@japancivilization.org
http://www.japancivilization.org/

Newsletter Vol. 4 Summer 2016

On 24th May, 2016, the fourth symposium held by Japanese Civilization Institute took place at Japan University of Economics in Shibuya,
Tokyo. Attending the symposium were Mr. Hiroshi Sakurai, president of Asahi Shuzo Co., a brewery that produces Japanese sake Dassai,
which is also popular among people outside Japan, Mr. Tsuneyasu Takeda, adjunct lecturer at Kogakkan University and Mr. Katsuhiko
Kitamoto, former appraiser of National Research Institute of Brewing (NRIB), and now research professor of Nihon Pharmaceutical University and professor emeritus at Tokyo University. Chilled Dassai was offered to attendees prior to the opening of the event, and amid a
comfortable atmosphere, Mr. Kitamoto presented his lecture entitled, “Japanese sake and my life with koji mold.” Then, Naoki Inose,
director of Japan Civilization Institute, who also served as MC, unfolded the discussion centering around the theme, “Why Japanese saketastes good—Japanese cuisine leads the world.” The discussion revolved around various topics including Kojiki (Japan’s oldest historical
record) and how Japanese sake came to be known to the world. The following is an extract from the event.

A Report on our 4th Symposium A special lecture

Japanese sake andmy life with koji mold

By Katsuhiko Kitamoto(Research Professor of Nihon Pharmaceutical University)

Greetings
Kimiko Tsuzuki,

Chairperson ofJapanese Civilization Institute

Our country is a country of “mizuho”(Land of Abundant Rice). Japanesesake— produced from “inaho” (ear ofrice)—also plays an important role in
Shinto rituals, and has developed tothis day. Japanese food has beenrecorded on the list of the World’s
Intangible Cultural Heritage, and forJapanese Civilization Institute, the actof discussing Japanese sake is the actof contemplating the culture backed
by tradition and a very long history.
This Newsletter summarizes our 4th
Symposium revolving around Japanese sake. I hope you enjoy it.

Photo by Asahi Shuzo Co.

I would like to talk about kojimold today. I’m sure everyone knowsa lot about Japanese sake, but there
are few who know about koji mold.
What makes Japanese food different
from, say French food and Chinese
food is “umami (pleasant savory
taste)”. Lying at the base of umami
are seasonings like “miso” (soybean
paste), soy sauce and mirin (sweetsake). What they have in common iskoji, or koji-kin (koji mold). In other

About the groupJapanese Civilization InstituteEstablished in August 2015

words, the key ingredient of umami
in Japanese food is koji mold.
I have long been studying just kojimold. For 20 years, I worked at theInstitute of Brewing in Takinogawa,
Kita Ward. During that time, I also
worked at the Regional Taxation
Bureau of Fukuoka and Sendai andserved as appraiser of sake. In 1995,
I became professor emeritus at Tokyo
University and have made a transition to studying basic biologicalissues ever since. My days at theInstitute of Brewing, was spent on
studying sake yeast and koji mold—two microbes essential for sake making. I have also participated in thedevelopment (breeding) of sakeyeast, which outcome can be seen in
Kyokai Sake Yeast No. 1901—a
High Ethyl Caproate Productivity
that produces no Urea—distributed
two years ago by the Institute ofBrewing.

Address: 24-5 Sakuragaoka-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0031
Tel :03-5456-8082 Fax:03-5456-8388
Website: http://www.japancivilization.org/

Designed by artisan and company

converting starch into glucose, whichis then filtered. The transparent fluidis then fermented with beer yeast.
The process of fermentation and saccharification is different. It is known
as a singular fermentation process.

Japanese sake ismade from one of
the world’s mostcomplex fermentation
methods

Koji is essential forsake production
It goes without saying, that koji isessential for sake production. Whenyou scratch some koji mold and put
it above some nutrient agar, thenlook at it through a microscope, you
see thin thread-like cells connectedto each other like bean sprouts.
These are the seed malt of koji andwe also call them “moyashi” (beansprouts). Recently, Japanese food isseen by the world as a healthy cuisine. Studies show how koji molditself that is included in Japanesefood has functions of health, and isslowly being developed.
Excuse me for my long introduction. Let us return to our theme andtalk about how Japanese sake ismade. When you look at the text
books of sake production, you see
the famous phrase; “Ichi: koji, ni:moto, san: zukin” (first koji, then theyeast starter, then fermentation). In
other words, koji is the most important component in sake production.
The main ingredient of sake isrice. Rice is polished, washed, soaked
in water and steamed to make2

steamed rice. 20% of this is thenused for making koji, while 80% isused for preparing seed mash and“moromi” (mash). The seed mash is
the starter. For example, when 1000kg needs to be prepared, 7% or 70 kg
of rice is cultivated in a clean culture
as starter. The starter takes two weeks
to complete. Then, it is used to prepare moromi three times. By the time
moromi is completed, 18% of sake is
produced in the course of a month. It
is then compressed and filtered andclear sake is produced.
Liquor produced by fermentation
using only fermentation skills include,wine, beer and Japanese sake.
Amongst them, Japanese sake takes
the most complex route of brewing
production, called the multiple parallel fermentation process. Wine undergoes a singular fermentation process,in which the yeast simply ferments
the various saccharides, like glucose
and fructose fruit sugar included in
the ingredient of wine—grapes. Beer,on the other hand, converts barleystarch into sugar. Using malt, sweet
juice (wort) is produced from amylase contained in malt. It undergoesa preliminary saccharification step of

In contrary, Japanese sake is more
complex. Glucose of rice is produced
from fermentation mash thatremains in the tank. It undergoes amultiple parallel fermentation process, in which glucose is fermented
to alcohol as soon as sake fermentation begins. While alcohol percentage is about 5% for beer, 10% forwine, an extremely high alcohol percentage of 20% is produced withJapanese sake due to the skilled fermentation technique. Two types ofrice are used, “sakamai” (sake rice)
and rice used for food. Sakamai isrice exclusively used for producing
sake. The rice we normally eat isabout 22g for a thousand grains.
Yamada Nishiki sake rice is slightly
bigger, about 26.6g for the sameamount.
When you look closely, you see amilky white colored part in the center of the grain, which is referred toas “shinpaku.” Shinpaku causes
reproduction of koji mold resulting
in producing a fine mold. Amongst
the many sakamai, Yamada Nishiki isthe most famous, and is used often
to make “ginjo-shu” (sake made fromhighly polished rice using special technique). Ginjo-shu labled “Yamada
Nishiki 35%” is made of white ricepolished to 35%, after being shaved
65% from the outside with a rice-polishing machine when it was brownrice. A large amount of “nuka” (ricebran) is extracted at this stage, whichis used to make rice crackers and cosmetics. Dassai’s company produces
rice flour bread from ginjo-shu incollaboration with Kobeya Baking
Co., which is said to be deliciouswith the glutinous texture it provides.
The reason why the rice is polished
is because the taste turns stale. The rice
we regularly eat is white rice that isshaved 10% from brown rice. Brown
rice is rich in nutrition be it minerals,
protein or fat, but that part acts negatively for sake flavor, so it is shaved off.
Generally, an average of about 30% ofJapanese sake is shaved off from thebrown rice, but ginjo-shu—that’s
become popular today—shaves about
a half. There is an indication standard
for ginjo-shu that more than 40%
needs to be shaved. The more it’s polished the more the starch gets purified,resulting in fine sake. From experience,
it is proved that protein and fat lessens,
and the fragrance of ginjo-shu is
extracted and its taste becomes moredelicate when this is done.
By the way, “daiginjo-shu” (superpremium ginjo made from highly-polished rice) shaves off more than
50%. Koji’s saccharification power isstrong and its ability to break up
protein is low. There is koji exclusively used for ginjo, that uses kojimold with refreshing taste. Preparation is thoroughly planned—for

example, moromi is fermented for along period at a low temperature—sothat ginjo with fruity fragrance anddelicate taste is produced.

Koji’s usage ranges
from medicine todetergent
There are various types of kojimold. You can get them for about
100 yen at grocery stores, but thosepacked in paulownia wood used
exclusively for making ginjo, cost
about 10,000 yen. When you open it
there’s seed malt, and amongst them
are those that have plenty of green
koji mold spores attached to them.
These bean sprout-like spores are
sprinkled on steamed rice for twodays and turned into white koji,
which is used for preparation.
Koji mold is a lead player in Japanese food that is used in Japanesesake, “mirin” (sweet sake), soy sauce,“miso” (soybean paste) and “amazake”(sweet mild sake). As a matter of fact,
it is used in purposes other than foodfrom quite a long time ago. For example, it is used in Taka-Diastase, a medicine for digestion, which is also mentioned in Natsume Soseki’s novel,“Wagahai-wa Neko-dearu” (I am acat). Professor Jokichi Takamine
invented it over 100 years ago and is

now used as an anti-indigestion tablet. Meanwhile, there’s an exogenous
enzyme substance called lipase thatremoves oil stains in detergents, which
is made up of genetically engineered
molds that are made by using kojimold. This is now used worldwide.
Also, although there are very few
reports on this, it’s known that kojimold has functions for enhancing
health and beauty. I would like tospread this information to the Japanese people, so I launched a projectcalled “Amazake Project” at Nihon
Pharmaceutical University. Amazake
is considered effective for atopic dermatitis and hay fever too. But it’s notknown and valued amongst the overall Japanese people so there’s a huge
gap. Yogurt, on the hand, isextremely popular today, and there’s
a lot of study on lactic bacillus but
for koji mold there’s only about
1/1000th amount of research done,
which is a disappointment. So, we
now have a goal for amazake to be
produced and consumed by about
10% or more of yogurt by 2025. I
truly believe that there are similar oreven greater possibilities for amazake
compared to yogurt, so I would liketo contribute the rest of my life tokoji mold and to study and spread itso that more people will get to know
about it.

Katsuhiko Kitamoto
Born in 1950 in Kangagawa Prefecture. After graduatingfrom the University of Tokyo, Faculty of Agriculture, hebecame a researcher at National Research Institute ofBrewing. He served as appraiser at Fukuoka Regional Taxation Bureau and Sendai Regional Taxation Bureau, as well
as chief scientist at National Research Institute of Brewing.
From 1996, he was a professor at Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences. Presently, he is professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo and research professor at
Nihon Pharmaceutical University. He has received multiple
awards including JSBBA Award for Senior Scientists.

3

Panel Discussion

Why Japanese saketastes good?
Japanese cuisine leads the world
Hiroshi vs. Katsuhiko vs. Tsuneyasu
Sakurai
Kitamoto
TakedaModerator

Naoki Inose

Japanese sake—the transition thatmade it taste good
Inose: Dassai was given out for tasting to the attendees here at thevenue. How was it? Dassai has layersof tastes, ranging from pungent taste,
sweet taste to an astringent taste.
Takeda: It’s Junmai Ginjoshu withtaste and a flamboyant fragrance.
Sakurai: Before Dassai, people fussed
over refreshing, slender sake with fragrance but no taste. But as social conditions began to change, people
began to look for taste in sake. Sake’s
tastes have changed over time.
Inose: Maybe people began to drink
differently since the Koshinokanbai
became popular. Today, good sake isdrank directly from the bottle as “reishu,” but back then, drinking sakeout of a bottle without warming it
up was referred to as “hiyazake” andwas somewhat looked down upon.
The Japanese system for grading
sake—from “tokkyu” (special class),“ikkyu” (first class) and “nikyu” (second class) was abolished when the4

Liquor Tax Law was revised in 1985,
and instead a standard indication system of labeling sake as Dai-ginjo,
Ginjo and Junmai-shu was incorporated. Sake, with a ratio indicating
the quantity of polished rice obtained
from brown rice which is below
70%, is established as “hon-jozo”(authentically brewed sake). Meanwhile, sake with a ratio below 60%—
another words, sake which rice isshaved 40%—is referred to as ginjo,
and rice that is shaved 50% Daiginjo. In old times, there was low
quality sake in which alcohol for
brewing was even mixed. It could besaid that the Liquor Tax Law put astop to sake lowering its quality.
Kitamoto: The grading system was asystem in which the brewers reported
their own sake. In contrary, the standard indication system is operated
with definite guidelines, which I
think contributes to improving thequality of sake.
However, adding alcohol for brewing to sake, doesn’t necessarily degrade
the quality of sake. Maybe Mr. Inose isreferring to “sanbai-zojo-seishu (sanzo)”(three-time increased sake), sake inwhich alcohol for brewing is added

Hiroshi Sakurai (president of Asahi Shuzo Co.)

twice the amount of moromi. Those
types of sake are almost never seen
today. That said, a small amount of
alcohol for brewing is included in honjozo. Hon-jozo a sake from old times
which methods descend from “hashira-jochu” (literally, “shochu spirit as asupporting pillar”) of the Edo Period
in which rice shochu was added toraise the alcohol percentage to prevent“hiochi” (putrefaction of sake by bacteria called “hiochikin”). Its style is thesame as Cutty Sark blended whiskey.
Inose: I see. A traditional way ofbrewing alcohol is utilized. But theway Dassai shaves off its rice until itreaches 23% seems a bit of a waste,but I guess that happens when you
thoroughly look for fine tastes.
Sakurai: Theoretically, with Daiginjo you only have to shave 50% off
the outside of the rice, but because
rice is a product of nature it’s hard todetermine where the center of therice is. Even if you shave 50%, there’s
a possibility of leaving behind saccharose and protein that you want toremove. Yamada Nishiki is a type ofrice that is not easily broken evenwhen it is polished well, and fromthis is made “Dassai, migaki, sonosaki-e” (Dassai, polish, ahead of there),a sake that is shaven over 23%.
Inose: There are various procedures
to making sake, but it seems its ultimate taste appears to correspond to
the severe percentage of how much it
is shaven off, right?
Sakurai: It’s not the only factor that’s
necessary, but the more you polishthe rice the tastier the sake becomes.
In the beginning, the producer’s
endeavor was just competing to produce the most polished Japanesesake. Some brewery experts said there
was no meaning in polishing riceafter a certain point. However, whensake was actually made, it turned outthat the more they polished the rice,
the tastier it became and the more it
matched with food.
Kitamoto: A few decades ago, computer controlled rice-polishing machines
were invented and rice was automatically polished be it 35% or 50%. Up
until then, “toji” (people who had
special skills for rice milling) had tocontinuously pound rice for about
30 days to make polished rice of
50%. Physically, it was only possible
to prepare a small amount of about
700 kg of rice and that was it. The
fine taste of Dassai today greatly
derives from computer controlled
rice-polishing machines.
Sakurai: In addition to technicalinnovation, I think it’s the Japanesepeople who started searching forgood taste in sake that changed sakeas a whole.

Japanese sakeadvancing into
overseas markets—its tradition andtechnical innovation
Inose: With the outside culture
entering Japan, comparisons were
made, and expectations for Japanesefood and sake to become tastier
became high. At the end of 2013,
Japanese food was added to the list of
UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. Maybe from now onwards,
measures to compare Japanese sakewith wine, for example, need to be
made.
Sakurai: As a brewer, we need to aim
for an “absolute taste” that can win
over the battle amongst various
industries. No matter how much wesay, “This is Japanese traditional culture,” it won’t help much overseas. It
was difficult for me to take this in,
but for example, an authority ofFrench cuisine Robuchon said “I fellin love, immediately” when he tasted
Dassai.
Inose: Dassai is exported to how
many countries?
Sakurai: We say 20 countries officially to the press, but if we include
embassies, to which we send one or
two cases, we’d say over 100 countries.
Takeda: About two years ago, when
I went into a restaurant in Paris, I
found Japanese sake there. I thoughttimes have changed, and I tried toorder one but was surprised at theprice. A shot of sake cost 500 Euro—
about 70,000 yen at the time. It’s nota price for the bottle. In Japan it’s
probably a type of sake that costs a
few thousand yen for “issho-bin” (abottle of about 1.8 lit.). I asked them
how they priced their sake, then theysaid it didn’t matter how much they
paid for the sake, its taste was worth
the price. In the future, if rich Westerners realized the appeal of Japanesesake and its international price continuously rose—so that one bottle
cost a few hundred thousand yen like

Romanne-conti—maybe a lot of Japanese people won’t be able to drink
sake like they used to (laughing). I’m
happy that people outside Japan are
getting to realize the appeal of Japanese sake, but on the other hand, theamount of sake that sake brewers can
produce is fixed, so you can’t suddenly double or triple the amount.
Inose: How much is Dassai when itis drank overseas?
Sakurai: About twice the price inAmerica and four times the price inEurope. You said that the purchaseprice was irrelevant, but French
restaurants normally charge threetimes the purchase price. Simply calculated, Dassai is sold 12 times theprice of Dassai sold in Japan.
Takeda: In other words, Japanesesake has the value to be traded at a
price similar to that of Romanneconti. However, although there’s goodsake being made and there’s a popularity for Japanese sake, consumptionof sake in Japan is decreasing a few
percent every year.
Sakurai: The baby boom generation
who were considered fans of Japanesesake went over to “shoch” (liquor distilled from sweet potatoes, rice, buckwheat, etc.) and never came back.
Sake is not selling well even in Akita,
Niigata and Shimane Prefectures,
where per capita consumption of sakeis high. On the other hand, there’s avery small increase in Tokyo. I think
the younger generation is beginningto discover Japanese sake.
Takeda: I think this whole notion of;“anyway, let’s start with drinkingbeer” is what’s getting in the way. If
10% of drinking a toast is done withsake, maybe we can put a stop to asmall percentage of decline every year,of drinking sake. Let’s keep sake inmind and start drinking it. How
about doing away with “anyway, let’s
start with drinking beer” everyone?
(laughing)
Inose: It’s true. Since when did people start drinking with this notion of“anyway, let’s start with drinkingbeer”? On the other hand, recently
Dassai can be drunk at a normal iza-

5

Katsuhiko Kitamoto (research professorof Nihon Pharmaceutical University)

kaya (bara tavern).
Sakurai: I think it rash that brewers
price their sake with scarcity value,
making brands out of “rare quality
sake.” I want to expand the opportunity for Dassai so it can be enjoyed bya wide range of people. It shouldcompete in the market simply with its
tastiness, so that people may choose
it again. There’s no need for the Japanese sake industry to copy Hermes.
Inose: If one brewer of Yamaguchi
Prefecture became a national brand,
normally it wouldn’t be able to catchup on the amount it needs to produce. But Asahi Shuzo built a mass
production system so that fine products can reach a wide range of people. It created a system that allowed
quality products to be supplied not
only in exclusive shops but also in
izakaya. Every industry is sufferingfrom successor issues and aging ofcraftsmen. Toji is of no exception but
at Asahi Shuzo, we have young people working. Also, we have a system
in which breweries can work all
throughout the year, allowing us not
only to prepare sake in the winter—
which is the tradition—but also inthe summer.
The average age of employees
working at Asahi Shuzo is 26.9. Not
so long ago, there was a link between
farming villages and breweries, where
employees could work in the rice
fields in the summer and work as tojo
in the winter when work became
sparse. But the tojo system collapsed
with the farming villages when the

6Japanese economy developed. Just
protecting tradition and avoiding theentering of newcomers only weakens
the industry. In order to maintain theJapanese sake industry, we need toteach young people how to makesake. Also, today our lives no longer
centers round rice farming. If we use
Japan’s air conditioning skills, we caneasily cool and store rice as we please,so making sake all throughout theyear is a reasonable choice we should
make. By pursuing technology andelevating quality, we’re trying to break
down the barrier and make our way
into the world.
For Dassai, what used to be doneby toji’s intuition and experience—for
example measuring the water amountrequired for the rice, the fermenting
process, and deciding on the growth
process of koji—is now accomplishedby accurate calculation of digital
devices. We measure the extent of fermentation digitally everyday but
humans control the extremely delicate
temperature change that can sometimes
be as small as 0.1 degree. For that part
we never depend on machines. For
example, sashimi tastes better when cut
by humans not machines. Humans
always do these types of delicate operations better than machines.

Sake making wasa Shinto ritual
according to Kojiki
Inose: Mr. Kitamoto, in the firstplace, appraisers fall under the jurisdiction of the National Tax Agency,
right? Recently, due to the influenceof cheap, malt-free beer-like alcoholic
beverages, liquor tax has lessened to
1.4 trillion yen, while cigarettes’ tax
is 2.2 trillion yen due to the rise inretail price. They both are a big
source of tax revenue—close to 1%of consumption tax.
Kitamoto: In Germany there’s brewery tax, but in Japan there’s only
liquor tax not brewery tax. The revision of liquor tax in 1985 was revolutionary. But, because it’s liquor tax,

they’re only concerned in how they
can charge tax, rather than how they
can make quality sake. The Japanesesake industry has raised their quality
only because brewers across thenation—like Asahi Shozo—have continued striving to make good sake.
Inose: In 2015, the rules havebecome strict and only sake produced
from Japanese rice is allowed to belabeled as Japanese sake.
Kitamoto: I think this can be understood as the very first concept that’s
close to brewery tax. A lot of Japanese sake is made outside of Japan
too. Amongst them is Korea, which
has the largest factory. After 2015,
sake made there is labeled “seishu”(sake made of rice and koji) when
they enter Japan.
Inose: This principle, I think, links
with the idea of protecting domestic
sake producers. Quality Japanese sakecannot be made without increasing
the number of farmers who produce“sakamai” (rice that’s suitable formaking sake).
Sakurai: Yamada Nishiki is quality
rice that’s often referred to as “Kingof Sakamai.” No matter how much
we come up with a new policy, if it’s
within an existing realm, we’re only
going to shut out newcomers. We
need to think about increasing production or we’re not going to makeprogress. Asahi Shuzo gets criticized
for buying up too much Yamada
Nishiki, but I really think they shouldstop saying that and think of a way toincrease production. Japan’s agriculture is losing 80 thousand tons of riceproduction every year. We only needto put a stop to that. Yamada Nishiki
is very expensive compared to regularrice and in Hyogo Prefecture, threerecommended Agricultural Cooperatives are the ones that have control.
But, there are inevitable needs for
Yamada Nishiki, so I once asked other
Agricultural Cooperatives to makeYamada Nishiki. But that afternoon,
I received a phone call from the director of National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, warning me to stop asking people to pro-

Tsuneyasu Takeda (writer)

duce rice according to my opinions.
Inose: Agricultural Cooperatives’
crop regulations are, in other words,
the nation’s regulations. From now
until 2020, more foreigners are going
to be coming in and it’s a good chance
for Japanese culture to become better
known, so we should do without
obstructions and regulations andthink about indirect aids and thecountry’s tourism policies.
Sakurai: Although we have thesestruggles, we now have Niigata andTochigi Prefectures making Yamada
Nishiki. According to the Ministry ofAgriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’
estimation, 626,000 “hyo” (straw rice
bag which used as unit of rice)—
37,000 tons—of Yamada Nishiki wasmade last year. Until recently it was
just over 300,000 hyo, so it’s nearly
doubled. Japan produces just below
8 million tons of rice overall, so
Yamada Nishiki covers just over 0.5%.
Inose: I think this idea of getting rid
of abandoned rice fields that are notlonger cultivated, and producing
expensive Yamada Nishiki is very
positive.
Sakurai: Then farmers will makemore profit and issues of successors
will be solved.
Inose: By the way, I hear Mr. Takeda
is producing sake too.
Takeda: Yes. I started producing sakeas a part of my study group revolving
around “Kojiki.” It’s not for sale, but
it’s called Junmai Ginjoshu “Kokuhu
Misogi.” Japan is a country of rice
farming, but most people today havenever experienced rice planting let
alone sake production. By actuallyexperiencing sake production—from
scattering seed rice and planting therice, to harvesting it to make organic
sakamai, which is then prepared,
squeezed and bottled with help froma brewery—I thought maybe I could
experience something that’s very Japanese. Kojiki is Japan’s oldest historical document. It means, the root ofeverything is written in it. The document, describes sake production asa Shinto ritual.
In 2016, we had the Iseshima
Summit, but every autumn at Isejingu Shrine, “Kanname-sai,” whichcelebrates good harvest of the fivegrains that year and abundant crop
the following year, takes place. Riceis “the root of our lives.” Kanname-sai is a meaningful festival that
prays to the Gods that Japanese people live long the following year. If
something that makes the Gods
angry should happen, there won’t begood harvest the following year. Riceand sake presented before the altar
should be fine rice, so the Shinto
priests make sake from scratch byplanting the seeds. Four types of sakeare offered—“shiroki,” “kuroki,”“sumi-zake” and “rei-shu”—which
are all brewed at the shrine except
sumi-zake. Moreover, rei-shu is produced with rice grown by the Shinto
priest. Sake is this much important.
No festival can exist without it.
Inose: Mr. Kitamoto, wine is produced by fermenting it once. Compared to that, the procedure that Japanese sake undergoes—from growing
koji, yeast starter to preparing
moromi—is very complex.
Kitamoto: Wine production undergoes a simple procedure which means
its ingredients—grapes—and its
quality, directly influences the wine.
Meanwhile, Japanese sake indeed
needs added techniques. That’s why
when I was at the National ResearchInstitute of Brewing, I didn’t juststick to producing sake out of Yamada
Nishiki. Technically speaking, I considered a way to produce good enough

Naoki Inose (writer, director of Japanese Civilization Institute)

sake with Nippon-bare. Scientifically,
there is hardly any difference between
Nippon-bare and Yamada Nishiki
regarding its composition. But, sakeproduced from Yamada Nishiki tastes
better when drank after a few decades.
It seemed clear that just because
there’s only a slight difference in its
scientific makeup, it doesn’t mean
there’s no difference in its end results.
Inose: In a research using genetic
analysis, it became clear that kojimold used for Japanese sake is originally Japanese.
Kitamoto: Yes. In a genetic information derived from genomic analysis,
Japanese koji is very different tomold used for making Shokoshu in
China, which has a long history.
In old times, there was “kuchikami-sake” in which young womenchewed the rice, so that amylase
inside the saliva converted starch intosugar, to make sake for Shinto rituals.
But this was inefficient, as they
couldn’t make large amounts. Before
long, they discovered mold as aningredient to convert starch intosugar. The roots of koji mold lies here,
but until ten years ago, it was thoughtthat the mold entered Japan from
China with other Chinese culture.
When kanji entered Japan, Yamato language (original language ofJapan) remained as “kun-yomi.” Thereason why words like “茶” has only
“on-yomi” pronunciation; “cha,” issaid to be because Japan didn’t havetea before kanji entered Japan. The
kanji “麹” is read as “kyoku” and7

“kiku” in China, but in Japan it’sread as “kun-yomi” pronunciation;“koji.” This proves that a mold calledkoji existed in Japan before kanji
entered the country.
This is a hypothesis, but Japan
already had a good koji culture of its
own, so it didn’t need to adopt kojimold of China. Japanese mold tamed
its wildness well, and from the
Kamakura Period, even “koji-ya” (kojishops specializing in the koji mold)appeared. To the contrary, the Chinese weren’t as systematic and they
couldn’t domesticate their mold. In
those days, people had the obligation
to pay tax for sake, but if the koji seedis bad so is the sake. Naturally, areasthat had good koji-ya flourished.

Koji culture anddashi culture—thefuture of Japanesefood culture
Inose: Adding to the four tastes;“amami” (sweetness), “sanmi” (sourness), “shioaji” (saltiness), “nigami”(bitterness), the fifth taste “umami”(savory taste) was discovered in the20th Century. This umami was also
discovered by the Japanese people.
Kitamoto: Western food contains
fats like milk and butter but Japanesefood doesn’t. Koji culture like shoyu,
mirin, miso, Japanese sake, and“dashi” (broth) culture such as “katsuo” (bonito) and “konbu” (seaweed)
plays the role of adding flavor to thesimply seasoned cuisine.
Inose: Under these conditions ofJapanese food culture, can Japanesesake step into the global market? Can
Japanese sake reach a standard to bechosen and served at restaurants
worldwide along with wine?
Sakurai: I think there’s a great possibility. But now, exports of Frenchwine is 800 billion yen, while it’s only
14 billion yen for Japanese sake. It’s
like experiencing a different culture,so it won’t be easy at first. We must
continue failing and striving in orderto promote Japanese sake into a bev-

8

erage that can succeed in the global
market. I think we’re at the turning
point of whether the Japanese sakeindustry can regenerate or not.
Inose: I see a bright future for Japanese sake. Young people are startingto make sake with Mr. Takeda in collaboration with breweries. Also, thebrand Dassai has quickly become
widely known. With the Tokyo
Olympics coming up in 2020, I
think Japanese sake—and Japanese
food, which is listed as UNESCO’s
intangible cultural heritage—will be
regarded more and rated high by foreign countries. Japanese people needto take more pride in their culture.
Kitamoto: Foreigners need to be
notified more on the evidence thatJapanese is healthy food. I hope thatkoji is studied more and the healthiness of Japanese food becomes more
obvious so that Japanese sake andfood becomes more widespread in
the world.
Sakurai: We want to promote Dassai
to the world with a simple concept,
like that of an old woman who pulls
a “daikon” (Chinese radish) out ofher backyard plot and hands it oversaying, “it’s good, so try it.” Forget
marketing. Just try it, it’s good. We
want to make something that suits
these words.
Takeda: Wine has what’s called a“fruitful year.” Another words, if theChilled Dassai was offered to attendees.

grapes aren’t good that year, the producers have to give up. In contrary,
Japanese sake has no fruitful year or“off year.” Sake craftsmen say they
put an extra effort in the sake making
when they have bad rice. Good rice isrice with which you have control. Butthat doesn’t mean you can’t produce
good sake out of bad rice. It’s
nerve-wracking, but it’s particularly
exciting when sake produced by handis completed. I think the essence ofJapanese craftsmanship lies here.
Inose: That Osaka’s soy sauce is“usukuchi” (light) is because kelp
from Rebun and Rishiiri Islands of
Hokakaido Prefecture was brought inby “kitamae-bune” (cargo ships thatsailed the Japanese seas during theEdo period). Meanwhile, Edo(Tokyo of today) consumes “katsuo-dashi” (bonito broth), which iswhy soy sauce of the district is “koikuchi” (dark). Depending on the district, the taste of food is different,
which is why Japanese food isn’t just
one type. Diverse cultures are blooming in a tradition. I hope Japanesepeople rediscover the appeal of “wa”
(Japanese things) and confidently
transmit it to the world so that more
foreigners get to taste Japanese sakeand food.
(reprinted from “Shukan Dokushojin”, 1st July, 2016, No. 3146)

The panelists
Hiroshi Sakurai (president of Asahi Shuzo Co.)
Born in 1950, in Shuto-machi (former Iwakuni-shi). After graduating Matsuyama University of Commerce (Matsuyama University today) in 1973, he trained at Nishinomiya Shuzo (Nihonsakari today)
before joining his family business, Asahi Shuzo in 1976. But he argued with his father, the family predecessor, regarding the way they should run and manage the brewery, so he left. In 1979, he establisheda stone wholesale business Sakurai Shoji. When his father passed away in 1984, he returned home andreorganized the company’s management centering on Junmai-daiginjo Dassai. Dassai has developed
into a brand representing Japan and is now sold overseas.

Tsuneyasu Takeda (writer)
Born in 1975, as a member of the Takeda family—an old Imperial Family. He is the great-great-grandchild of the Meiji Emperor. Graduated from Keio University, Faculty of Law, Department of Law. Specialized in Study of Constitutional Law and Historical Science. He received the 15th Yamamoto ShichiheiAward for his book, “Katararenakatta Kozokutachi no Shinjitsu” (Untold Truth of Imperial Family Members, Shogakukan). Other books he published include, “Nihon wa naze Sekai de Ichiban Ninki ga Aru
no ka” (Why Japan is the most popular country in the world?) and “Gendaigo Kojiki” (Modern language
Kojiki). He has presented the “Takeda Study Group” in 17 locations nationwide and gives more then 200
lectures a year.

Naoki Inose (writer)
Born in 1946. In 1986, he received Souichi Ooya Nonfiction Award for his book “Mikado-no Shozo (Portrait of Emperor).” In 1996, he received Bungeishunju Readers’ Award for his book “Nipponkoku no
Kenkyu (A Report on Japan).” From then on, he actively worked toward abolishing and privatizing government-affiliated corporations. In June 2002, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi appointed Inose as
member of the Promotion Committee for the Privatization of the Four Highway-Related Public Corporations. He included the story of the battle in his books, “Doro no Kenryoku (Authority of the Road,
Bunshunbunko)” and “Doro no Ketchaku (Settlement of the Road, Bunshunbunko).” In October, 2006,
Inose served as Research Professor at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and in June, 2007, he served
as Vice Governor of Tokyo. He served as Tokyo governor from December 2012 to December 2013.
Translation by Ayako Karino
9Japanese Civilization Institute 2016 5th Symposium
From a long time ago, Japan has responded flexibly and consistently to the pressure and change of theoutside world and persisting and making progress along the way. With the U.K. leaving the European
Union, and with the U.S. presidential election coming up in November this year, we take this as a good
opportunity to think about the effect these events might have on Japan, and to discuss from various
angles, as to which way Japan should pave its way from here onwards.
▶ Panel discussion:“Globalization and modern state”
The path that Japan should follow, taking into consideration the U.K. leaving
the European Union and the upcoming U.S. presidential election

Kent Gilbert:

U.S. California lawyer,
TV personality

Ruri Miura:

Political scientist, Policy Alternatives
Research Institute of the Univ. of Tokyo

Date: 2 4th August 2016, 7 p.m.-9 p.m. (doors
scheduled to open at 6:30 p.m.)
Venue: J apan University of Economics, Tokyo
Shibuya Campus Hall (the hall seatsapproximately 100 people)
Address: 2
 5-17, Sakuragaoka-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo

11

Ken Kotani:

Professor at College of Risk
Management, Nihon University

MC：

Naoki Inose

Writer and director ofJapanese Civilization InstituteHow to attend: a pply through the site below:
http://www.japancivilization.org/
Contact: J apan Civilization Institute03-5456-8082
Address: 2
 4-5 Sakuragaoka-cho, Shibuya-ku,
Tokyo 150-0031