Kaneko and Matsushima Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2017) 4:28
DOI 10.1186/s40645-017-0142-9

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Progress in Earth andPlanetary Science

Open Access

Coastal sand dune ecosystem services inmetropolitan suburbs: effects on the sakebrewery environment induced by changing
social conditions
Korehisa Kaneko1* and Hajime Matsushima2

Abstract
Chiba Prefecture, Japan, lies very near Tokyo, the capital city of Japan. It borders the sea on three sides and is bandedby coastal dunes. Several sake breweries are located near these dunes. Although there are records of sake brewing
along the coast of Tokyo Bay since 1925, sake breweries have completely disappeared in several areas. We believethat sake brewing in these areas benefited from the ecosystem services afforded them by their proximity to thecoastal ecosystem. We investigated potential environmental factors (e.g., landscape, soil, and groundwater), as well as
conditions that could have driven sake brewers away from the coastal area. Many of the sake breweries that no longer
exist were located on coastal dunes (i.e., sand, sandbanks, and natural levees) and obtained their water from a
freshwater layer located 3–10 m below the surface. We speculate that these sake breweries benefited from using
natural ingredients found in the coastal zone. We also investigated the following factors that may have negatively
impacted the breweries, driving them out of business: (1) bankruptcies and reconstruction difficulties that followed
the destructive 1923 Great Kanto earthquake, (2) industrial wartime adjustments during World War II (1939–1945), (3)development of coastal industries during the period from 1960 to 1975, and (4) increasing choices for other alcoholic
drinks (e.g., beer, wine, and whiskey) from the 1960s to the present.
Keywords: Ecosystem service, Coastal dune system, Land use change, Japanese sake, Brewing, Soil and groundwater

Introduction
Japanese sake is brewed from rice and water, which are
the central ingredients of the food culture of Japan. Sake
is produced by a singular fermentation technology thatapplies the power of microorganisms. The beverage has
attracted attention worldwide. In addition, sake is an alcoholic drink specific to Japan and a component of a
traditional food culture that has continued for approximately 2000 years (Food and Beverage Specialist
Organization NPO 2009). Japan’s traditional food culture, known as “Washoku,” was given UNESCO intangible cultural heritage status on December 4, 2013. The
sake industry, however, is in decline. There were over
4000 licensed sake breweries in 1955, but their number* Correspondence: k_kaneko@hotmail.com
1
Hokuso Creature Association, 4-20-5 Tabata, Kita-Ward, Tokyo 114-0014,
Japan
Full list of author information is available at the end of the article

had dropped to about 1600 in 2016, and consumption ofsake has decreased, as of 2015, by two thirds since 1974
(National Tax Agency HP: http://www.nta.go.jp/kohyo/
tokei/kokuzeicho/jikeiretsu/01.htm).
The diverse natural environment in which sake isbrewed includes coastal sand dunes, river plains, hills,
and mountains. The natural characteristics of these environments (e.g., soil, groundwater quality, and climate)substantially affect the taste of the finished product.
Water has a significant impact on the taste of sake. In
sake brewed in coastal dune systems, the freshwaterlayer that lies 5–10 m below the ground surface provides mineral-rich, hard water in that is high in calcium
and magnesium. These nutrients actively promote theproliferation of Aspergillus oryzae and yeast, the predominant microorganisms used in sake brewing. The
taste of Japanese sake from such coastal areas is dry
and full-bodied (Kaneko et al. 2012, 2013).

© The Author(s). 2017 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, andreproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made.

Kaneko and Matsushima Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2017) 4:28

As detailed by the records of Chiba Prefecture, Japan,
the number of sake breweries in the coastal areas aroundTokyo Bay during Japan’s Taisho era (1912–1926) was
5–10 times higher than at present (Suzuki 1997). A
freshwater layer forms under coastal sand dunes, and itis this water that is used in sake brewing. Chiba Prefecture’s Tokyo Bayside, near the Japanese capitol, isformed on coastal sand dunes. This area flourished inship transportation in the Edo era (1603–1868), andthere were many sake breweries there. The sake brewing
conducted there used the water from the freshwaterlayer in its brewing processes, making use of an ecosystem service. The term “ecosystem service” means thebenefits that human beings receive from the bounty ofnature. Sake breweries have been supporting this region
for a few hundred years, and brewing has received thenatural benefits of the coastal sand dunes (terrain, soil,
water quality, etc.). However, because these areas faced
Tokyo, there has been extensive infrastructure maintenance and coastal development since the high economic
growth period of the 1960s. The coastal sand dunes ofTokyo Bayside have been affected by urban development, and most of the sake breweries have closed.
In this study, we investigate sake brewing in theseareas, which benefitted from the natural environment,
and factors that have led to its decline, based on a survey of the social changes such as land development thathave occurred in the coastal area, modifying those features that promoted sake brewery during the Taisho era(1912–1926).

Methods/Experimental
Study site

Chiba Prefecture is located east of Tokyo and is bordered on three sides by the sea (Fig. 1). In several partsof Chiba, there is a band-shaped coastal dune system(Fig. 2). The number of sake breweries concentrated in
the coastal regions known as Uchibo (inner) andSotobo (outer) has dropped substantially in the lastcentury. Figure 3 shows the number of sake breweries
by municipality in 1925 and the locations of breweries
operating in 2012, grouped topographically.
Although there is only one sake brewery currently operating in the coastal area of Tokyo Bay, records showthat in 1925, there were sake breweries in many parts ofwhat is now Chiba City, including Makuhari Town(present-day Hanamigawa Ward), Kemigawa Town
(Inage Ward), and Shiina Village (Midori Ward). In
addition, there were breweries in Goi Town (present-day
Ichihara City), Kaneda Village and Kisarazu Town(present-day Kisarazu City), and Funagata Town, Nako
Town, Hojo Town, and Tateyama Town (present-day
Tateyama City) (Fig. 4).

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Locations and soil and groundwater environments ofsake breweries

For information regarding historical and current sakebreweries, we relied on Suzuki (1997) and Kaneko et al.
(2012, 2013). In our research, we investigated the environment, including soil, topography, groundwater, andland use around sake breweries recorded in 1925. We
investigated the soil and topography using subsurface
geological maps, topographic maps, and soil maps created based on borings and well surveys (Ministry ofLand, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, National
Land Information). Groundwater conditions are described using groundwater quality data collected by
Chiba Prefecture. Groundwater sampling and analysis
were conducted in 1953, 1963, 1965, and 1966, during
the development of coastal area in Chiba Prefecture.
Since that time, very little further development has occurred in that area. We assumed that the study sites
enjoyed a natural coastal environment in the 1950s and1960s. Groundwater hardness was based on the American scale (soft 0–60 ppm, medium hard 60–120 ppm,
hard 120–180 ppm, very hard 180 ppm or more), whichis the reference standard of the World HealthOrganization (2011). The land use investigation usedblank maps for 1925, 1930, 2004, and 2009 from theGeospatial Information Authority of Japan. To investigate extinction factors for sake brewing, we conducted
an oral survey with individuals who were engaged inlocal sake brewing in 1925.
We calculated sake production rates in Chiba
Prefecture as an indicator of how many people in Chiba
Prefecture are economically dependent on sake, basedon the volume of sake produced in Chiba Prefecture andsake imported from other prefectures:
Y ¼ A=ðA þ BÞ

ð1Þ

where Y is the sake production rate, A is the volume
produced in Chiba Prefecture, and B is the volumetransferred from outside the prefecture.

Results and discussion
Change in the number of sake breweries in Chiba Prefecture

In the 1880s, there were more than 1100 sake breweries
in Chiba Prefecture. However, according to an official
announcement that prohibited home-brewed sake in
1899, this number decreased to 383 by 1896. Later,
many brewing companies suspended operations becauseof the Industrial Adjustment Act issued during WorldWar II (1939–1945), and the number of sake breweries
had decreased to 68 in 1946. During the high economic
growth period of the 1960s and afterward, the numberof sake breweries continued to decrease, reaching 39 in2012 (Fig. 5).

Kaneko and Matsushima Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2017) 4:28

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Japan
Chiba Prefecture

Tokyo Bay

Pacific Ocean
Sotobo areaN

Uchibo area

0

25 km

Fig. 1 Study area. Light gray lines indicate municipal boundaries in Chiba Prefecture in 2017. Base map from the Geospatial Information Authorityof Japan

As Fig. 5 shows, there were 168 sake breweries in Chiba
Prefecture in 1925 (Chiba Prefecture Brewing Association
1925), four times the number that existed in 2012.
In 1925, there were 56 sake breweries in the coastal
vicinity. In 2012, there were 10. The number of sakebreweries along the coast has thus decreased to one fifthof the 1925 number (Fig. 6).
Land use change

We investigated land use changes by comparing basemaps created by the Geospatial Information Authority ofJapan. Land use changes in the coastal dune system havebeen remarkable in MakuhariTown, Kemigawa Town,
Shiina Village, Goi Town, Hojo Town, and Tateyama
Town (Fig. 7). In 1925 (Fig. 7a; left), Makuhari Town wasa fishing village with a foreshore tidal flat spread in frontof the town. By 2009 (Fig. 7a; right), this 5–6 km tidal flat
had been substantially changed by development ofresidential and industrial areas. In 1920 (Fig. 7b; left),
Kemigawa Town had a foreshore tidal flat that spread
3 km toward the sea. By 2009 (Fig. 7b; right), this area had
been transformed into a coastal industrial zone. In 1920
(Fig. 7c; left), Shiina Village was an agricultural village on
sand approximately 2 km inland from the sea. A sakebrewery was located on the sand, and the expansive
coastal area around the sake brewery included rice paddies. However, by 2004 (Fig. 7c; right), the 3 km foreshore
seaward tidal flat had been developed into an industrialzone. In 1925 (Fig. 7d; left), Goi Town was a fishing andagricultural town with a predominantly natural coastline. The expanse of sand and wetlands that existed in
1925 was developed into a coastal industrial zone by

Kaneko and Matsushima Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2017) 4:28

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LegendSandy beach coast topography
Rocky coast topography
Reclaimed land

N
0

40 km

Shimousa Plateau
Kazusa Plateau

Fig. 2 Distribution of coastal topography in Chiba prefecture, Japan (Chiba Prefecture 2001)

2004 (Fig. 7d; right). Hojo and Tateyama Towns werefishing and sightseeing towns on a predominantly natural sandy coastline. Although these towns were near
the coast in 1930 (Fig. 7e; left), by 2004 (Fig. 7e; right),
the town area had expanded because of residential-area
growth and the construction of the Ground SelfDefense Force’s Tateyama Airport. The character ofwhat were the central parts of these towns in 1925 haschanged substantially because of the progressive development of residential areas, roads, and industrial land.
Notably, the sake breweries operating in 1925 werelocated along what was then the main street.
Soil and topography

The surface geology consists of sand-rich sediments (inwhich the sand and sandbanks in the coastal region consist of fine-to-medium grain sand) and sand 1, which is a
stratum of fine-to-medium grain and coarse sand sandwiching a layer of gravel and clay. Mud-rich sediments are
distributed along the tributaries that traverse the valley
lowlands of the river, plateaus, and coastal lowlands thatface Tokyo Bay in a stratum approximately 10–20 m thick.

The coastal area of the study site is primarily occupied bysand-rich sediments. Its land classification is dominatedby sandbanks, natural levees, sand bars, and covering
dunes (i.e., a sandbar–sandbank beach ridge that consistsof sand formed by waves and coastal currents in the
coastal vicinity) (Table 1). According to a survey-based
soil and land classification of Makuhari Town from thesea to the terrestrial area, its land is classified as sandbanks, natural levees, a valley plain, and middle gravel
terraces in the terrestrial area (Fig. 8a; left). The surface
geology moving inland is sand-rich sediment, loam formations, mud-rich sediment, sand, and then loam formations, with the strata formed by the weathering of volcanic
ash deposits in the terrestrial area (Fig. 8a; right). In
Kemigawa Town, Shiina Village, and Goi Town, the land
is classified as having alternating repeated sandbanks,
natural levees, valley plains, coastal plains, and delta
plains, with middle gravel terraces in the terrestrial area
(Fig. 8b–d; left). The surface geology has alternately repeating mud-rich sediment and a stratum of sand 1 approximately 10–20 m thick, with loam formations in theterrestrial area (Fig. 8b–d; right). In Tateyama Town, theKaneko and Matsushima Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2017) 4:28

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Fig. 3 Numbers of sake breweries in 1925 and locations of sake breweries in 2012. Light gray lines indicate municipal boundaries in 2017. Thebase map was created by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japanland is classified as alternately repeated sandbars, inter-bar
lowlands, and naked dunes and includes river terraces anddissected hills in the terrestrial area (Fig. 8e; left). The surface geology shows alternately repeated mud-rich andsand-rich sediments and with sandstone and mudstone in

the terrestrial area (Fig. 8e; right). The postulated naturalenvironment had alternately repeating sand and wetlands
from the sea to the terrestrial area and included middle
gravel terraces, coastal terraces, or dissected hills. We investigated the soil environment of each sake brewery that

Fig. 4 Coastal region where sake brewing was practiced in 1925. Light gray lines show municipality boundaries in Chiba Prefecture in 2017

Kaneko and Matsushima Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2017) 4:28

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Number of sake breweries

1200
1000
800
600
400
200

1871
1876
1881
1886
1891
1896
1901
1906
1911
1916
1921
1926
1931
1936
1941
1946
1951
1956
1961
1966
1971
1976
1981
1986
1991
1996
2001
2006
2011

0

Year

Fig. 5 Numbers of sake-brewery licensed in Chiba Prefecture (Chiba Prefecture 2012). Black bars indicate pre-home-brewing prohibition values

was operating in these regions in 1925, including the altitude and distance from the sea. Sake breweries were frequently located on sandbanks, natural levees andsandbars, or in surface geology terms, on sand-rich sediments (Fig. 9). They were most often located within
1.0 km from the sea, at altitudes of 11.0 m or less. Evensake breweries located over 2.0 km from the sea were at
relatively low altitudes of 5.0 m or less (Fig. 10).
Groundwater quality

The wells in Makuhari and Kemigawa Towns were
2.0–3.5 and 2.0–5.5 m deep, respectively. In Goi,
Kisarazu, and Nako Towns, they were 3.6, 10 or less,and 3.0 m deep, respectively. The groundwater in allthese locations was very hard (Chiba Prefecture 1966).
Hojo Town had hard water at depths of 4.0 m, Kaneda
Village had medium hard water at depths of 5–10 m,
and Tateyama Town had medium hard water at 4.0 m(Chiba Prefecture 1954 and 1963; Institute for Healthin Chiba Prefecture 1983). We were unable to confirm
the figures for Makuhari, Kemigawa, and Funagata
Towns and Shiina and Iwane Villages (Table 2).
Additionally, groundwater data for individual sakebreweries were unavailable.

Number of sake breweries
0

50

150

200

168

Total

Coastal

100

39

58
10
1925

2012

Fig. 6 Numbers of sake breweries, total and coastal, in Chiba
Prefecture in 1925 and 2012.

Study site environment

As noted above, the sake breweries operating in the
coastal area along Tokyo Bay in 1925 were often situatedat an altitude of approximately 10 m, approximately
1.0 km from the sea (Figs. 8 and 9). The surface geology intheir locations consisted of exceedingly soft sand-rich sediments, including sand, and the land is classified as sandbanks, natural levees, and sandbars (Table 1, Fig. 8). The
topography inland from the coast in these regions is characterized by a coastal dune system in which sand and wetlands alternate, and there are hills and terraces (Fig. 7).
Groundwater depths are 3–10 m, and the water is variably
hard, from medium hard to very hard (Table 2).
The groundwater under the sand dunes contains nutrients that originate in the remains of seaweed and animals deposited on the dunes and the salt spray carriedby the wind. Nutrient concentrations are also high where
sand-dune vegetation is abundant (Brown andMclachlan 1990). In the marine sandy alluvial soil in
Chiba Prefecture, potassium, phosphoric acid, calcium,and magnesium concentrations are high. The calcium
concentration of the groundwater that flows through theaquifer that contains the shell layer has been influenced
by the dissolution of splintered shells (Kaneko 1994;
Kaneko et al. 1994). These nutrients actively promote
the proliferation of Aspergillus oryzae and yeast, which
are the predominant microorganisms used in sake brewing. Japanese sake that is brewed using hard water tends
to be full-bodied, deep, and dry. Sake brewed using soft
water tends to be mellower and slightly sweet (Inoue2009). According to Kaneko et al. (2012, 2013), sakebreweries that were on the sand dunes used groundwater depths of 5–10 m, which placed it deep within a
freshwater layer in the sand dunes. Therefore, we believethat the Japanese sake brewed in the study area madeuse of this freshwater layer that was formed due to thecoastal dune system. If such water was used to brew
sake, it would have a dry, full-bodied taste.
The study cites all lie on alluvium. The alluvium
forms an unpressurized aquifer based on the sand-richKaneko and Matsushima Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2017) 4:28

Fig. 7 Land use in the 1920s and 2000s. Base maps by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan

Page 7 of 14

Kaneko and Matsushima Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2017) 4:28

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Table 1 Land classification, sub-surface geology, and soil type in study area
Municipality

Land classification

Sub-surface geology

Soil

Hanamigawa ward
in Chiba City

Sand bankc, natural levee

Sand-rich sedimenta

Unclassifiable

Inage ward in Chiba City

Sand bankc, natural levee,

Sand 1b(exceedingly soft)

Unclassifiable

Sand-rich sedimenta

Pale ando soils

Sand-rich sedimenta

Rough particle gray soilaRough particle gray soil,
Gray soil

Taisho period

Present (2014)

Makuhari Town
Kemigawa Town

Covering dune
Shiina Village
Goi Town

Midori ward in Chiba City

Sand bankc, natural leveecIchihara City

Sand bank , natural levee

Kisarazu City

Sand bar, sand bankc, natural levee

Sand-rich sediment

Iwane Village

Sand bar, sand bankc, natural levee

Mud-rich sedimentsd

Gray soils

Kisarazu Town

Sand bar, sand bankc,
natural levee, flood plains

Sand 1b(exceedingly soft)

Rough particle gray soil,
Gray soil

Sand bar (covered sand dune)

Sand-rich sedimenta

Unclassifiable

Sand bar (covered sand dune)

Sand-rich sedimenta

UnclassifiableaKaneda Village

Funagata Town

Tateyama City

Nako Town
Hojo Town

Sand bar

Sand-rich sediment

Unclassifiable

Tateyama Town

Sand bar

Sand-rich sedimenta

Unclassifiablea

Sand-rich sediments: composed of sand and sand banks in the coastal area and composed of fine- medium sand
Sand 1: consists of fine-to-medium grain sand, coarse sand, sandwiching a gravel clay. The thickness of the stratum is approximately 10–20 m
Sand bar-sand bank: beach ridge composed of sand forced near the coast by waves and coastal currentsdMud-rich sediments: distributed along the tributary valleys to cut the lowlands of the rivers and plateaus as well as the coastal lowland facing Tokyo Bay;composed of silt and claybcsediment. However, the topography and geology arequite different, and the groundwater flow is different
in the northern and southern parts of Chiba
Prefecture. In the northern part, the aquifer tends toflow to an alluvial lowland on the coast of Tokyo Bay
from the Shimousa Plateau, where the recharge areathat provides water resources is rich in groundwater.
However, in the Tateyama district in southern Chiba,
there is little freshwater in the basement of the surrounding plateaus. However, in the alluvium along thecoast and in the alluvial plain, where the study area islocated, the unpressurized aquifer in the sand layer isused as for shallow wells (Institute for Health in Chiba
Prefecture 1983).
Therefore, we conclude that because in 1925 development that would affect the groundwater supply had not
yet occurred, the coastal dune system was in a relatively
natural condition. Thus, water suitable for brewing
could be taken from the groundwater of the coastal sanddunes along Tokyo Bay (Chiba Prefecture side), and sakebrewing was feasible.
Factors leading to sake brewery decline

According to our survey results and other research, thefollowing items caused the decline in sake brewing, compared to that practiced in the coastal area in 1925: (1)bankruptcies and reconstruction difficulties that
followed the destructive 1923 Great Kanto earthquake(7 breweries); (2) the wartime Industrial Adjustment
Act (6 breweries), which required the nation to adapt,

integrate, or close non-military-related industrial facilities to support military-related industry during WorldWar II (1939–1945); (3) the increased difficulty of sakebrewing as a result of the large quantities of groundwater used by coastal industry during the 1960s and1970s (1 brewery); and (4) altered transportation
methods resulting from the development of distribution
based on infrastructure improvements since the 1960s(e.g., changing from ships to railroad and road transport) (3 breweries), whereby (a) Japanese sake fromother regions and imported alcoholic beverages such as
beer, wine, and other alcohol could be obtained atcheaper prices, (b) changes in the availability of luxury
goods occurred, and (c) it was no longer possible to sellsake brewed in the region.
The Great Kanto earthquake disaster

In Nako Town, there was a sake brewery until the
Taisho era (1912–1926) (Nako District Union Neighborhood Association 2007). Other sake breweries
known from records to exist in 1925 are as follows: 3
in Goi Town, 2 in Hojo Town, 1 in Tateyama Town, 1
in Funagata Town, 1 in Kaneda Village, 1 in Iwane
Village, and 1 in Kisarazu Town (Chiba Prefecture
Brewing Association 1885, Chiba Prefecture Brewing
Association 1925). However, several sake breweries
were not visible in a bird’s-eye view of Chiba City
(Matsui 1929). According to an interview with a descendant of a sake-brewing family that engaged in thebrewing industry in Tateyama Town in 1925, the familyKaneko and Matsushima Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2017) 4:28

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Fig. 8 Original land classification and surface geology in the coastal sake-brewing region in the 1920s. The base map is from the Geospatial
Information Authority of Japan

15

10
8

8

8

6
4
2

1

10

5

0
0–5

Number of breweries

Page 10 of 14

Altitude (m)Number of breweries

Kaneko and Matsushima Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2017) 4:28

10

5 – 10
Altitude (m)

10 –
0
0

9

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

Distance from sea (km)

8
6

5

4

Fig. 10 Relationship between altitude and distance from sea. Data
include all sake breweries operating in the study region in 1925

3

Prefecture 1925). We surmise that for small-scale sakebreweries, reconstruction was financially difficult.

20

Number of breweries

0–1

1–2
Distance from sea (km)

2–3

1

1

Sand 1

Mud-rich
sediment

20
15
15
10
5

Industrial adjustment in wartime

Sake brewery closings because of the wartime industrial
adjustment occurred in Goi Town and Iwane, Kaneda,
and Shiina Villages in 1939–40. Although a sake breweryin Makuhari Town was depicted in a bird’s-eye view of
Makuhari Town from 1929 (Matsui 1929), the brewery
was not included in the Chiba Prefecture brewery list of
1962 (Chiba Prefecture Brewing Association 1962).
Therefore, it is likely that this brewery closed because of
the wartime industrial adjustment.

0

Number of breweries

Sand-richsediment
20
15

9

10
6
5

2

0
Sand bank,Natural levee

Sand bar, Sandbank, Natural
levee

Sand bar

Fig. 9 Soil environment and distance from sea for area breweries
operating in 1925

business ceased operation after the brewery building
was destroyed by the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake. In
addition, according to earthquake disaster records,
Tateyama, Hojo, Nako, and Funagata Towns weredestroyed by the earthquake, where 97–98% of thebuildings were gutted by fire, and the brewing industry
was devastated (Awa Country Office in Chiba

Coastal industrial development

Reclamation was performed in the coastal zone of Tokyo
Bay in Chiba Prefecture, from 1955 to 1975 to create
land for the Keiyo coastal industrial zone (Chiba Enterprise Department Coastal Division 1976). In the Goi and
Ichihara districts, development occurred from 1957 to
1963 (Chiba Prefecture Development Department
1961a). Because the quantity of groundwater pumped
for industrial uses in the coastal area increased rapidly,
the groundwater level decreased. This practice influenced private wells, and ground subsidence occurred(Chiba Prefecture Development Department 1961b).
According to an interview with a descendant of a sakebrewing family from Shiina Village (present-day Midori
Ward), although the vicinity of the sake brewery wasrich in spring water (with an artesian spring water heightof up to 20–30 cm throughout the area before coastal
industrial development occurred), after the coastal industrial zones were created, artesian spring water was nolonger seen. In addition, according to interviews with individuals who were engaged in the brewing industry
until 1969 in Goi Town, after the reclamation of thecoastal area for industrialization, the brewing industry

Kaneko and Matsushima Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2017) 4:28

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Table 2 Study sites’ water quality
Municipality

Water quality characteristics

Taisho period

Present (2014)

Well depth (m)Total hardness (ppm)

Mg (ppm)

Ca (ppm)

Water sampling period

Makuhari Town

Hanamigawa Ward in Chiba City

Shallow well

2.0–3.5–––

Before 1954a

Kemigawa Town

Inage Ward in Chiba City

Shallow well

2.0–5.5–––

Before 1954a

Shiina Village

Midori Ward in Chiba City

–

–

–

–

–

–

Goi Town

Ichihara City

Shallow well

3.6

230.3

–

92.0

Before 1966b

Kaneda Village

Kisarazu City

Shallow well

5–10

75.0

7.0

18.4

May 1953c

Iwane Village

–

–

–

–

–

–

Kisarazu Town

Shallow well

< 10

267.8

12.4

87.0

May 1953c

–

–

–

–

–

–

Nako Town

Shallow well

3.0

196.0

15.8

52.0

September 1953c

Hojo Town

Shallow well

4.0

156.0

18.9

32.4

September 1965cTateyama Town

Shallow well

5.0

106.8

14.7

19.2

September 1963dFunagata Town

Tateyama Citya

Chiba Prefecture (1954) Groundwater investigation report in the suburbs of Chiba City
Chiba Prefecture (1966) Groundwater of Chiba PrefecturecInstitute for health in Chiba Prefecture(1983) Ground water quality document collection in Chiba PrefecturedChiba Prefecture(1963) Annual reports of Industrial Res. Inst. of Chiba Prefecturebceased operation because the well water had become
polluted. The pollution was confirmed by color tone, organic matter at concentrations greater than 1000 ppm,
and the detection of ammonia. Thus, high-quality
groundwater was no longer available (Chiba Prefecture1963). Although spring water occurred in many artesian
wells in Chiba Prefecture, the pumping increased because of continuing urbanization and the developmentof industry and agriculture. Therefore, the groundwaterlevel decreased, as did the number of artesian wells. In
particular, artesian wells distributed in the center of Goi
Town, dug using the Kazusa-bori technique (a representative construction method in which wells are dug using
bamboo), subsided for several years and then disappeared after the pumping of industrial water for the
Keiyo industrial complex on Tokyo Bay commenced(Chiba Prefecture 2002). Therefore, we can conclude
that the sake breweries located near the developed area
could no longer be assured of an adequate supply ofwater because of the large quantity of groundwater usedby industry and because of industrial pollution of thegroundwater. Thus, the breweries in the district could
no longer brew sake.
Increased availability of luxury goods due to distribution
system development

Viewing the history of sake in Chiba Prefecture andthe surrounding areas, the Japanese sake brewing industry of the Kanto area, which is located in the eastern part of Japan, was done on a small scale, wasrelatively undeveloped, and was of inferior quality
compared to that of the Kansai area located in midwest
Japan. The Kansai sake industry has been continuously
producing for the Edo (now Tokyo) market since thebeginning of the seventeenth century. Therefore, Japanese sake made in the Kanto area was deemed to beinferior local sake and was neglected by both Samurai
and commoners in Edo. The Edo feudal government
aimed to improve the quality and increase the volume
produced by representative sake breweries and tried torestrict the volume of Japanese sake in Kansai. As a result, the Edo feudal government could not restrict theimported volume of sake from the Kansai area to Edo,and Japanese sake from Kansai was more popular thanthat from Kanto. However, this policy later led to improvements in the brewing technology of Kanto(Yoshida 1997a). The volume of kudari-zake shippedto Edo in 1856 was 72 million liters, whereas there
were only 7.2 million liters of jimawari-zake, sakemade in the Kanto area. Because of this, residents in
Edo drank kudari-zake overwhelmingly. Sawara Village(now Katori City in Chiba Prefecture) produced
jimawari-zake that was shipped to Edo. In 1789, it
shipped 37,800 l of sake to Edo in 1789 (Yoshida1997b). Moreover, although sake breweries in the various parts of Chiba Prefecture shipped to neighboringareas, there was no connection with Edo (Yoshida1997a; 1997b; Takahashi, 2012). In the fishing villagesof Chiba Prefecture in the Edo period, there was one
sake brewery per village. People engaged in the heavylabor of fishing exerted a large demand for sake, sosake brewing developed (Chiba Prefecture 2009). We
expect that people in Chiba Prefecture drank local sakeduring the Edo period.
According to an interview with a descendant of asake-brewing family from Hojo Town, this region had acustom of drinking sake from other regions. Therefore,
we researched the shares of alcohol consumption inKaneko and Matsushima Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2017) 4:28

Page 12 of 14

sake breweries. There were three sake breweries in
Tateyama Town in a list compiled by the Chiba Prefecture Brewing Association (1977), and according to information from our survey, the brewing industry operated
until the 1980s or 1990s. All of these sake breweries
have gone out of business because of the combination ofreasons presented above.

Chiba Prefecture. The consumption of Japanese sake has
indeed decreased, whereas beer consumption increased
until 1994, and consumption of other alcoholic beverages have increased since the 2000s (Fig. 11). The reason
for this change is that other alcoholic beverages arecheaper and easier to drink than beer. Moreover, consumption of Japanese sake produced in Chiba Prefecture
has decreased, moving toward consumption of sake produced outside of Chiba Prefecture, as PR advertising has
become more effective and transport has undergone remarkable improvement. Japanese sake was originallytransported by land and sea before World War II, anddemand within the prefecture was satisfied in those days.
Nearly two thirds of the Japanese sake consumed in
Chiba Prefecture came from outside the prefecture(Chiba Prefecture Brewing Association 1970a, b). The
production of local sake in Chiba Prefecture decreased
from 30.6% in 1979 to 25.4% in 2015, down to about
one fourth of the prefecture’s consumption (Fig. 12).
Thus, even 40 years ago, people in Chiba preferreddrinking sake brewed in other prefectures in Japan over
local sake (National Tax Agency HP: http://www.nta.go.jp/kohyo/tokei/kokuzeicho/jikeiretsu/01.htm).
It is clear that recent developments in the distribution
system, thanks to improved highway infrastructure, haveincreased the availability of Japanese sake brewed inother regions and imported alcoholic beverages, such as
beer and wine. The increased availability of such luxury
goods had a significant detrimental impact on Chiba’s

Conclusions
In this study, we investigated potential environmental
factors (e.g., landscape, soil, and ground water) and societal factors that were favorable for sake brewing in the
coastal area in the 1920s. We clarified how sake brewing
in these areas benefited from their proximity to the coast(the ecosystem service).
The breweries operating in the coastal area along
Tokyo Bay in 1925 were often located below 10 m inaltitude and within 1 km of the sea (Fig. 10). The surface geology consisted of exceedingly soft sand-richsediments, including sand. The groundwater, ranging
from medium hard to very hard, lay 3–10 m below thesurface (Tables 2 and 3). The topography from thecoast to the plateau in these regions is a coastal dune
system in which sand and wetlands alternate, rising to aplateau (Fig. 8).
The groundwater under the sand dunes contains nutrients that originate in the remains of seaweed and animals deposited on the dunes and the salt spray carriedby the wind. Nutrient concentrations are also high where

Total consumption volume (k )400000300000Japanese sake

200000Beer
100000

Other alcoholic
beverages

2013

2011

2009

2007

2005

2003

2001

1999

1997

1995

1993

1991

1989

1987

1985

1983

1981

1979

1977

1975

1973

1971

1969

1967

1965

1963

0

Rate of alcohol consumption (%)

100
80
60

Japanese sake
Beer

40

Other alcoholic
beverages

20

2013

2011

2009

2007

2005

2003

2001

1999

1997

1995

1993

1991

1989

1987

1985

1983

1981

1979

1977

1975

1973

1971

1969

1967

1965

1963

0

Year

Fig. 11 Total consumption volumes and proportions of alcohol consumption in Chiba Prefecture (National Tax Agency
HP https://www.nta.go.jp/kohyo/tokei/kokuzeicho/jikeiretsu/01.htm)

Production and import volumes (k )Kaneko and Matsushima Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2017) 4:28

Page 13 of 14

60,000Volume produced in Chiba Prefecture
50,000Volume imported from outside Chiba Prefecture

40,00030,00020,00010,0000

Proportion of sake producedin Chiba Prefecture (%)

60

40

20

2015

2013

2011

2009

2007

2005

2003

2001

1999

1997

1995

1993

1991

1989

1987

1985

1983

1981

1979

0

Year
Fig. 12 Sake volume produced in Chiba Prefecture and imported from outside the prefecture. Source: (National Tax Agency HP
https://www.nta.go.jp/kohyo/tokei/kokuzeicho/jikeiretsu/01.htm) Data for 1993 was unavailable

sand-dune vegetation is abundant (Brown andMclachlan 1990). The study sites all lay on alluvium,
which forms an unpressurized aquifer in the sand-richsediment. The groundwater in the northern part of theprefecture tends to flow to an alluvial lowland on the
coast of Tokyo Bay from the Shimousa Plateau, which
has an abundance of groundwater (Fig. 2). However, in
the Tateyama district in the south, there is little freshwater in the basements of the surrounding plateaus. The
unpressurized aquifer in the sand layer is used for shallow wells (Institute for Health in Chiba Prefecture 1983).
In the sandy marine alluvial soil in Chiba Prefecture,
potassium, phosphoric acid, calcium, and magnesium
concentrations are high. The calcium concentration of
the groundwater in the aquifer containing the shell layer
has been raised by the dissolution of splintered shells(Kaneko 1994; Kaneko et al. 1994).
Table 3 Water hardness classification
Hardness classification

USA hardness (ppm)Soft water

0–60 less thana

Medium hard water

60–120 less thanaHard water

120–180 less thana

Very hard water

180 or moreaaWorld Health Organization (2011)

Most of the sake brewery wells on the coast in
Chiba Prefecture were approximately 5–10 m underground, providing a mineral-rich, hard water, high incalcium and magnesium (Kaneko et al. 2012, 2013).
Much of the sake brewed in the study area usedwater from a freshwater layer formed by the coastal
dune system.
We also clarified the following as factors that caused
the decline of sake brewing as practiced in the coastal
area in 1925: (1) bankruptcies and reconstruction difficulties that followed the destructive 1923 Great Kanto
earthquake; (2) the wartime Industrial Adjustment Act,
under which the nation was required to adapt, integrate,
or close non-military-related industrial facilities to support military-related industries during World War II(1939–1945); (3) increased difficulty of sake brewing due
to large quantities of groundwater being used by coastal
industries during the 1960s and 1970s; and (4) alteredtransportation and distribution systems resulting from
infrastructure improvements (e.g., changing from shiptransport to railroads and roads), whereby Japanese sakefrom other regions and imported alcoholic beverages(e.g., beer and wine) could be obtained at cheaper prices.
This brought on changes in the availability of luxury
goods, and it was no longer possible to sell locallybrewed sake.

Kaneko and Matsushima Progress in Earth and Planetary Science (2017) 4:28

Originally, we hypothesized that the fate of Chiba’s
sake breweries was linked to the natural endowments of
the local area. However, the situation is more complex
than that, and many sake breweries went out of businessbecause of changes in social circumstances.
Acknowledgements
We wish to express our sincere gratitude to the individuals engaged in sakebrewing in Chiba Prefecture, Japan, Chiba Prefectural Library, and Chiba
Prefectural Archives that provided Japanese sake information for theirsupport of this research.
Funding
Not applicable.
Authors’ contributions
Both authors carried out the ecosystem services studies, participated in thesake breweries investigation and drafted the manuscript. KK participated in
the design of the study and performed the statistical analysis. HM
participated in its design and coodination. Both authors read and approvedin the final manuscript.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Publisher’s NoteSpringer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims inpublished maps and institutional affiliations.
Author details
1
Hokuso Creature Association, 4-20-5 Tabata, Kita-Ward, Tokyo 114-0014,
Japan. 2Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan.
Received: 9 August 2016 Accepted: 8 September 2017

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