International Women's Day 2022

Women have worked in sake brewing since ancient times and there are several stories of Kuchikamizake (mouth-chewed sake).^[9] "According to ancient sake lore women were the first makers of sake, and the earliest sake makers of the Yayoi period (BC 300 - AD 300). Shrine maidens called miko, they brewed the beverage as an offering to the gods, employing a primitive method that involved chewing and spitting rice and letting the body's own enzymes do the work of fermentation."^[1] Chewing and the saliva broke down the starch in the rice into glucose, and airborne yeast transformed the glucose into a basic form of sake. This is seen in the famous anime ‘Your Name’.

Kounotsukasa – Shizuka Ito

Pictured on extreme right of photo, Shizuka Ito brews some great sake nowadays and her Ghin Kimoto and Yamahei are regular trophy winners in the Okan (hot) sake section. Also her yuzushu is very popular.

Kounotsukasa Ghin Yamahai 720ml
Kounotsukasa Yuzushu 720ml
Kounotsukasa Daiginjo Leyasu Nosato 720ml
Kounotsukasa Daiginjo Kanzuijikomi 300ml

Gozenshu – Maiko Tsuji

Together with brother Soichiro, Maiko was one of the principal persons involved in the revival of the ancient bodaimoto process in Japan. One of their family, an ancient book dealer in London, brought an ancient text home to Japan and to make a long story short they painstakingly re read the old texts and rediscovered and then revived the ancient process, originally used by monks (bodiamoto can actually be also regarded as the prototype to the modern sokujo method which of course has cultured lactic acid added at the initial mashing stage. In this method the lactic acid is introduced in a pre starter mix of cooked rice, raw rice etc). It produces a unique flavour and is gaining in popularity in Japan. Maiko is to be commended for not only preserving this piece of history but to adding to the advancement of sake in general.

Fukucho – Miho Imada

Imada grew up in Akitsu, Hiroshima, famous as the birthplace of ginjo-style sake and known for its soft water.^[4] Imada Shuzō has been a family-run brewery since 1868 and Imada grew up at the brewery.^[5][3][6]She learned the art of sake from her father and grandfather, but also enrolled in the National Research Institute of Brewing to learn about sake production in 1993.^[5] In 1994, she returned to Imada Shuzō and studied under the tōji for eight years before becoming the head sake master when he retired in 2000.^[5] Her father, Yukinao Imada, was growing older, and her brother had opted to become a doctor instead of taking over the family business.^[1] In addition to being a master brewer at a fifth-generation sake brewery, Imada is known for exploring heirloom rice varieties to use in her brewing.^[6][7] "For two decades, as part of her quest to craft a sake that reflects Hiroshima’s distinct climate and agricultural heritage, or terroir, she’s been single-handedly reviving the heritage strain. 'I was the only one who revived it, and even today I remain the only one who uses this rice in sake,' she says. The revival has required Imada to retrace Hiroshima’s sake history. She’s worked with local farmers to cultivate a seed they haven’t sowed in a century, and used trial and error to rediscover the perfect brewing process for a once-common, now-forgotten rice, whose folk roots make it less predictable than standardized modern cultivars."^[7]

Before becoming a brewer at aged 33, Imada studied law at Meiji University and worked in Noh theater in Tokyo.^[1] Noh is a traditional form of Japanese musical theatre that dates to the 14th century and one of the oldest forms of theater.

Imada Fukucho Legacy 500ml
Imada White Koji Junmai "Seafood Blue" 720ml
Imada Seaside Sparkling 500ml
Imada Junmai Ginjo Hattanso 1800ml
Imada Fukucho Junmai Hattanso 1800ml