Yamamo Miso Soy Sauce Brewery: The Beginning of Change
The Minase River flows through the southern part of Akita Prefecture, descends through Koan Gorge, enriches the Inaniwa Udon noodle village, and joins the Naruse River in the town of Yuzawa. In 1867, Shigesuke Takahashi, the founder of Yamamo Miso & Soy Sauce Brewery, began making miso and soy sauce near the Minase River. The beautiful water was essential for miso and soy sauce production, and with the river nearby, the products could be transported by boat. After 150 years, Yasushi Takahashi, the seventh generation head of Yamamo Miso & Soy Sauce Brewery, has taken over the business. The name “Yasushi” (meaning “peace and quiet”) is inscribed in his name, but Yasushi first chose the path of change.
He had previously aspired to a career in architecture, but at the age of 27, he returned to Akita to take over the family business. His love for the brewery, which had unknowingly taken up residence in his heart, led him to make the decision: “If someone else is going to take over, I will take over, and if someone else is going to destroy it, it should be my generation. However, the small brewery in Akita, in the northern part of Japan, was feeling a sense of stagnation. Yasushi felt that this was not good enough. He himself was not attracted to the miso and soy sauce business. He decided that he had no choice but to change things himself, and began working alone on the rebranding of the company.
Taking on the challenge of going overseas and revamping the brewery
From the very beginning, he set his sights overseas. He was determined to take on the mission of communicating the proud traditions of Japanese culture to the rest of the world. The soy sauce labels were changed to Japanese-English, an official website was created in foreign languages, and the design that emerged from the process looked 180 degrees different from what had been done before, while retaining the good qualities of traditional industry. No, to the untrained eye, it only looked “different. He clashed with old employees and finally clashed with his parents. Even though he was exhausted and lost, the results of his work encouraged him. In his second year of overseas trade, he began doing business in Taiwan, and the following year he actively exhibited his products at overseas trade shows, making a full-fledged foray into overseas markets. In 2013, the company received the Good Design Award, and became an industry leader. The brewery has also revamped itself into a completely different type of hands-on brewery by planning factory tours that include the garden of the Takahashi family mansion, which has been carefully passed down from generation to generation. In addition, they opened the ” Yamamo Garden Cafe, ” which connects courses only with dishes using special yeast while enjoying the view of the garden.
Behind the transformation, the discovery of yeast “Viamver®” and new possibilities
Behind the cafe’s food offerings is the “test brewing” that Yasu-san has continued to conduct behind the scenes of innovation in a traditional industry. Since taking over the company, Mr. Yasu has experimented with various methods, such as actively using bacteria used in industries other than miso and soy sauce, and adopting technological applications from other industries. These unprecedented experiments led to the discovery that the company’s own special brewer’s yeast strains produce a large amount of umami. Furthermore, many of the yeast strains used in miso brewing are said to be halophilic, meaning that they are active in environments where salt is present. However, this yeast is not only halophilic, but can also live and work without salt, and is a special type of fungus capable of producing nearly 6% alcohol. The yeast, which was discovered through 10 years of trial brewing, was named “Viamver® ” and will be presented at the “Japanese Society of Brewing Science and Technology” in 2020, and will be present in 2022. In 2022, the company was granted a patent for the existence of the microorganism and a manufacturing method for fermented products using the yeast. Using this new yeast, the company has succeeded in converting it into a new fermented seasoning and in brewing natural wine with Viamver® yeast. Currently, the company is also capable of producing bread, butter, and cheese. Furthermore, they are challenging the possibilities of Viamver® yeast by brewing natural beer and doburoku using the same yeast.
Beyond Tradition and Innovation
Yamamo Garden Cafe offers full-course meals using Viamver® yeast not only for meat and fish dishes, but also for desserts and drinks. The company sees pairings and course meals using a single yeast as a new possibility for fermentation, and is working to create an auberge that invites people from Japan and abroad. The brewery offers tours of its atmospheric brewery to give visitors a glimpse of the history of the brewery. He also invites visitors to learn about the evolution of fermented seasonings through cooking while admiring the beautiful garden. Mr. Tai believes that these experiences will help the brewery to remain in people’s memories for a long time and to be loved by them. This is because he believes that the essence of inheriting and passing on the ideas of his predecessors, who have spun out a long tradition, is to remain in people’s memories. Mr. Yutaka adds new scenes to the traditional brewery one after another. He hopes to revitalize the community by fusing tradition, which demands “staying the same,” with innovation, which requires “creating something new,” and hopes to weave a new tradition in the area where he was born and raised. We cannot wait to see what innovations he will continue to bring to the Yamamo Miso Soy Sauce Brewery, and how far its products will go beyond the boundaries of traditional industry.
