Western-style Tsubaki Restaurant by Reservation Only

Gifu City is located in the southern part of Gifu Prefecture. Skyscrapers line the area around JR Gifu Station, the gateway to the city. In the old days, Dozo Saito laid the foundation of the city, and Nobunaga Oda, who became the husband of his daughter Kicho, opened Rakuichi Rakuza. In recent years, the area has become a bedroom community, partly because it is only a 20-minute train ride to Nagoya City. Many businessmen and students commute to companies and universities in neighboring Aichi Prefecture, and many people spend their holidays at large shopping centers in the suburbs, giving the area a typical modern regional city face.

On the other hand, it is not widely known that the demand for eating out is high, with citizens spending one of the five highest amounts on dining out in Japan, and the number of restaurants per 1,000 population is one of the highest in Japan. In such an environment, the restaurant ” Western-style Tsubaki” attracts visitors from both inside and outside of the prefecture and is open by reservation only.

Western-style cuisine served in an old private house full of nostalgia

The restaurant is located at the foot of a quiet mountain about 20 minutes north by car from JR Gifu Station. The well-maintained garden with a babbling brook echoing pleasantly reminds one of a luxury ryokan (Japanese inn). Just walking from the gate to the entrance of the restaurant is enough to give you the illusion that you have come for a kaiseki meal. The interior of the restaurant has a modern Japanese style, and you have to take off your shoes at the entrance.

Chopsticks are placed on a Japanese paper luncheon mat laid on a table with the warmth of wood. The plates on which the food is served are all white with gold rims in a simple design. It has the appearance of the “elegant Western-style food” that everyone imagines in the old days. This is Western-style food served in a Japanese-style space. The menu consists mainly of course meals, but a la carte dishes are also available, and there is a wide selection of wines to match the dishes.

What we can do because we are a Wagyu beef specialist

Tanakaya Food Service is one of the restaurants operated by Tanakaya Food Service, a company based in Ibigun, Gifu Prefecture, that operates restaurants focusing on meat. Tanakaya Food Service Co., Ltd. will also open “Butcher Tanaka” in Ginza 6-chome, a prime location in Tokyo, in 2020. The restaurant has become a hot topic as an authentic meat kappo restaurant that serves only one omakase course, using the best brand meat of the day as its main ingredient. The representative, Satoru Tanaka, is a true specialist of Japanese beef, calling himself a “meat master. He opened his first yakiniku restaurant at the age of 25, expanding to Tokyo, Aichi, Gifu, and Shiga, and in 2019, his Nagoya restaurant “Nikuya Setsugetsuka” won a Michelin plate, making his name known nationwide. The restaurant’s name has become a national standard. He is also highly regarded in the industry.

What made “Western-style Tsubaki” so popular was the fact that it used only A5-rank brand beef in its classic Western-style menu of steaks and hamburgers. By reviewing the ingredients of the menu, which has been loved by many people for many years, the restaurant has updated the taste. Hida beef, Matsuzaka beef, Mikawa beef, Omi beef, Kobe beef… He has dealt with more Wagyu beef than anyone else and has studied for many years how to bring out the best of it, so he knows which parts of Wagyu beef to use and how to use them, working backward from the ideal flavor, and has the skills to embody them.

A “formula” that captures the hearts and minds of gourmands

The brand name and individual identification number of the beef used in the restaurant are posted on the wall, which shows the attention to detail. Branded Wagyu beef x standard Western-style food = “Wagyu Western-style food. It may seem like a formula that anyone could come up with, but the solution can only be seen by those with a keen eye. That is why the restaurant has been able to capture the hearts and stomachs of many gourmands. The pride as a butcher that stands dignifiedly in the nostalgic menu may open the door to a new era of Western cuisine in Japan and create a new genre that people want to inherit for a long time to come. This is a restaurant you should definitely visit.

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Sake from Hida recognized around the world

Furukawa Town in Hida City is located in the northernmost part of Gifu Prefecture. Surrounded by mountains over 3,000 meters high, Furukawa-cho in Hida City is also called the “back seat of Takayama,” with the Setogawa River flowing through the center of the town with 1,000 colorful carp swimming in the water, and a row of town houses and white-walled storehouses where the skills of Hida craftsmen are still alive, giving the town the atmosphere of a good old castle town. The clean water and tasty rice in Furukawa-cho and Takayama-shi, which are ideal for sake brewing, have been popular among tourists visiting the area. However, as is the case throughout Japan, the number of sake breweries has been on the decline in recent years. The Watanabe Sake Brewery has won more awards than any other sake brewery in the world and is expanding its sales channels overseas.
The Watanabe Sake Brewery began brewing sake in 1876. Until then, the Watanabe family had been engaged in the money exchange business and raw silk trade, but when Kyuemon Akira V was fascinated by the delicious sake he tasted on a trip to Kyoto, he started brewing his own sake. The representative brand name is “Horai,” which is named after an auspicious “sake word” that brings people happiness and good fortune, and after the peach garden of longevity where hermits are said to dwell. It has been 20 years since Hisanori Watanabe, the ninth generation of the brewery’s founder, took the helm of the brewery. In order to rebuild the brewery, which was in financial crisis at the time, Mr. Watanabe took a “market-in” approach. In other words, instead of selling sake that the brewer wanted to make, he listened sincerely to the voices of potential customers, analyzed the reasons why his sake was not selling, and proposed sake that the customers wanted to drink. Based on these ideas, he developed products and thoroughly considered how to sell them.

Ideas for “hidden sake” that are special and appealing

For example, the “brewer’s hidden sake” product, which became a big hit, involves the sale of sake that is entered in a competition or reserved for VIPs visiting the brewery. The idea came from a consumer who happened to come into the store and see the sake stored in the store’s refrigerator wrapped in newspaper and asked for the sake to be given away. Watanabe Shuzoten had been keeping these not-for-sale sake in the best possible condition by wrapping them in newspaper to block out the light, but when Watanabe realized that the rarity of this “special sake that cannot be drunk normally” and the indescribably special feeling of having newspaper wrapped around it would appeal to consumers, he decided to commercialize the product. Marketing research on the taste also revealed that, in contrast to the dry sake popular in the market, there was a demand for a crisp sweet sake, and the concept was to create a genuine dry sake with the original umami of rice, mellowness, and a refreshing sharpness. The catchy name “hidden sake” and the unexpectedness of the project were well received, and it has become a core product of the Watanabe Shuzo Brewery. Another hit product is the “Garigari Gyokogenshu,” which can be stored at room temperature and drunk on the rocks. This product was created after listening to customers who said that the ostentatious storage requirements of refrigerators were bothersome and that they did not have space to keep sake cool.
Behind the creation of these ideas one after another lies the underlying spirit of “Sake Is Entertainment” that Mr. Watanabe upholds. In the sake industry, which is becoming increasingly polarized between inexpensive industrial products and artistic luxury products, Mr. Watanabe wants to make it easier for people to enjoy delicious sake and bring a smile to their faces from the bottom of their hearts. After carefully listening to the voices of our customers, we have learned that sake has always been appreciated not only for its taste, but also for the experience of tasting and conversing with other people. We would like to create a sake wonderland here in Hida, so that people from all over the world can visit this region and enjoy sake. I want to create sake fans all over the world. Mr. Watanabe says with a twinkle in his eye. Just like Matsuo Basho, who advocated the “fashion of the simple and the fashionable,” Mr. Watanabe will continue to introduce sake culture to the world from Gifu’s little Kyoto, while preserving what must not change even as the world changes and proactively introducing new things.

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A New Way of Art in Japan

Nestled in a forest of lush green trees in Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture, is a gallery in a 120-year-old sukiya-style building. It is Galerie Momogusa. Sukiya-style architecture is an architectural style that reflects the philosophy of “wabicha” (tea ceremony) perfected by Sen no Rikyu, a rare tea master in the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1573-1600). Opened in 1998, “Galerie Hyakuso” exhibits a wide range of works from antiques to antiques and contemporary art in a space where one can feel the unique “wabi and sabi” of the Japanese people, such as an earthen floor and an alcove across the threshold. The exhibition space is filled with a wide range of artworks, from antiques to modern art. The unique atmosphere of the space, which combines the familiarity of a living space with the tension of an avant-garde gallery, naturally attracts visitors not only from Japan but from around the world as well. I wanted to question the identity of the Japanese people and propose a new way of art,” says Masanobu Ando, ceramic artist and gallerist, who is the owner of the gallery. Masanobu Ando, the owner of the gallery, is a ceramic artist and gallerist.
Mr. Ando’s roots go back to his days as an art student aspiring to become a jazz drummer. He devoured records by Miles Davis, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, and many other jazz musicians, played the drums, and tried to express jazz in his own way. However, the more I listened and the more I played, the more I realized that I could never reach their innate sense of rhythm and groove, and I felt limited.

The beauty of “vessels” that blend into everyday life

When I thought about what they call “jazz” in the case of Japanese people, I came up with pottery and tea ceremony. Although tea culture is no longer a common part of modern lifestyles, the way in which tea is served and the way in which the space is furnished for entertaining people are expressions unique to native Japanese. In addition, Japanese art is not based on Western values that place “crafts” at the bottom and “pure art” at the top, but is linked to “daily life,” which lies somewhere between the two. The realization of this idea was the pottery that Mr. Ando creates and “Galerie Hyakuso” itself. The common point between the two is that they both have blank spaces and leave the usability to the creativity of the user.
Ando’s handmade vessels can be used for both Japanese and Western purposes without limiting their use by eliminating unnecessary decorations. Therefore, his vessels can have a completely different appearance depending on the user. Many people shared Mr. Ando’s view that pottery, which is neither ornamental art nor mass-produced industrial goods, is a uniquely Japanese form of art that is more noticeable the more it is used in daily life. However, it is also a latent desire originally possessed by the Japanese. The reason why so many people from overseas and all over Japan visit “Galerie Hyakuso” is that it reawakens a sense of beauty that modern people have almost forgotten.

NIHONMONO – 「にほん」の「ほんも…

あるがままに現代の民藝を 陶芸家・村上雄一／岐阜県土岐市 – NIHONMONO 焼き物の町・岐阜県土岐市に工房を構える村上雄一さんは、モダンで実用的なうつわをつくる新進気鋭の陶芸家です。決まった様式や素材に囚われず、洗練されたデザインのバラ…

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Southeastern Gifu Prefecture. The region known as “Tono” is home to Tajimi City and Toki City, which have long been known as pottery production centers, and is a well-known mecca for pottery, where raw materials for pottery production are readily available and artists gather from all over the country.

The roots of Tatsuya Hattori

Tatsuya Hattori, a ceramic artist, grew up in Tajimi City, where things related to ceramics, such as potter’s wheels, kilns, ceramic artists’ studios, and factories that mass produce ceramics, are part of the daily scenery. Because he grew up in an environment where these things were so integrated into daily life, he did not feel that they were special, nor did he consciously come into contact with them. As a boy, he loved to make things and draw pictures, but he never thought he would choose a job related to the local ceramics industry, as he was not in an environment where he had to take over the family business. Here in Gifu, it is very rare for someone like Mr. Hattori to grow up in his hometown and then go on to become a ceramic artist. However, he could not imagine himself working as a “normal” office worker, so he entered a pottery class on a whim and was awakened to the joy of making things, and decided to pursue his career. Later, he enrolled in the Tajimi City Ceramic Design Institute, where many students from outside of the prefecture gathered. He had never even touched clay for pottery, except for a little sketching when he was studying at art college. People who came to study pottery usually had some connection to pottery, such as a family history of pottery making, so it was unusual for someone like Mr. Hattori to become a potter in his own lifetime. He engaged in friendly competition with other students who had high aspirations to become potters, and he faced the potter’s wheel more than anyone else, aiming to establish his own style of work.

Among the various works she encountered, it was the work of Austrian artist Lucy Lee (1902-1995), who was active in the United Kingdom, that struck a chord with Ms. Hattori. The exhibition in Osaka in 1989, for which the architect Tadao Ando designed the space, attracted much attention and confirmed her popularity in Japan. Even after her death, many collectors continue to seek out her works, and a pair of her tea bowls now fetch as much as several million yen.
The simple forms of her works are filled with elegance. Smooth curves that encompass a dignified air and softness. The rich colors she has created by reinterpreting traditional techniques. She says, “Ceramic art can be so free. The incomparable beauty of his art-like works resonated with Hattori and broadened his image of ceramics. And, to pursue new expression without being bound by existing values. Following the attitude she felt from her work, she began to ask herself how she could express herself in her own unique way.

The ideal ceramics

Mr. Hattori’s ideal was to create ceramics that would not fade over decades and would bring him joy every time he used them. Since he calls himself a ceramic artist, he wanted to give form to something that is not commonplace, something that gives a special feeling. One of the masterpieces he created in this process is the black and silver mug. The matte-black surface is contrasted by the silvering on the inside of the mug. The more this gorgeous silver coloring is used, the more it oxidizes and becomes “smoked silver,” which adds to its flavor. The cup is easy to drink and hold, yet it is also easy to use. Formative beauty and functional beauty. Mr. Hattori has pursued the compatibility of these two “beauties,” which seem to be close but at the same time contradictory.

I put my family through a lot of trouble until I was able to make a living with ceramics, but I want to continue in my current environment where I can work within earshot,” said Hattori, who is now based in Toki City. He says he will continue to work alone, with no assistants. Therefore, he cannot make a large quantity of works, but he spends a lot of time with himself and his works. He spares no effort in making a piece or two, and he does so carefully. The products produced by Mr. Hattori’s hands, with care and attention to each and every detail, bring a quality of relaxation to those who use them.

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Artisans behind historic buildings

Hida Takayama is located in the northern part of Gifu Prefecture. Surrounded by lush forests, this area has nurtured many artisans called “Takumi,” who have been at the forefront of Japanese woodworking and wooden architecture for about 1,300 years. In the Nara period (710-794), the high level of their skills was recognized and a special “Hida Takumi System” was established, under which about 100 Takumi were exempted from taxes in exchange for being dispatched to the capital annually.
Since then, as the company continued to work on historical buildings and develop its traditional culture, it has produced crafts such as “Hida Shunkei” and “Ichii Itto Bori”. About 100 years ago, the western furniture technology of “bent wood” was introduced to Japan, and through trial and error, it was fused with the traditional skills of the master craftsmen. As Japanese people’s eating habits changed from chabutai (table-top table) to dining sets, Takayama’s furniture craftsmen developed their expertise in wood furniture with high design and functionality, and Takayama became recognized by all as one of Japan’s leading furniture production centers. Even today, Takayama continues to attract more and more fans of “Takumi” both in Japan and abroad.

Adapting traditional crafts to modern life

Masashi Osawa, who was born in Hino City, Tokyo, moved to Takayama in his early 20s, studied woodworking techniques at a vocational training school, and then worked for a furniture manufacturer as a furniture craftsman. He bought an over 80-year-old old house and started his own workshop, Maru Kogei, there.
At first, he made wooden furniture, but as he pursued the technique of bending wood, he received orders and began making oval boxes called “oval boxes. The oval box originated as a piece of furniture created around the 19th century by the Shakers, a Christian sect that believed that beauty resides in usefulness, through careful handcrafting. It is a simple storage box made by bending thin wood. Many manufacturers and craftsmen began to produce replicas of the original, and the product gained popularity among a wide range of people and became known as a fashionable sundry item that blends in with daily life.
This is reproduced in Mr. Osawa’s style. The key is the bending technique he developed during his time as a furniture craftsman. Thin, solid hardwoods are steamed at high temperatures to soften them, placed in molds to fix them in place, and then dried to create supple, beautiful curves. The process is not a simple one, as it requires millimeter-by-millimeter adjustments to accommodate the different wood grains and moisture content of each piece of wood. To prevent the wood from warping or floating, the joints are made in a form known as a “swallow tail,” and the pieces are carefully pasted together one by one. The wood is cut out using a small knife with exquisite precision, and the soul is put into every detail. The works, which embody perfect functional beauty and are stripped down to the utmost limit, have attracted many fans and are sold out almost without ever being displayed in stores.
Another of Osawa’s styles is to reconstruct traditional crafts to suit modern lifestyles. He also creates wooden tissue cases with beautiful, graceful curves by applying bending wood technology and mirrors fitted inside wooden frames with magnificent circles, pursuing a stylistic beauty that combines rationality and originality. His next goal is to create pieces that will last for 100 years. I just want to create something that I can truly appreciate as beautiful,” he says. The wish of a modern master craftsman who has inherited the will and techniques of his predecessors is as simple and incomparably pure as the appearance of his work.

NIHONMONO – 「にほん」の「ほんも…

岐阜の夏の風物詩「鵜飼」／岐阜県岐阜市 – NIHONMONO 悠久の流れと共にある「鵜飼」。 岐阜県を流れる清流、長良川。夏の夜には、かがり火を焚いた舟が浮かぶ。腰にみのを

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World-class ceramic artist

Craft” or “art”? The question of which market to market a work is an unavoidable one for a ceramic artist to become independent. Roughly speaking, the former tends to be evaluated on the basis of practicality and utility, whereas the latter often demands originality and novelty in the form of the work and the artist’s own worldview. It is quite a difficult task for a ceramic artist to balance both of these. Takuro Kuwata, who has a studio in Tajimi City, Gifu Prefecture, is an artist in a unique position in the art world.
While using traditional techniques often seen in his classical works such as “Kairagi” and “Ishibaku,” Kuwata’s works, which actively incorporate shapes and vivid colors outside the boundaries of ceramics, have been highly acclaimed at art fairs around the world. In addition to collaborations with Loewe and Tod’s, he has also attracted attention from the fashion industry, including an installation at the Trading Museum Comme des Garçons.
One of the things that led him to his current style was seeing an exhibition of Shino ware by Toyozo Arakawa, a living national treasure ceramic artist. One of the things that led to his current style was when he saw an exhibit of Shino ware by Toyozo Arakawa, a living national treasure. I decided to interpret this in my own way and do modern Shino,” recalls Kuwata, who at the time was making simple white porcelain pieces that one would never imagine from his current style.

Into the world of art, not crafts

He was also moved by the unexpected pop of color that resulted from mixing pigments by eye, which should normally be weighed. He immersed himself in reproducible color expression, intentionally trying to create the excitement he felt when he opened the kiln. As a result of following the voice of his heart and continuing to create works of art, he was approached by Tomio Koyama Gallery, a well-known gallerist who is known as an international promoter of Japanese contemporary art, and he began to work in the art world.
Later, however, Mr. Kuwata faced the difficulty of being “free. The gallery demanded new and interesting expressions. Works that were considered unconventional in the world of crafts were equally unappreciated in a place where there were no restrictions. The knowledge of reality led him to move further away from the concept of practicality, and to become more radical in form and color.
In other words, Kuwata’s works have evolved by carefully unraveling his communication with others and incorporating new values. Once he gains a perspective that he did not have before, he incorporates the new world he sees from that perspective into his own. Although he himself does not change, he incorporates various stimuli as variables in the process of creation, and as a result, he creates something new. This has been recognized not only in the world of crafts, but also in contemporary art, and has even become known to the cutting edge of the fashion industry, such as Loewe and Comme des Garcons, and continues to expand the scope of his activities.

I want to be part of such a cycle,” he says. I want to be part of such a cycle,” he says, and he will continue to create works full of surprises in the future.

NIHONMONO – 「にほん」の「ほんも…

時が経っても色あせない陶磁器 陶芸家 服部竜也/岐阜県土岐市 – NIHONMONO 美濃焼きとは 日本三大焼き物は美濃焼・瀬戸焼・有田焼の三種類だと言われている。その一つである美濃焼は岐阜県の多

NIHONMONO – 「にほん」の「ほんも…

自由奔放な作風で人々を魅了する陶芸家 青木良太さん/岐阜県土岐市 – NIHONMONO 「陶芸オタク」と言わしめるほどの研究実績に裏打ちされた確かな技術力で、既成概念にとらわれない作品を発表し続け、陶芸の日本代表になろうとしている美濃焼の作家・青木…

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A potter who loved Shino ware

Mino Ceramic Ware” boasts the largest market share among ceramics produced in Japan. Its characteristic is that it is “featureless. Mino ware is defined by the fact that it is produced in the Tono region of Gifu Prefecture (formerly Mino Province), and that it does not have a unique style like Kutani ware or Arita ware. Mino ware, which has been naturally integrated into the daily life of Japanese people because of its ease of use, evolved the most during the Azuchi-Momoyama period, when the tea ceremony culture flourished. It is said that Oribe Furuta, a cultural figure who was both a warlord and a tea master, had potters create “Oribe,” a style that favored bold distortion. Four representative styles called “Kiseto,” “Setoguro,” and “Shino” were then created, and have become a commonplace part of the Japanese dining table to this day.
Toki City, located in southeastern Gifu Prefecture, is the largest producer of ceramics in Japan and is known as a mecca for pottery. Ms. Yuka Hayashi, who has her studio here, is a ceramic artist who loves “Shino” and can embody the style in a new interpretation. Shino” is made of “Gotomaki” clay, which has a high refractory temperature and is less sensitive to firing, and “Mogusa” clay, a white clay with low iron content and a slight purple or pinkish hue, which is then covered with a generous amount of white feldspar glaze (Shino glaze). The characteristic features of this thick clay are the fine texture of the cracks in the clay, the gentle milky white color, and the numerous small pores on the surface called “yuzukabe”.

A vessel overflowing with gentleness and beauty

It was not by chance that Mr. Hayashi started making “Shino. In other words, it was fate. Born in Hyogo Prefecture, he spent his childhood in Toki City, Japan, until he entered a university in the Kansai region. His childhood days were spent innocently playing with pottery in his father’s house, which was a kiln business, and being exposed to nature. Although he found a job in Tokyo and was spending fulfilling days, he felt that it was not his profession, so he began attending pottery classes. He returned to his hometown to study at the Toki Municipal Ceramics Testing Center to further pursue his career. After 10 years of working with white porcelain, he came up with the idea of creating a new work of art, “Shino,” which had been burned into his eyes at a museum while he was living in Tokyo. It was a projection of her life, which seemed to have branched off, but was firmly rooted and had grown into a sturdy trunk. What should “Shino” be in today’s world, where many houses do not have tea rooms or alcoves, and tea ceremonies are held only in very limited places? After much deliberation and practice, Hayashi’s answer is that it should be a vessel that lies between art and commodity, and that can be used to create a pleasant and peaceful atmosphere.
The graceful, dignified-looking vessels she creates combine edgy beauty with warmth and gentleness, softly connecting the profound world of “Shino” with modern life. The gentle pinks and grays interwoven with each piece of pottery make everyone’s heart flutter, and no two pieces are alike, making every piece of pottery a desire to collect and own. The loveliness of the pieces makes you want to keep them close at hand and gaze at them, even if you don’t intend to use them. Hayashi says she enjoys creating each piece, feeling happy or sad at the expression of the pink and gray colors that appear differently on each piece. Ms. Hayashi is not sure why she was attracted to Shino. However, the moment when she looks at and feels comfortable using her vessels, she casually gives us a hint that enriches our daily life beyond logic.

NIHONMONO – 「にほん」の「ほんも…

光を取り込む器を作る「陶芸家 新里明士」／岐阜県土岐市 – NIHONMONO 器自体が光るような「光器」 真っ白で薄手の器。その中に光がはいると、表面に光の点描が浮かびあがる。「光器」とい

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Sugihara Sake Brewery, the smallest sake brewery in Japan

The “smallest sake brewery in Japan” is located in Ibi-gun, Gifu Prefecture. The company was founded in 1892 and produced only 80 koku in fiscal year 2021, which translates to only 8,000 bottles. In fiscal year 2021, the company produced a mere 80 koku, or 8,000 bottles per day. The sake produced here, “Ibi,” has become a rare and difficult-to-find sake, partly due to the absolute small amount that is distributed. The brewery is headed by Keiki Sugihara, the fifth-generation head brewer and toji (master brewer) of the brewery. In fact, until just 15 years ago, he was a complete amateur, not even knowing what sake rice was.

Why don’t you make sake when your family is a sake brewer? He was a member of the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) at the time. These words from a colleague of Mr. Sugihara, who was working overseas as a Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteer (JOCV) at the time, have stuck in the back of his mind for a long time. From a young age, he saw his parents struggling to keep their sake brewery afloat, and he did not want to take over the brewery, but when it was finally on the brink of bankruptcy, he decided to protect this traditional Japanese industry. However, he had no knowledge of the difference between regular rice and sake rice, and had no experience in sake brewing. And, of course, he failed. Still, he had no choice but to sell his sake, so he made a determined attempt to sell it by going door-to-door in Tokyo and Osaka, but none of the sake shops would take him up on his offer.

However, one liquor store told him, “It doesn’t taste good yet and it won’t sell, but when we make good sake, we will surely buy all of it. So don’t tell me you’re quitting.” This encouraged him. Mr. Sugihara wanted to make something special if he was going to do it anyway, so he set his sights on creating “true local sake” by focusing on locally grown ingredients. He also wanted to produce rice that suited the local area, so he looked around for people who would help him grow rice. It was not easy for a small sake brewery to grow its own rice, but local volunteers who recognized Mr. Sugihara’s enthusiasm for sake brewing offered to help. Together with a master rice breeder, who is said to be the leading rice breeder in Gifu, and rice farmers who were willing to help him grow the rice, they focused on brewing sake with rice suited to the local climate, and repeatedly crossbred and established the best sake rice, “Yamada-Nishiki,” and “Wakamizu” suited to the local climate. Six years after Mr. Sugihara returned to the brewery, the first “Imi” was finally born. The sake rice was named “Ibi no Homare” and was certified as Gifu Prefecture’s sake rice for brewing in 2021. This was 10 years after the start of development.

Phantom Sake will be updated.

The characteristics of “Imi” are its floral aroma and mellow sweetness. And it continues to evolve in response to marketability. Ibi-no-Honor” is an ongoing process of breeding, and sake brewing is updated according to the year’s sake rice crop, climatic conditions, and food trends. I didn’t know anything about it, so I had no fixed ideas and was able to honestly adopt what I thought was good. It is truly sake brewed by everyone,” says Sugihara. His goal for the future is to become a model case for small sake breweries. This is because there are many advantages unique to small business. For example, because the production volume is small, there is no need for sales and advertising, and the company can concentrate on brewing sake. And they can control quality within their reach. If we can set a good example of how to achieve what we want by deciding what not to do, it will encourage other small sake breweries to do the same. We can do this because we don’t have fixed concepts. We can take on challenges because we are small.

The road to not pandering to the currents of the world is a steep one, and it is not an easy one. But if you don’t give up, you will be rewarded. Mr. Sugihara, who smiles and says, “I am the type of person who grows when I am praised,” has started distributing sake to liquor stores that have given him encouragement and encouragement.

NIHONMONO – 「にほん」の「ほんも…

神に捧げ、民に愛されるにごり酒「三輪酒造」／岐阜県大垣市 – NIHONMONO どぶろくに近いにごり酒を求めて 岐阜県北部、庄川（しょうがわ）流域にある白川郷。日本の原風景とも称される合掌造

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Seeking nigori sake close to doburoku

Shirakawa-go is located in the Shogawa River basin in northern Gifu Prefecture. In this area, where the Gassho-zukuri style villages are still preserved, a grand doburoku festival is held every year from the end of September to October to pray for fertility, safety of the family, and peace in the village. Doburoku has been used as a ritual drink in Shirakawa Village for about 1,300 years and has been served to the people in each district. Doburoku is made by fermenting rice, rice bran, and water without filtering the moromi, and is characterized by its cloudy white appearance. It has been loved by many people for its creamy, rich, and wild flavor, but it was forbidden to sell it because there were no opportunities to drink it outside of Shinto rituals. However, there were no opportunities to drink it outside of Shinto rituals, and it was forbidden to be sold. Many people, fascinated by its appearance and addictive taste, wanted to somehow make it a souvenir of Shirakawa-go so that they could take it home with them.
The previous generation was asked by the future mayor of Shirakawa Village to create a nigori sake similar to doburoku that could be taken home as a souvenir, and about 45 years ago the production of nigori sake “Shirakawa-go” began,” says Kenji Miwa, the 8th generation owner of Miwa Shuzo. In fact, nigori sake is difficult to handle because it leaves the moromi, which is solid, behind, making it easy for the machine to get dirty. Even among sake breweries near Shirakawa-go, there were very few that actively made nigori sake at that time. By chance, the Miwa Sake Brewery in Ogaki City, 100 kilometers away from Shirakawa-go, decided to play a role in making nigori sake to reproduce the doburoku of Shirakawa-go.

Founded in 1837, the Miwa Sake Brewery had more than enough expertise in sake brewing, but the road to commercialization was not an exception. It was necessary to create a sake that could be sold year-round within the definition of sake. After much research and study, they managed to create a nigori sake with a flavor similar to Shirakawa Village’s doburoku, a type of sake that is sold all year round. Miwa Shuzo’s nigori sake, “Shirakawa-go,” became a popular souvenir of Shirakawa Village, as originally planned.
What was unexpected was that its popularity was not limited to the Shirakawa Village area. Sake lovers who heard of the brewery’s reputation began to clamor for “Shirakawa-go,” and the sales channels expanded nationwide. As a result, the ratio of nigori-zake to sake production at Miwa Shuzo has reached 9:1, and the company has become known not only throughout Japan but also to sake lovers overseas as a brewery specializing in nigori-zake.

Nigori Sake, a rare treat in the world, is a part of Japan’s food culture

A rich nigori with concentrated original flavor of rice. This is the reason why “Shirakawa-go” is favored by so many people among the many nigori sake brands. The taste of nigori sake is strongly, deeply, and richly etched in the memory of those who taste it. However, the mash, which is the basis of nigori, is as rampant as a bull in a rodeo, and the role of the cowboy in a four-stage rodeo is aptly described as a “four-step rodeo. If the four-stage brewing process, which plays the role of a cowboy, can control it well, the result is a sake with the perfect combination of sake-like sharpness and rice flavor, but a mistake can cause it to become too active and explode. However, one wrong move and the sake can explode. It is also difficult to produce a stable nigori sake throughout the year, as the flavor can easily change. However, the Miwa Sake Brewery has been able to maintain the taste of moromi above a certain level through a unique process called “hi-ire,” which is an exquisite combination of complex factors such as the degree of heat treatment and fermentation, and the five senses of the toji (master brewer). The exploration of nigori sake has continued, and now the company has created sparkling and frozen types, and continues to create new types of nigori sake.
In fact, nigori sake and doburoku, which contain solid ingredients, are rare in the world and unique to Japanese food culture. In addition to the sweetness, sourness, miscellaneous flavors, and umami, it has a unique texture and potage-like feel on the tongue. It is refreshing to see how the unique “habit” of “Shirakawa-go” grabs the hearts of sake lovers. This must be because they have gone back to the basics of sake and created a new original.

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A potter who defies common sense

There is a man in Toki City, Gifu Prefecture, who seriously wants to surpass Wedgwood, a British ceramics manufacturer with a history of more than 260 years and the world’s largest production volume. He is the ceramic artist Ryota Aoki. He is a “pottery geek” by his own admission and by others. He wears a turban on his head and gold sneakers on his feet. The background music in his studio is either blaring hip-hop or the beautiful music of Debussy. While his style is not that of a potter, he is definitely the one who creates more works than anyone else, and continues to research more than anyone else. In order to create colors that no one has ever seen before, he continues to experiment with about 15,000 glazes per year, and before he knows it, 20 years have passed. In the process, he has used materials such as gold, silver, platinum, and even Swarovski, which have never been used in ceramics due to their difficulty in handling, to create Mino ware for the 21st century.

One of his masterpieces is the golden “King’s Wine Glass. After many years of research, he has completed the world’s first wineglass, which had been considered impossible in the world of ceramics, where the finished product is not known until it is fired. Wineglasses are originally from a foreign culture. Aoki says that it is meaningful that a Japanese person has perfected it in ceramics. Aoki says that it is significant that a Japanese person has perfected the art of making wineglasses in ceramic, and that there is no other potter on earth who can consistently produce ceramic wineglasses. He also succeeded in developing a crimson glaze called “RED,” which had been considered too costly and technically difficult to produce. He has formulated an infinite number of glaze formulas and continues to push forward in a field of research that no one else can follow.

To preserve Japanese ceramics for posterity.

More than delving deeply into ceramics, Mr. Aoki is focusing on promoting the Japanese ceramic art itself. He wants people around the world to pick up his pottery and use it, and to appreciate the excellence of Japanese ceramics. He also wants to leave them as good things to be handed down from parents’ generation to children’s generation. In order to achieve this, he thought it was important for people of all generations to be exposed to ceramic art.
That is why he has created works in various genres and has prepared many points of contact with ceramic art. From contemporary art pieces to avant-garde items, everyday use vessels, and even “messenger” items, he uses ceramics to speak to a wide range of people of all ages. In addition to his online store and art gallery, he has also opened a store at the Toki Premium Outlets outlet mall. Toki Premium Outlets is actually the most crowded place in Gifu Prefecture. I wanted to put a store where people can easily buy Mino ware there because it attracts an unspecified large number of people of all ages who are not interested in ceramics. He thinks that it is his mission to have more people of all generations come into contact with and know about ceramics.

In the world of ceramics, where it is commonplace to be unable to realize the shapes and colors one envisions, Aoki has faced the clay more than anyone else and listened to its voice. He says, “Even now, I enjoy touching the clay the most, and I never get tired of the interesting things that come out differently from what I expected. In the end, I just want to keep doing what I love and have been working hard to do it”. More than Aoki’s words, his vessels speak eloquently of the appeal of ceramics.

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