Natural brewed miso made in wooden vats

Did you know that Shinshu miso accounts for more than 50% of all miso produced in Japan?
In Nagano Prefecture, the culture of preserved food has long been developed as a way to survive the long, harsh winters, but why has only Shinshu miso become so popular? One of the factors is the change in the industries that supported the prefecture.
Nagano Prefecture has an oligo-rainy climate with very little annual precipitation, and the cultivation of mulberry trees, which feed silkworms, was highly suitable for raising silkworms, and the silk industry flourished from the early Meiji period. However, the silk industry declined over time. The inland climate, with its low humidity and large daily and annual temperature range, was also suitable for growing soybeans and rice, and gradually more and more companies switched their business to miso production, which uses these crops as its main ingredient.

The snowy country has a deep-rooted culture of making miso by hand, and many of the factories had already been making miso for their own consumption by their own employees.
Later, as a national policy during the war, Nagano Prefecture was responsible for the production of miso to be shipped to the Kanto region. In doing so, it was able to meet supply demand, and its sales channels expanded dramatically. In this way, Nagano Prefecture became a major producer of miso in the postwar period, and today the top three miso producers in Japan are dominated by major miso manufacturers headquartered in the prefecture.
The company with the shaved head and the famous phrase “Omiso-nara,” both of which have made Shinshu miso their mainstay, have been carrying the weight of Japan’s dining tables. Of course, Nagano Prefecture leads the world in the number of miso breweries. Among them, the city of Suzaka, located in the north of Nagano Prefecture, is known as one of the best miso towns in the prefecture, with many small but unique miso breweries that have been around for a long time. One of them, Kojiya Hondo Jyozoppo, is a long-established miso brewery that was founded in 1869 as a specialty malt store, just as its name suggests. Koji plays an important role in miso making, as is often said, “one cook, two malt, and three preparation. Hiroshi Hondo, the fourth-generation owner, is more particular than others about the quality of malt, which is the root of the store.
Mr. Hondo uses a type of malt called “Sohaze type,” in which the entire surface of the rice is covered with haze (mycelium), for miso making.

Since the “all-haze” type malt does not scrape the surface of the rice very much, a lot of protein distributed on the surface can be left behind. The bacteria decompose them and produce amino acids. This becomes the flavor of miso and determines its taste. If we increase the amount of rice that is scraped off, the ratio of sugar produced from the starchiness of the rice will increase. The balance between amino acids and sugar is important for the malt used in miso making.

Complex flavors of miso that only wooden vats can produce

This balance varies greatly depending on the technique and environment, so adjusting it and preparing the optimum malt for the type of miso to be made is the highlight of our skills.
Currently, at Koujiya Hondo Jyozo, we carefully select and use six to seven types of bacteria. At present, Koujiya Hondo Jyousei carefully selects six to seven types of bacteria to prepare the optimum malt for its miso production. Using the techniques and experience that we have cultivated as a malt shop for generations, the carefully cultivated, meticulously selected malt hardens inside a wooden box called a morobuta, and looks like a beautiful, fine-textured cotton candy.
It is then mixed with steamed soybeans, prepared, and aged in wooden vats that have been handed down from generation to generation.
This wooden vat and aging method are the true essence of Kojiya Hondo Brewing. The greatest feature of the wooden vats that have been used for many years is that “brewer’s bacteria” live in the air bubbles of the vats. This unique and useful bacteria, literally nurtured in the vat, is what gives miso its unique flavor, aroma, and complexity during the fermentation process. When using wooden vats, all finished miso products must be manually excavated and maintained. While an increasing number of miso breweries are discontinuing the use of wooden vats due to such human resource issues, Mr. Hondo insists on using wooden vats. This has a significant impact on his other passion, natural brewing. Wooden vats are ideal for this brewing method, which encourages natural fermentation and slow maturation without the use of heat, because they conduct little heat and breathe on their own. Combined with the environment of Suzaka City, which has a wide range of temperatures and is ideal for fermentation and maturation, which is important for miso making, the local advantage is utilized to produce a mild miso with a deep sweetness and a salty flavor. This naturally brewed miso is made in wooden vats, a rarity in Japan. There are many things that can be simplified, but because it is a small family-run miso shop, Mr. Hondo says that no matter how hard the work may be, he will stick to the production method he believes in, and use only the best ingredients to make a truly high-quality product.

NIHONMONO – 「にほん」の「ほんも…

日本の食文化を丁寧に、そして独創的に発信する「酢重正之商店」／長野県軽井沢町 – NIHONMONO 長野県の東部に位置する小諸市といえば、漫画作品をきっかけに広く認知されるようになった千石秀久が初代藩主をつとめ、小説家･島崎藤村が半生を過ごした歴史ある町だ。江…

The post Kojiya Hondo Jyozo Puzzling, a rare natural brewing miso made in wooden vats in Japan first appeared on NIHONMONO.

Rare environment for cabbage production

Otari Village in Nagano Prefecture, located on the border with Niigata Prefecture, is one of the world’s most popular mountain resorts, where, along with the neighboring village of Hakuba, many people come to enjoy the finest powder snow. Iori Village, located in a corner of Kotani Village, is a marginal community of 10 houses with a radius of about 200 meters where only about 20 people live. Here, a rare cabbage is cultivated using a very unique method.
Types of Cabbages Produced in Kotani Village
There are three main types of cabbage: spring cabbage, which has tender leaves and is distributed in spring; cold cabbage, which is distributed throughout the year; and special cabbage such as purple cabbage. The cabbage grown in Kotani Village is the cold cabbage, but it is a little different from the norm: it is usually planted before the Bon Festival in August and harvested in November or December, but here they grow “snow cabbage,” waiting until the fields are covered with snow to harvest it. While there are cabbages throughout Japan that are harvested and buried under snow, the most distinctive feature of this cabbage is that it is not harvested, but instead is left to overwinter in the 1.5-meter-high snow cover with its roots spread out. The cabbage is dug up from the snow and harvested for shipment only during a one-month period from mid-January to mid-February every year.

Yukiwari cabbage is ideal for recipes that enjoy its sugar content and texture

Cabbage in the snow is very sweet because it stores sugar content and matures without freezing while still alive. While normal cabbage has a sugar content of 4 to 5 degrees, cabbage in snow has a sugar content of more than 8 degrees, or even as high as 10 degrees. Some of the larger ones can weigh close to 5 kg as they grow even more in the snow. The core of the cabbage, which is the sweetest part of the cabbage, has a refreshing sweetness without any bitterness, just like corn. The crispy texture of the cabbage leaves, which have been well firmened by the cold snow, is also a unique characteristic of this cabbage.
Yuki-wari cabbage is best served raw in salads.
The best way to eat it is raw as a salad. In addition, you can also cut it into wedges and serve it as tempura. A quick sprinkle of salt will add even more sweetness to the cabbage, changing the way you think of cabbage. It is a taste of the season that can only be found during this limited time of the year.

Helping Each Other Across Age Groups Fosters New Strengths

The Iori Agricultural Production Cooperative, which grows the cabbage, was established in 2005 by a group of friends living in the village of Iori. In Kotani Village, it has long been common for farmers to be “dual-income farmers. The farmers had been doing farming individually, but they decided to start a cooperative because they thought it would be more fun if they could all work together. Their stance was to revitalize the aging community. When we first started, all the members were living on pensions, so we thought it would be sufficient if we could earn enough money as a by-product to pay the members’ bills. Then, little by little, young people and people from outside the prefecture started coming in, and it became our goal to work together with everyone, old and young, and to pass on the techniques taught to us by our elders without ceasing. Young people support their elders with their wisdom. We want to cherish an environment where this kind of mutual support occurs naturally. says Kazuyuki Fujiwara, the head of the cooperative.

Reviving Disappearing Local Specialties

The cooperative members jointly harvest and ship wild vegetables in the spring, mini-tomatoes in the summer, rice in the fall, and cabbage in the snow in the winter. In fact, at the time the cooperative was established, the productivity of the cabbage was not commensurate with the labor required to dig it up from under the snow and harvest it, and there were no more growers in the surrounding areas. The members of the cooperative revived it in the hope of producing something that would become a local specialty. They decided to name the cabbage “yukiwari cabbage” after “yukiwari grass,” an interactive exchange facility located in the village that serves as a visitor center and a place of relaxation for the cooperative members.
When the business was first revived, labor costs were high in comparison to the labor required, and the business was in the red every year. The company wondered when to quit the business. The price of cabbage was only slightly higher than that of regular cabbage, and the company struggled to differentiate itself from other cabbages, which was also a blow to the business. One day, however, a local newspaper interviewed the company, which brought it to the attention of the public, and it was subsequently picked up by many media outlets. The company switched its sales channels from being mainly local to national and revised its pricing. The idea of delivering cabbage and snow packed in Styrofoam was also well received, and the product has become a popular item that attracts a large number of customers, from consumers in urban areas to restaurants nationwide. The result of more than ten years of working together to revive the “Yukiwari Cabbage” and keeping its flame burning has finally borne fruit, and the product has grown into a specialty of the Iori community.

A village where people share the same values of happiness

In Iori village, people of all ages and both sexes share the same values and support each other as if they were a company organization, sometimes like a big family. Their motto is to maintain the status quo, and they have no desire to make a lot of money. When they sell a lot and make a profit, they are happy to go on trips together and eat delicious food, which encourages them to work hard. Above all, each and every one of them enjoys their lives, hoping to preserve the wisdom and skills that would otherwise be forgotten, and the beauty of the satoyama. If more people come to know the good qualities of Iori village, fall in love with it, and move in, it will be another source of happiness.
We listen to the voices of people of all ages and genders, incorporate their ideas, and learn to pass on the wisdom and techniques cultivated by our predecessors.
Actions to revitalize depopulated areas are being created one after another from a small village of only 10 households.

The post “Yukiwari Cabbage” growing 1.5 meters under snow “Iori Agricultural Production Cooperative” first appeared on NIHONMONO.

In a small town with a population of about 10,000 in Kamitakai County, Nagano Prefecture, there is a temple that is well worth a visit. It is Ganshoin, a Soto Zen temple located in Obuse Town, famous for its chestnut confections. This temple, where you can see masterpieces by the famous ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai, who was all the rage during the Edo period, attracts many tourists throughout the year.

Obuse Town is popular for sightseeing and confectioneries made with chestnuts.

Obuse Town, home to Gansho-in Temple, is located in the northern part of Nagano Prefecture, the same region as Hakuba Village, famous for skiing. Despite being the smallest municipality in the prefecture in terms of area, it preserves a rich history and traditional culture. The town is known for its picturesque streets and popular confectionery shops that specialize in chestnut-based sweets, making it one of the top tourist destinations in the prefecture. Gansho-in Temple is one of Obuse Town’s tourist attractions, attracting a steady stream of sightseeing buses during the season.

The stage where Kobayashi Issa recited a poem about himself, “Gansho-in”

“Skinny frog, don’t give up, Issa, here I am.” This is a poem by Kobayashi Issa, a poet from Shinano Province (now Nagano Prefecture) who, along with Matsuo Basho and Yosa Buson, is considered one of the leading haiku poets of the Edo period. It describes a small, thin frog fighting with a larger frog over a female frog. It is said that Ichiyō composed this haiku to encourage himself, drawing parallels between his own circumstances and those of the frogs. The pond where this scene took place is located at Gansho-in Temple.

The History of Gansho-in Temple

Founded in 1472, this temple has undergone many changes, including two fires, before reaching its current form. It is also famous as the family temple of Fukushima Masanori, a warlord known as one of the “Seven Spears of Shizugatake” and a close confidant of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Originally a vassal of the Toyotomi clan, Fukushima Masanori switched allegiance to the Tokugawa clan. In 1619, he was accused of violating the military regulations and had his lands in Hiroshima, which he was then governing, confiscated. He was exiled to the Shinetsu region, a punishment similar to demotion. At that time, Fukushima Masateru, who was a devout follower of Zen Buddhism, is said to have designated the temple as his family temple in his new domain.

The main attraction for tourists is Katsushika Hokusai’s masterpiece.

The main attraction for tourists visiting here is the “Hachiman Phoenix Painting” depicted on the ceiling of Oma. This is the work of Katsushika Hokusai, a ukiyo-e artist who left behind many masterpieces such as “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji.” Hokusai created this work during his later years while staying in Obuse Town. At the age of 88, Hokusai, with the full support of Takai Kōzan, a wealthy merchant from Obuse whom he had known in Edo, enlisted the help of his daughter, Katsushika Ōi, a ukiyo-e artist, and other craftsmen to complete this painting over the course of about a year.

The enormous phoenix painting covering the entire ceiling is said to be the largest of Hokusai’s works. Its powerful brushwork, which seems to leap off the canvas, and its vivid colors, which remain as vibrant as ever despite never having been repainted, captivate viewers. However, when it comes to sacred beasts painted on temple ceilings, the image of a dragon is probably more familiar nationwide.

So why a phoenix at Gansho-in Temple?

The head priest of Gansho-in Temple, Watanabe Masami, explains his interpretation of the “Eight-Direction Gazing Phoenix Painting.”

According to the head priest, Watanabe Masami, while there are no records in literature, he suggests that the inspiration for this work may lie in the thoughts of Takai Kōzan, who encouraged Hokusai to create it and was the project’s greatest collaborator. Takai Kōzan strongly felt the Buddhist concept of “impermanence” (mujō), which means “nothing in the world is permanent; everything is constantly changing,” in the world at that time. Hokusai, who understood this, may have depicted the “phoenix,” which represents the opposite of “impermanence,” or “eternity.” While this is merely Watanabe’s speculation, if it were true, it would be a touching story of the strong trust built between Hokusai and Takai Kōzan, who were nearly a generation apart, and the dramatic legacy they left behind in Nagano Prefecture with this masterpiece of the century.

Head priest Masami Watanabe and Gansho-in Temple

This year marks Mr. Watanabe’s eighth year as head priest. Before becoming a priest, he worked as a salaryman for 14 years. He graduated from the economics department of university, but did not major in Buddhism. However, his mother’s family home was Gansho-in Temple, so he had been familiar with Zen since childhood and was interested in it.

His interest deepened during his backpacking travels as a salaryman. Visiting Christian and Islamic regions, he encountered various religions, which prompted him to reflect anew on Buddhism and his own roots in Zen. Now, as the head priest of Gansho-in Temple, he draws on his experiences as a salaryman before entering the Buddhist order, as well as his diverse experiences as a traveler, to deliver sermons that follow the centuries-old Zen tradition while adding his own interpretations.

The post Gazing upon the masterpiece of Katsushika Hokusai, Gansho-in Temple in Obuse Town, Nagano Prefecture, known for its chestnuts / Obuse Town, Nagano Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

Love at first sight for Wasabi to the producer.

Azumino City, Nagano Prefecture, has an abundance of subsoil water from the abundant melting snow of the Northern Alps. This town boasts the nation’s largest production of one of its specialties. It is wasabi, a spice that is inseparable from the Japanese diet.
Although Shizuoka Prefecture may come to mind when one thinks of wasabi production, Nagano Prefecture is actually number one in terms of production, boasting a share of over 40%. More than 90% of wasabi is produced in Azumino City, which means that nearly half of the nation’s wasabi is actually produced in Azumino.
There are two types of wasabi grown in different ways: “Sawasabi,” the root of which is grated and served with sashimi at restaurants, and “Hata Wasabi,” the stems and leaves of which are used to make commercially available tubs of wasabi paste. In Azumino City, the “Azumino Wasabi Field Springs” that gush forth in the city are one of the best water sources in the prefecture, selected as one of the 100 best water sources by the Ministry of the Environment. The city boasts a daily water flow of approximately 700,000 tons, and the water temperature does not exceed 15°C even in mid-summer, making it a perfect environment for wasabi cultivation, where a constant low water temperature of around 15°C is said to determine the quality of the wasabi.

In this town, there is a man who has attracted the attention of many wasabi farmers. He is the representative of Wasabi-ya Yu, the city’s newest agricultural corporation specializing in wasabi. Originally from Nara Prefecture, Matsumoto moved to Hakuba Village in Nagano Prefecture at the age of 20 to pursue a life centered on snowboarding. Since then, she spent her days snowboarding, working as a cook at an accommodation facility near the slopes in the winter and seasonal labor at a farm at the foot of the mountain in the summer. One year, however, while working at a large-scale wasabi farm in Azumino City, Matsumoto began to be attracted to the fascinating and profound nature of wasabi. At the time, one of the wasabi farmers was considering retirement due to old age, which led him to turn around his life of snowboarding and take over the wasabi fields in Azumino City that he owned.
A few years after he started planting, he also re-cultivated the devastated farmland in the surrounding area, gradually expanding his farmland. In 2008, he incorporated the company. Although he is still a young farmer, he has won the Nagano Prefecture Governor’s Award, the highest award at a Nagano Prefecture product fair, and is highly regarded both inside and outside of the prefecture.

Unique “Wasabi” that brings out the best in food

Mr. Matsumoto mainly grows green-stemmed wasabi, commonly known as “green-stemmed” wasabi. He has tried growing all kinds of wasabi, including “Mazuma,” which is said to be the best wasabi, but he is now growing eight varieties of green-stemmed wasabi, after daily research to find the one that best suits the climate of Azumino. Although often lumped together as “wasabi,” each variety has its own unique pungency and consistency, and in recent years, perhaps due to the influence of diversifying diets and boredom with food, more and more cooks are daring to use different wasabi for different occasions.
For example, “Masamidori” is dark green and has a strong pungency and sweetness, while “Ishidaru,” which is of the green stem type, is lighter in color and has a delicate pungency and refined sweetness.
These characteristics vary greatly depending on the growing environment, which makes them even more interesting, says Matsumoto.
Even in Izu City and Azumino City in Shizuoka Prefecture, both famous for their hydroponically cultivated wasabi, the wasabi fields are completely different.
In Shizuoka Prefecture, the wasabi fields are terraced using a stream flowing from upstream to downstream, whereas in Azumino City, the ground is dug down until spring water flows out, then slightly sloped and ridged to create a flow of spring water.
The wasabi grown in Azumino, which takes advantage of the low-temperature spring water from melting snow, grows slower than wasabi grown in warmer climates, but because it grows slowly over time, it is denser and has a more concentrated flavor. Mr. Matsumoto’s wasabi fields are located in an area of Azumino with particularly low water temperatures and sandy soil, known as “sand making,” which allows the wasabi to grow densely rooted and take even more time to develop, which further increases the concentration of flavor. In addition, the unique climate, with temperatures that change dramatically throughout the year, gives wasabi the stress that gives it its pungent taste, and this is a factor that gives it its complex flavor.
Mr. Matsumoto aims to produce wasabi that makes the most of these regional characteristics.

In the meantime, the original “Azumidori” variety has finally been completed, and the first shipments are scheduled for 2023.
Azumidori, which took five years to develop, is a vigorous variety that grows well in the cold weather of Azumino City. It is characterized by its fresh green color, deep pungency, and moderate stickiness. Mr. Matsumoto is also involved in wasabi production with unconventional ideas, such as developing cream cheese and craft beer using wasabi, etc. As an I-turn farmer, he has seen and experienced wasabi production from various perspectives, and because of this, he actively adopts new things without considering them bad, fusing cutting-edge technology with traditional farming methods. As a result, he has been able to improve the quality of his products.

The post Ms. Yuho Matsumoto, “Wasabi-ya Yu”, immigrated to Azumino in love with wasabi produced in Azumino. first appeared on NIHONMONO.

Walnuts” are indescribable for their gentle color and warmth when held in the hand. They have a delicious flavor and are good for beauty. Just their presence alone is enough to make one’s heart warm. Glass Studio Orange” produces glass that embodies the charm of walnuts. We asked them about the secret to their warm and inviting creations.

A glass studio nestled in the quaint scenery of an inn town

Tomi City is located in the eastern part of Nagano Prefecture. This small city with a population of about 30,000 people boasts the largest production of walnuts in Japan. It is walnuts. Currently, 99% of the walnuts distributed in Japan are from foreign countries, so domestically produced walnuts are extremely valuable and expensive. The market distribution volume has decreased due to price competition with walnuts imported from overseas. However, the city of Tomi City is proud to be the largest producer of walnuts in Japan, and is working hard to expand production and further brand the walnuts produced in Tomi City. In this town, there is a glass studio that uses walnuts, a local specialty, to make products unique to the city of Tomi, called “Glass Studio Orange,” which opened in the city in 1999. The head of the studio, Masaki Teranishi, is from Maruko Town (now Ueda City), a neighboring city of Tomi City.

Mr. Teranishi has always loved making things. Since he was a high school student, he has tried his hand at making various kinds of things, including pottery. Among them, glass was the one that interested him the most. The more he learned about the process of making glass, the more interesting it became, and the more he learned, the more he wanted to pursue this career.

Mr. Teranishi learned glass-making techniques by assisting glass artists in their studios. He chose a glass manufacturing company in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, as his place of employment. He was so absorbed in glass that it was a natural progression for him to leave his job, return to his hometown, and set up his own studio. More than 20 years after opening the kiln, he says with a laugh, “I still feel the same way I did then, and I find myself continuing to make glass without stopping. He says with a laugh.

Unnojuku, where Teranishi’s studio is located, once prospered as a post town on the Kitakuni Highway, and even today, the landscape is an important preservation area for groups of traditional buildings, with water running through the center of the road and beautiful houses lined up on both sides with lattice doors.

Orange is a renovated workshop in a row-house gate that blends in with this atmospheric scenery. A gallery and café have been added so that visitors can pick up the products and even purchase them here. The warmth of the shop name comes from the color of the flames inside the kiln where the glass is heated, and is also meant to symbolize the hope that the glass will continue to be used for generations to come.

Walnut glass is a pale, beautiful natural color

As mentioned above, Walnut Glass®, made from walnuts, a local specialty, is a registered trademark of this studio. By mixing the ashes of burned walnut shells with sand, the raw material for the glass, a unique light greenish color is produced. The greenish color is not too strong, but rather a gentle hue, a color that can only be expressed by natural materials.

However, walnut glass cannot be mass-produced due to its limited materials, and only a small percentage of the glass products made at the studio are produced. In order to run a glass studio, one must not only produce tableware such as vessels and glasses, but also zodiac signs, glasswork, and other products that meet the wishes of the customers to whom they deliver.

Of course, he has his own ideal style from his long career as a craftsman, but his motto is to create the most suitable form for the scene of use, from delicate and sharp to chunky and warm, and even ornaments intended to be displayed, and within that category, he adds his “character I will add “character” within that category. If I could, I would make only walnut glass, transparent glass, and tableware. We are like a manufacturer, so we make whatever our clients want. Teranishi says. A handmade order process chart using a calendar hung in the workshop was filled with the status of orders.

Updates that continue even after nearly 20 years

Teranishi’s workshop is also home to a gallery, so everything from production to purchase is done under his own watchful eye. This allows him to listen to the reactions of buyers, see how they react to his products, and use the discoveries to update and improve his products. In addition, over the years, we have gained a better understanding of production. In particular, if the size is wrong, it takes a lot of time and effort to correct it, so it can be said that setup is vital in glass production. Gradually, he became able to think logically about the process. The accumulation of such efforts has raised the technical system, and now adjustments through secondary processing are almost no longer necessary.

From “Interesting” to “Rewarding” and “Life’s Purpose

Incidentally, Mr. Teranishi’s studio mainly makes glass using the air-blown method. Although he does use some casting techniques, such as stretching heated glass, he basically uses the air-blown method. The reason why Mr. Teranishi insists on air-blowing is purely because it is an interesting process. The dynamism of the work, which is completed in a matter of seconds, and the satisfaction he gets from each step of the process, make it the perfect style for him.

It has been about 20 years since he set up his workshop, but he says that even so, he has never made exactly the same piece of work. That is the beauty of handmade work, and sometimes he is able to create something that is far beyond his imagination and that he is proud of, which makes it worthwhile and makes him want to keep doing it. For Mr. Teranishi, this job has become a way of life. As the name of the company suggests, he is working hard every day to ensure that the workshop will continue to exist for generations to come.

The post Pale-colored walnut glass made at a glass studio located in a historic inn town “Glass Studio Orange”/Tomi-shi, Nagano first appeared on NIHONMONO.

Shion Tabata has her Shion Kiln in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, one of Japan’s most famous vacation homes. In addition to his original creations, he is also energetically engaged in copying Ogata Kenzan, a well-known potter of the Edo period, and Kitaoji Rosanjin, a well-known gourmet and potter, and is a popular ceramic artist among people of all ages. We visited his studio to learn how he creates the warmth and gentleness that spills from his pottery and the charm that makes his pottery picturesque on its own.

Becoming an antique dealer out of a desire to “do what I love for a living

Originally from Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Ms. Tabata met her current husband and moved to Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. After the peak of her child-rearing years had passed, when she was in her late 30s, she began looking for a job to supplement her living expenses. She decided that she wanted to do what she loved anyway, so she looked for a job as an antique dealer, something she had been interested in for a long time. Although the peak of his career had passed, he was still raising his children and wanted to work on weekdays when they were at school. The only one that remained was Tanimatsuya Toda Shoten, an Osaka-based tea ceremony utensil dealer that has been in business since the Edo period. The company is said to be the largest antique dealer in Japan, but I had no idea about that at the time. I was offered an interview, and from there, things went smoothly, and I started working there the day after my interview.

Antiques learned from a great benefactor, Teiichi Yuki, a master of Japanese cuisine.

He worked there for about five years, more than half of which he was sent to help Teiichi Yuki, the founder of the Japanese restaurant Kitcho, organize his storehouse for the establishment of an art museum.

In the course of his duties, Mr. Tabata had the opportunity to hear Mr. Yuki talk about the time when he collected antiques, to actually touch them, and to learn about their splendor. This experience was one of the important turning points that led Mr. Tabata, who was almost a novice, to become interested in pottery making.

From a trivial experience to the world of ceramics

In this way, Mr. Tabata deepened his knowledge of the real world of ceramics, but when the ” Yuki Museum of Art, ” which he helped establish, opened in 1987, it was as if his busy life up to that point was a lie, and he found he had a lot of free time on his hands.

Around that time, he moved to an area on the border of Nishinomiya City, Hyogo Prefecture and Kita Ward, Kobe City. Several factors came together, including the completion of a major project he had been involved in and the longer commute to work, and Mr. Tabata decided to quit his job.

After his resignation, he wondered, “Couldn’t I make something that I had seen before,” as if to fill the empty time he had left after his retirement. For example, “It would be wonderful if I could hold a tea ceremony as a hobby using vessels I made,” he began to think.

It was something as trivial as that that inspired him to start making ceramics.

Failures in Ceramic Making

This is how Mr. Tabata’s pottery-making activities began. However, although he had some knowledge from his antique art experience, he had never taken a pottery class and did not understand even the basics of pottery. For the time being, he tried to make pottery only by self-study, but all he did was fail.

Meeting potter Sadamitsu Sugimoto and going his own way

One day, Daikame Roshi, the abbot of Daitokuji Temple in Kyoto and a well-known tea master, introduced me to the potter Sadamitsu Sugimoto.

Mr. Sugimoto asked me if I would like to use the same kiln that he uses. If it is the same kiln, it will be easier to teach you if you don’t understand something,” and he suggested that I use the same type of kiln as the one he uses. Later, Mr. Sugimoto’s talent as a potter was widely recognized, and he became unimaginably busy, making it impossible to contact him at all.

When he purchased a kiln, he had high hopes that the kiln supplier would at least teach him how to fire it, but he was told, “I can’t teach you how to fire and fill a kiln because each potter has his own way of firing and filling a kiln. I read a book on pottery making, but it was of no help to me. I tried to use the highest quality glaze, but without knowing how to control the temperature of the kiln, all the glaze I had applied on the surface ran off. However, the kerosene kiln, which he purchased for about 1.5 million yen, was not a cheap purchase, and his desire to make vessels for use in the tea ceremony was stronger than anything else.

He continued to make pottery on his own, firing and firing, while receiving opinions from Mr. Yugi and Master Okame. This was another important turning point for Shion Tabata as a ceramic artist.

To be able to make a convincing copy of Ogata Kenzan.

This turning point was the work of Ogata Kenzan, whom he had the good fortune to hold in his hands several times during the launch of the Yugi Museum of Art. In the style of Kensan’s works, which have many graphic elements, white makeup is applied and paintings and characters are drawn on the white makeup using a devil’s board.

From then on, he continued to draw tea bowls on the potter’s wheel, apply white makeup, draw pictures, and continue firing without limit. However, the work that came out of the kiln was far from what he had expected. However, he did not give up and continued to make and fire pieces, changing glazes and repeating trial and error over and over again. As a result, he gradually became able to produce a copy of Kenzan that he was satisfied with.

Shion Tabata as a ceramic artist

Every year since he started making pottery, Tabata had been presenting Mr. Yuki and Master Daikame with his best work of the year on their birthdays.

However, at that time, I was giving away the best work of the year, so I did not think I could always produce the same quality of work, and although I was grateful, I did not ask for an exhibition at a department store. In the meantime, Master Okame asked me, “Why don’t you hold an exhibition here?” and he introduced me to a gallery in Nagoya with which he was familiar. There, his works of Kensan and Rimpa style were highly appreciated, the number of exhibitions increased, and the name of “Shion Tabata” as a ceramic artist gradually became well known.

Valuing human relationships, he built an anagama kiln in Karuizawa.

Some time later, in order to broaden the scope of his creations, Mr. Tabata decided that he wanted to build an anagama kiln for firing Iga Shigaraki.

However, most of the places where anagama kilns can be built are deep in the mountains or far from human settlements.

For Mr. Tabata, who became involved in pottery making through relationships with people, relationships with people are an important factor. In 2004, he decided to open a kiln in Karuizawa, Kitasaku-gun, Nagano Prefecture, one of the most popular vacation homes in Japan, where many people gather from all over the country.

Then, he came across a mountainous area of about 1,500 tsubo. After purchasing the land, he cut trees, made roads, and lived like a pioneer, gradually creating an environment for pottery making.

It takes seven days, or 168 hours, to fire a single batch of Iga-Shigaraki in the completed anagama. During this time, it is necessary to keep the kiln constantly burning wood, which is something that cannot be done by a single person. With the help of his partner, the two of them take turns sleeping for 12 hours at a time to keep the kiln burning. The income is not commensurate with the labor. Frankly speaking, if he had continued to make pottery in Kobe instead of moving all the way to the mountains, he would not have had to build a new kiln, and he would have had no financial or physical problems if he had just copied the Qianzan style that was taking off at the time.

However, if I had not come here, cleared the mountains, created the soil, built the anagama, and lived with this magnificent nature, I would not have been able to take a new step forward. He also says that the most important thing is that the hardships he experienced here were more than compensated for by the wonderful and gratifying encounters he had with people.

Blessed with and weaving relationships with people

Mr. Tabata’s life as a potter has been blessed by the relationships he has had with people ever since he started working at Tanimatsuya Toda Shoten. The favors he has received from Mr. Yugi, Master Okame, Mr. Sugimoto, and other famous and wise people have been more than enough for him to spread his wings as a potter.

At the same time, however, it was also a source of great pressure for Mr. Tabata. If I produced a bad product, I would have disgraced the people who supported me,” he said. That is why I worked so hard to the bitter end,” says Tabata.

This desire was directly linked to the improvement of his skills and knowledge, and as a result, he has not only brought disgrace to the faces of his benefactors, but has also produced excellent works that make them proud of their achievements. Nowadays, his successors admire Mr. Tabata, and his back is followed by those who follow him.

Shion Tabata’s world of pottery is filled with the “gentleness” of human relationships and the “toughness” of pursuing what she loves.

Read more

淡く幻想的な磁器 「陶芸家 筒井廣明」／長野県安曇野市 – NIHONMONO 1000年前に作られた白磁器の存在感。 筒井廣明さんは、長野は安曇野に窯を構える陶芸家。独立する以前は、197

Read more

温かみのある黄瀬戸のうつわ「陶芸家 小松幸代」／長野県茅野市 – NIHONMONO りんどうの窯の“黄瀬戸” 小松幸代さんの作る器は、「黄瀬戸」と呼ばれるもの。これは桃山時代、主に美濃で焼かれた

The post Shion Tabata, a ceramic artist who has been loved by people for her “work what you love” / Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

Takato Town, Ina City, Nagano Prefecture, overlooking the ruins of Takato Castle, one of the three most famous cherry blossom viewing spots in Japan. In this small town, there is a craftsman who makes frying pans that attract many customers from all over Japan. He is Takashi Kawarazaki, who moved from his birthplace in Tokyo to Takato Town and set up his own workshop.

Work that confronts oneself

Mr. Kawarazaki’s motivation for becoming a blacksmith was simple. While working at a department store in Tokyo, he grew tired of the crowds in the city and of dealing with customers at work. Then, why not do manufacturing?” He then visited various craft studios. He then toured various craft studios and pondered what he wanted to do. As a result, Mr. Kawarazaki became interested in forging, which involves striking heated iron to create products. After finding what he wanted to do, he quit his job at the age of 35 with his “can-do” spirit. He moved to Nagano Prefecture to attend a technical college, and after graduation studied under a blacksmith in Tomi City, Nagano Prefecture.

Not a work of art, but a tool for daily life.

In 2002, he opened his own workshop in Takato-machi, Ina City. Of course, it was not all smooth sailing for him immediately after he opened his workshop. There were times when he could hardly call it work. However, he thought, “Let’s keep going until I reach 40 years of age, and then we can see what happens next. As mentioned above, Mr. Kawarazaki himself did not set out to become a blacksmith for any great reason, and he does not think of what he makes as a work of art, but rather as a tool for daily life. That is why he thinks that his work is more like a tool for daily life, rather than a work of art. If it doesn’t meet the needs of the world, I will update it to meet them. If it doesn’t meet the needs of the world, let’s update it to meet the needs of the world. This attitude had a great influence on his encounter with the famous ceramic artist Noriyuki Yamamoto, who has published books and photo collections, which led to the introduction of Mr. Kawarazaki’s works to the world. When he first greeted Kawarazaki with the words, “I will make anything out of iron if you ask me to. Yamamoto was amused by this and exhibited his work in his studio, giving me the opportunity to see it. This attitude of listening to the voice of the consumer and applying it to manufacturing, like that of a manufacturer, has gained widespread sympathy.

Time and effort are what craftsmen’s handiwork should be about

That said, Mr. Kawarazaki’s works cannot be mass-produced like industrial products sold in mass merchandising stores. Unlike cold forging used in metal product factories, Kawarazaki’s works are made using hot forging, in which the metal is heated one by one. Although it is not suitable for mass production because of the time and labor required, it can be formed into complex shapes, and can be finished to the shape that is envisioned. Of course, he does not have a fixed concept of what his work should look like. However, he believes that this is the proper handiwork of a craftsman, and he has always been dedicated to it, no matter what time of day it is.

A wok I made by chance opens up new possibilities

Listening to consumers and careful craftsmanship are two ideas that coexist. The coexistence of these two ideas is one of Mr. Kawarazaki’s strengths. The story of the birth of the first hit “wok” is a perfect example of this. One day, his wife asked for a wok, and Mr. Kawarazaki went to a department store to look for one, but after walking around for a long time, he could not find the ideal one. Then, he decided to make a wok, so he listened to his wife’s request and produced it. The result is a handmade product that is lightweight, conducts heat well, and can be wielded by people of any height without discomfort. The wife’s reaction to the product was positive. This led to the sale of the product as an actual product, which received an unexpectedly strong response. The spirit of making everything from Japanese nails to staircases, as long as there is a request, is expanding the scope of his work and creating the possibility of further hit products.

The Value of “Takashi Kawarazaki’s Frying Pan

The result is a frying pan that is now hard to find. Like the wok, the frying pan was created in response to consumer feedback, but since it was first sold to a well-known lifestyle store in Tokyo, it has quickly gained popularity due to its functionality and warm texture, which is only possible with hand-forged products. Furthermore, the use of the product in a video distributed by a popular camping-related YouTube star led to the acquisition of users such as young people and men, who were not previously the purchasing base for the product. Demand for the product has grown even more, and now customers wait more than a year from the time of order to the time they receive the product.

The Arrival Point and the Road Ahead

Even today, when the company is attracting a large number of customers from all over Japan, what it does remains exactly the same as when it first opened its workshop. He heats an iron plate as he always does, and then he forms it by pounding it with a wooden mallet as he always does. The only thing that has changed a little is that he now has eyes. Because you can’t take measurements during the forging process, when I started as a craftsman, it was difficult to make the same thing all the same size, even if I was making the same thing in the same process.

However, as I made more and more pieces, I began to be able to make the same shape without having to think about it. And now that he can sell as many as he makes, he feels that he has reached the point where he can produce as many as he can. I am producing as much as I can, so I can’t make any more. Therefore, it is impossible to increase his income any further, and he does not want to do so much more. I want to continue the same blacksmithing business I started because I love it, even 10 years from now. With this wish, Mr. Kawarazaki continues to hammer iron today.

The post Kawarazaki Takashi, a blacksmith who listens to the voice of the user and carries on the handiwork of a careful craftsman / Ina City, Nagano Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

With the globalization of food culture, the Japanese diet has undergone rapid changes. The annual per capita consumption of rice in Japan has continued to decline since 1962, finally reaching less than half of its peak in 2020. As the Japanese food culture has declined, sake, which has been enjoyed along with Japanese food, has also been on the decline, being pushed aside in favor of beer and wine. As the market shrinks, simply following the old style will lead to decline. Naotaka Miyasaka, president of the long-established brewery Miyasaka Brewery in Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture, and his son Katsuhiko, also struggling between tradition and respect, have begun a new challenge without giving in to adversity.

Miyasaka Brewery is located near Lake Suwa, the largest lake in Shinshu, and is widely known for its 360-year-old sake called “Masumi,” which is derived from “Masumi no Kagami,” a mirror used at Suwa-taisha Shrine, famous for the Omihashira Festival. The company boasts the largest production volume in Nagano Prefecture and is a nationally renowned sake brewer, but its journey has not been an easy one, according to Katsuhiko, the next head of the company.

History of Miyasaka Brewery

The original Miyasaka family was a vassal of the Suwa family, which ruled the region until the Warring States period. Tossed into the war between Takeda and Oda, they put down their swords and embarked on the sake brewing business. However, as times changed from the Meiji to the Taisho era, and the brewery’s business became difficult, the family switched to miso brewing. Instead, Masaru Miyasaka, the great-grandfather of Katsuhiko Miyasaka, was entrusted to take the helm of the sake brewing business.

Masaru Miyasaka, who was in his 20s at the time, focused on improving the quality of the sake he brewed, dreaming of one day creating the best sake in Japan with other toji of the same age. In 1943, Miyasaka Brewery finally won first place in the National Sake Competition. The company went on to win awards at other prestigious sake competitions, and Miyasaka Brewery, an obscure sake brewery in Shinshu, was thrust into the limelight.

The “No. 7 Yeast” that supported the brewery’s breakthrough

The reason for Masumi’s great leap forward was due in large part to the brewery’s proprietary yeast, “Shichi-go Yeast,” which was eventually recognized as a superior yeast.

Masumi, which repeatedly won top prizes, attracted the attention of many researchers, and as a result, Dr. Shoichi Yamada of the Ministry of Finance’s Brewery Research Institute, the highest authority at the time, visited the brewery to inspect it. This alone was an honor in itself, but after carefully inspecting every corner of the brewery, Dr. Yamada discovered a new type of yeast in the fermenting mash. This was Miyasaka Brewery’s brewery yeast, later named Shichi-go Yeast.

Yeast is a type of fungus used in the fermentation of sake. It is so important that it is said to have a greater influence on sake than rice, especially in the production of aroma components and acidity, which are related to flavor. At that time, there were still many sake breweries that used wild brewer’s yeast, but wild yeast was an unstable fungus that carried risks such as contaminating the brewery.

On the other hand, this No. 7 yeast has stronger fermentation power than conventional yeasts and can ferment even at low temperatures. It is characterized by a clear taste and a gorgeous orange-like aroma, and has less off-flavor that can be produced by high-temperature fermentation. The No. 7 yeast, which has brought a breath of fresh air to the sake industry, was brought back to Japan by Dr. Kikuchi and distributed as “Kyokai Yeast” to sake breweries throughout Japan. The widespread use of Shichi-go Yeast led to an improvement in the quality of the entire industry and contributed greatly to the production of safe and delicious sake. Even today, more than 70 years after its discovery, Shichi-go Yeast is said to be used in more than half of the nation’s sake breweries, and is still enjoyed by sake drinkers.

From Japan to the world. Sake brewing with a global perspective

Anticipating the coming of a new era, Miyasaka Brewery pushed ahead with its expansion into Tokyo. After graduating from Keio University and studying abroad at Gonzaga University in Washington State, the current president Naotaka joined the company in 1983, and began using his study abroad experience to expand overseas sales channels around 2000. In this way, Miyasaka Brewery has continued to produce sake that is in tune with the times, always reading the times and looking ahead to the future.

And now, in 2019. In the new era of the Heisei Era and the 2025 Era, Miyasaka and his son Miyasaka have undertaken a reform. It was a major shift in the brewery’s approach, a return to its roots, to use only the No. 7 yeast, which is synonymous with the brewery’s own yeast.

Switching to the No. 7 yeast yeast

Katsuhiko, who currently serves as the president’s office manager, worked in apparel at a famous Tokyo department store after graduating from university before leaving in 2013 to join the brewery.

However, the sake industry had already begun to diversify, and following trends was no longer the only “right” thing to do. Sake itself has stepped out of the traditional ring and established itself in the world as a “SAKE” along with wine and beer. Katsuhiko felt that in order to compete in this layer, it was necessary to further express his own individuality and attractiveness and “make sake that is different from others. He saw the value in specializing in a narrow field. In 2019, he launched a project to create a new line under the two themes of “individuality unique to Miyasaka Brewery” and “high quality food sake that enhances the flavor of food.

However, it was said that it was difficult to produce a gorgeous flavor with the No. 7 yeast. It took many prototypes and a considerable amount of time to achieve the desired flavor and aroma. Even after the taste was confirmed, it was not easy to unify all the sake brewed with the No. 7 yeast. Sometimes, they even used hints from sake breweries outside of the prefecture.

The four sake products that were released were named “Shinju-AKA,” “Urushukuro-KURO,” “Hakumyo-SHIRO,” and “KAYA. Miyasaka Brewery is proud to have created these sake products through a process of trial and error, so that they can be served with any dish at today’s varied dining tables.

Launched in 2019, this series is appealing for its beautiful water and cool breezy taste of the Suwa region. The rebranding of “Masumi” is an excellent realization of Katsuhiko’s vision of “sake that adds color to the daily dining table. The idea of returning to the basics and innovation was a unique expression of the appeal of the No. 7 yeast.

Miyasaka Brewery’s goal for “Masumi from now on

Miyasaka Brewery, which began to develop products specializing in No. 7 yeast with the aim of entering the global market, also changed its symbol mark to coincide with the rebranding. The company created a simple, sophisticated logo of “a single ivy leaf reflected in a water mirror” from kanji, a powerful and dignified image that is typical of Japanese sake.

Ivy is the family crest of the Miyasaka family. The ivy has been a symbol of prosperity since ancient times. The shape of the ivy leaves reflected in the water mirror and sake cup represents the harmony of the brewer’s philosophy of “harmony, brewing, and good sake,” as well as the circle of the brewery. The duality of tradition and innovation contained in the brand message of “connecting people, nature, and time,” the gentle and harmonious flavor of the No. 7 yeast, and the desire to promote sake culture around the world are all expressed in the symbol.

Incidentally, the symbol mark was chosen for the rebranding so that people overseas who cannot read Japanese will remember Miyasaka Brewery’s sake. We believe that a universally recognized symbol will serve as a bridge to spread Miyasaka Brewery’s sake throughout the world.

Katsuhiko also says that expanding overseas is not only a way to promote sake, but also “an opportunity to reevaluate the value and characteristics of sake and to reaffirm its recognition. For example, when approaching an overseas city where Miyasaka Brewery is barely known, the sake from their own brewery needs to be explained from scratch. Each time, he says, he has to verbalize and explain the brewery’s sake, which in turn deepens his own understanding of Masumi and, by extension, Japanese sake.

When they were looking at overseas expansion and seriously trying to compete on the same layer as the great sake breweries overseas, they strongly felt that inspection visits alone were not enough to gain the knowledge needed to do so. Interaction through business will lead to deeper exchanges and learning.

Compared to wine and beer, the sake industry was like an isolated country. On a global scale, wine has a circulation of 2 trillion yen, while sake still has only about 45 billion yen. The goal for sake in the future is to become a sake that can compete with wine in the global market. Katsuhiko says he hopes Miyasaka Brewery will be able to play a part in this goal. His eyes are already filled with a sense of self-awareness and dignity as the next head of the company.

The post Miyasaka Brewery, which aims to brew sake globally and share its appeal with the world / Suwa City, Nagano Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

Art Village Created in an Environment Rich in Nature

Nakagawa Village in Kamiina-gun, Nagano Prefecture, overlooking the Japanese Alps. It is a village rich in nature with a pristine landscape that has been called the most beautiful village in Japan. However, it is not widely known that Nakagawa Village also has another aspect as an art village. Various artists, including painters, woodworkers, art framers, and glassworkers, live and have their studios here. In addition to the government’s active promotion of the affinity with art, such as by introducing artists’ activities, the rich natural environment may have stimulated creativity, resulting in the establishment of a culture in which the community and art coexist. The activities of a diverse range of artists also motivate people who are considering moving to the area from a cultural perspective, such as art and production, and this has directly led to an increase in the number of young people moving to the area.

Roots in glass as hippie artwork

Mr. and Mrs. Taira, who have “STUDIO PREPA,” a studio that makes tableware, vases, and other household items using air-blown glass, are another couple who fell in love with the atmosphere of Nakagawa Village and moved to the area. The scenery, which changes its expression at sunrise, sunset, and different times of the day, is extremely beautiful. They decided to move to the area because they felt at home in such an original landscape. However, contrary to the scenery, when you step into the workshop, it looks like an American garage with piles of American-made daily necessities.

That is as it should be. The roots of the Taira couple’s work lie in the hippie culture of the 1970s. The glass works of Mr. and Mrs. Taira, which follow the technique of air-blowing that was popularized as hippie artwork, have a warmth and stylish outline that is distinctly different from the old Japanese-made glass. In addition to being handled mainly by major select stores such as Ron Herman and Margaret Howell, they have received many inquiries from popular restaurants in Japan and abroad. They also participate in craft fairs in the U.S. so as not to neglect their studies to update their ideal style. Based in Yosemite National Park, they stay there for several weeks, sometimes more than a month, to experience the local atmosphere firsthand, which leads to inspiration for their work.

Home Decor in the U.S.A.

Did you know that the U.S. is a leader in glass crafts? From windows and cups to smartphones, glassware is so much a part of people’s lives that it would be difficult to live without touching it. In Japan, there are traditional glass crafts such as faceted glass and beadlocks, and if you look around the world, you will find that glassware is widely used in all regions, from traditional crafts such as Venetian glass and Turkish lamps to famous glassworks such as Galle, Baccarat, and Swarovski. Although the United States does not seem to be a leader in glassware, it is the leader in the field of home décor, he says.

Aiming for warmth expressed through glass

Home décor refers to tableware, vases for arranging flowers, and other products that add color to daily life. The Taira’s workshop also makes tableware and glassware, as well as vases, lampshades, and other glassware designed for use in daily life. The glassware made by Mr. and Mrs. Taira is particular about its thickness. They once received a wooden glass from a friend, and when they drank water from it, they were astonished at how delicious it tasted. She then tried drinking water from a glass cup she had around her in the same way. However, the water was somewhat spiky. I wondered why, since the water came from the same faucet, but the cause seemed to be the shape of the drinking cup. The thin, dignified glass was beautiful to look at, but it did not make the usual drink taste even better, like a wooden cup. After realizing this, I began to think that I wanted to make glassware that expressed the warmth of wood.

Completed when it is filled, that is our policy.

The products made based on this policy are completed when the contents are added. The glassware must be at least 20% empty when it is just a container, otherwise it will be too hot when the contents are added, whether water or flowers,” says Mr. and Mrs. Taira. Mr. and Mrs. Taira.

Since the dishes are used in daily life, they are not meaningful only as vessels. They believe that glassware that brings out the best of the materials is what they should make.

Another thing that Mr. and Mrs. Taira are committed to is to stick to a style that can only be achieved by air-blowing, and to products that can only be made by air-blowing. They sometimes use cold work such as mosaic or fusing to express colors (cold work is made of hardened glass, as opposed to hot work made of molten hot glass such as air-blown glass), but they do this only to add value to their creativity, and they do not stray far from that category. I try not to stray too far from that category. Although we have been doing nothing but air-blowing for nearly 20 years now, there is still a lot that we don’t know about manufacturing and its characteristics. But that is what makes it interesting for them, according to Mr. and Mrs. Taira. The world of glass is so deep that even the two of them, whose products are recognized for their excellence not only in Japan but also around the world, have not yet fully grasped it. The inquisitive minds of Mr. and Mrs. Taira, who want to learn all they can about this world, will continue to produce even more wonderful products.

The post STUDIO PREPA, a glass studio with fans around the world for its space-blowing that follows North American culture / Ina City, Nagano Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.

Cider Brewery Draws Attention in Nagano, the Apple Capital of Japan

Nagano Prefecture boasts the second largest apple production in Japan. As a result, the prefecture also produces a large number of ciders, which are made from apples. In the past, many wineries and sake breweries in the prefecture produced ciders as souvenirs, but recent years have seen a surge in the number of breweries specializing in ciders with a spirit of craftsmanship, driven by the recent trend for ciders. The first brewery in Nagano Prefecture specializing in ciders, Kamoshika Cider Brewery, is a pioneer in this field. Located on a hilltop in Ina City, Nagano Prefecture, with a scenic view of the Japanese Alps to the south and north, the modern design of the facility might make you think it is a café. However, the ciders brewed here have been highly acclaimed in many prestigious competitions, including winning the top prize “Trophy” at the Fuji Cidre Challenge, a world-class cidre competition.

The familiar taste of Inadani apples

Kohei Irikura, the head of Kamoshika Cidre Brewery, was born in Tokyo. His great-grandmother’s house in Ina City used to send apples to him, so he was familiar with apples from a young age, but as an adult, he spent some time without having anything to do with them. One day, however, the delicious taste of Ina Valley apples that he used to eat at home suddenly came to mind. Since then, Mr. Irikura has been thinking about what he could do with apples, and moved to Ina City, which had all the right hooks. He studied brewing techniques at a brewing school in Tokyo and at a brewery in Nagano Prefecture, and in 2016 he opened the Kamoshika Cider Brewery.

Encountering a brewed variety that was being grown for research

After opening the brewery, he took on a variety of challenges in pursuit of the cider taste he envisioned. The apple has established a firm position in Japan, and has become a major fruit that has earned the right of citizenship, yet many ciders made from apples have yet to break out of the realm of souvenirs. The reason for this is that apples for fresh consumption began to spread during the Meiji period (1868-1912), and at that time, varieties for brewing were no longer imported.

Later, it became even more difficult to import brewing apples due to quarantine issues and other problems, so the only way to produce ciders was to use varieties that had been improved for fresh eating in Japan. In other words, ciders made from popular local apple varieties make excellent souvenirs. However, it may be more akin to wine with a regional promotion element, using grapes that are not specifically wine varieties, such as Kyoho grapes or Shine Muscat.

Of course, these are also delicious, but in the same way that wineries in Japan are all focusing their efforts on cultivating popular wine grape varieties from around the world, such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, there are also many varieties of apples that can be eaten fresh, such as the sharply acidic Benidama (Jonathan in English) and the refreshingly sour green apple Granny Smith, which is native to Australia. Cider, with its astringency and acidity not found in fresh eating apples, has its own variety of apples suited for cider. However, it was not easy to brew cider using these varieties because they could not be imported through quarantine.

However, Ina, where the brewery was located, happened to be home to the Faculty of Agriculture of Shinshu University, which had grown for research purposes Virginia Crab, a native of the United States, Greensleeves, a native of England, and other valuable brewing apple varieties grown on the home farm of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States. were grown for research purposes. Mr. Irikura immediately asked the professor to share branches of these varieties and cultivate them in his own vineyard. He began producing apples that were a combination of the brewing variety and the fresh eating variety.

Second fermentation in the bottle, a labor-intensive pursuit of flavor

Cidre is not made by industrially adding carbon dioxide gas like carbonated beverages, but rather by secondary fermentation in the bottle, like champagne, in which sugar and yeast are added to the wine and fermented again in the bottle. The apples used change with the seasons. From a star-studded list of apple varieties, the brewery went through a process of trial and error to find a combination that would allow them to confidently introduce their ciders to the world, using only what is in season during the harvesting season.

Kamoshika Cider Brewery aims to create a cider that is uniquely Ina Valley

The concept of the cider that Mr. Irikura is aiming for is freshness and fruitiness. Since apples oxidize easily, he is careful to keep the juice from oxidizing as much as possible. However, according to Mr. Irikura, 80% of a cider’s flavor is determined by the quality of the ingredients. This is why Nagano Prefecture is one of the largest producers of apples in Japan, and the brewing of cider in Inadani, which is famous for its high-quality apples, is an advantage. The brewing environment and yeast, which is said to have the second largest impact on flavor after the ingredients, are prepared by using yeast imported from France for Champagne brewing and egg-shaped brewing tanks that allow for easy flow and mellowing of acidity.

The ciders thus produced are brewed according to the harvest time of the varieties used.

The ciders are brewed according to the harvest season of the variety used, and are available in six classic etitettes: “La 1e saison,” “La 2e saison,” and “La 3e saison,” each with sweet and dry flavors. All of them are made with second fermentation in the bottle. All of the ciders feature fine bubbles created by secondary fermentation in the bottle and a robust flavor with the natural fruity acidity of apples.

Our goal is to create a place where people gather with cider as a hook.

Six years after its establishment, Kamoshika Cider Brewery has become one of the top cider breweries in Japan, both in name and reality, by continuing to make ciders that take advantage of its location. In the meantime, more than 10 breweries specializing in ciders have opened in Nagano Prefecture, and we feel that the gap between domestic ciders and world-famous ciders has become smaller compared to wine. This is probably evidence, as mentioned at the beginning of this article, of the increasing number of cidery breweries in Japan with a spirit of craftsmanship. This facility is a driving force in the Japanese cider world. The goal is to create a cider with such appeal that it will become a visitor center for the area and attract more people to Ina, using the cider as a hook to attract more visitors.

The post Kamoshika Cidery Brewery, a leader in domestically produced ciders, taking advantage of its location in Inadani, Nagano Prefecture / Ina City, Nagano Prefecture first appeared on NIHONMONO.