Soft tasting ”seishu”
Kodama Brewery Co., Ltd. is located in Katami-City. This is a brewery where the famous ”Taiheizan” was born with its soft gentle flavor when it enters your mouth, ”sake”that you will not tire of. When we arrived for our interview, we were invited in to the main hall which is designated by the government as Important Cultural Property of Japan. The garden that surrounds it is breathtakingly beautiful. It also makes you feel somewhat safe and content. We sat down in a spacious room of the main building and sipped ”Taiheizan”.
”Miso” and Soy Sauce representing Akita
Kodama Brewery Co., Ltd. was founded in 1879 and has a history of 130 years. Their famous ”Taiheizan” was born in the Taisho period. During the showa period in 1933 (Showa 8), they developed and introduced the very first specialized sake to be enjoyed cold ”Reirou Taiheizan” which was a new challenge.
They were founded in Meiji 12 (1879) and only started making ”seishu” in Taisho 2, (1913). During the years in between, they made ”miso” and soy sauce. Some people may be familiar with Kodama Brewery for ”Yamakiu”. Their ”miso” has a strong soybean taste and flavor, with the slight sweetness of rice-malt. Their popular soy sauce is made in the old-fashioned style, and matured in Akita cedar barrels for a considerate amount of time.
”Miso” and Soy Sauce and ”Sake”
President Shinichiro Kodama tells us their reason for starting sake production was the ” tax bureau”, During the Meiji period, there was a soy sauce tax in addition to the alcohol tax. Already in the soy sauce business, they had been paying soy sauce taxes. The tax officer suggested ”Why don’t you make ”sake” since you’re already paying soy sauce taxes”, Interesting story.
We were allowed to visit their ”miso” and soy sauce kura, but normally a person making ”sake” is prohibited from entering ”miso kura”, and likewise a person making ”miso” cannot enter a ”sake kura”. Obviously there is a different ”toji” brew master for each.
With regard to the ”toji”, in the past most breweries would hire their ”toji” seasonally. However Kodama Brewery was quick to nurture their own ”toji” using their own ”kura” and currently, ”toji” is performed by an employee. Akita ”miso”, soy sauce, and ”sake”. All are made in a ”kura” with great history, through the collaboration of many people.
