A Traditional Sake Brewery in Kyoto
Inherited ways and traditional flavours cultivated from excellent natural water
By Kyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
Kyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
Sake-making season begins around autumn, during which time sake makers begin preparing before sunrise. As the sunlight enters the brewery, the entire place is filled with white steam from steaming rice and a rich aroma.
Kyoto – a city of
quality ingredients
Water and sake rice are vital ingredients for sake brewing. Kyoto has enjoyed an abundance of quality water suited for making sake since ancient times. Not only that, the city was also located at the centre of commerce, making it easy to procure large amounts of rice. During Kyoto’s sake-making heyday, there were over 300 sake breweries in the city, but that number has dropped to just three — including Sasaki Brewery — today.
Sasaki Sake Brewery: A sake brewery preserving Kyoto’s tradition (2018-12) by Sasaki Sake Brewery and Kengo Takayama (A-Project)Kyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
How sake is made
Steaming the rice
The rice is washed, soaked and then steamed in a special tub called koshiki. On the day the photograph was taken 500 kg of rice was steamed for about forty minutes, but the amount of rice and duration for steaming depend will depend on the type of sake to be brewed.
Transferring rice to the cooling
machine
The steamed rice is raised using a crane and transferred to the cooling machine. This process is repeated about three times.
The cooling process of steamed rice, A sake brewery preserving Kyoto’s tradition (2018) by Sasaki Sake BreweryKyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
Adding koji mold
The steamed rice is transferred on a belt conveyor and koji mold spores are sprinkled over the rice. This will turn into koji, a type of yeast prepared from rice.
Koji for brewing sake, A sake brewery preserving Kyoto’s tradition (2018) by Sasaki Sake BreweryKyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
Mixing
Steamed rice without koji mold is then hosed into a tank filled with koji, water and yeast. To prevent the steamed rice sticking to the bottom of the tank, a rod is used to stir the rice as it fills the tank. Next, the fermenting mixture (moromi) is allowed to fully ferment while the temperature is constantly monitored.
Filling sake tank with steamed rice, A sake brewery preserving Kyoto’s tradition (2018) by Sasaki Sake BreweryKyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
Pressing
A presser is used to press out the newly brewed alcohol (in a cloudy form containing unfermented rice solids) to separate the alcohol from unfermented rice solids. It takes about one day to press out one tank of this liquid.
Bottling
The pressed sake is then filtered and pasteurized before being stored away. Next, the sake is bottled and packed.
Sake waiting to be shipped, A sake brewery preserving Kyoto’s tradition (2018) by Sasaki Sake BreweryKyoto Women's University, Lifestyle Design Laboratory
Sasaki Brewery’s sakes
Jurakudai
This is Sasaki Brewery’s superior sake made from the most refined Yamada Nishiki rice which is perfect for sake making. Jurakudai is the name of the mansion of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1537-1598) who was a warrior in the Azuchi-Momoyama period.
Nishijin
This refreshing dry sake has a generous taste unique to pure-rice sake and goes well with Japanese cuisine. The fabric covering the bottle top is called kinran, a type of Nishijin fabric woven locally.
Heian Shishin - Four Sacred Beasts of Ancient Capital
This refreshing sake comes with a fruity aroma unique to ginjoshu (quality sake brewed from thoroughly polished rice fermented under low temperature). The label is designed by the artist Hideki Kimura who is renowned for his murals.
Koto - Old Capital
This slightly sour, pure-rice sake brewed from carefully selected sake rice has a lasting taste.
Finally…
Mr. Akira Sasaki, fourth-generation president of the brewery, says he has no intention of making big changes to the traditional ways he has inherited. Sasaki Sake Brewery will continue to stay true to traditional flavours without any compromise.
Supported by: Sasaki Sake Brewery
Movie by: Kengo Takayama
Photography by: Dr. Shinya Maezaki
Text by: Chisato Inoue and Sayako Yamauchi
Translation by: Eddy Y.L. Chang
This exhibition was created by: Chisato Inoue and Sayako Yamauchi
Project Directors:
Dr. Shinya Maezaki, Associate Professor, Kyoto Women's University
