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The cultural value of the techniques used to make sake, shochu, awamori and other alcoholic beverages has won global recognition. It is hoped that this will be an opportunity for many people both at home and abroad to learn about the history, techniques and sophisticated tastes of these products.
UNESCO’s evaluation body has recommended that Japan’s traditional sake making be included in its Intangible Cultural Heritage list. An official decision is expected in December.
Japan’s sake-making process is characterized by the use of koji mold to promote fermentation of rice and barley, which enriches the flavor of sake. The model was established centuries ago in the Muromachi period, and the techniques are still passed down to the present day.
Sake has been offered on Shinto altars and other places to show gratitude to deities, and has also been served at festive occasions such as weddings and births. Seasonal traditions include drinking toso spiced sake on New Year’s Day to pray for a safe and healthy year and shirozake white sake during the Doll Festival in March.
UNESCO’s evaluation body has recognized that Japanese sake is indispensable to sociocultural occasions and contributes to social cohesion.
To experience sake culture, which has been an integral part of Japanese life and has colored the way people have lived since ancient times, would be a good way to think about Japanese culture.
The aim of the Intangible Cultural Heritage system is to protect performing arts, events and traditional crafts, among other cultural items. So far, 22 items from Japan have been registered, including noh, kabuki and washoku traditional cuisine. Sake goes well with Japanese food. It is hoped that menus and other items will be devised in a manner that washoku and sake can be developed together.
Domestic shipments of sake have declined to less than a quarter of their peak in fiscal 1973, and the number of sake breweries has also fallen by more than half, to around 1,600, in the same period. As the number of people who drink other types of alcoholic beverage has increased due to the diversification of preferences, it has been pointed out that young people in particular are becoming less interested in sake.
Meanwhile, the number of restaurants serving Japanese food overseas is increasing and the demand for sake is rising. Exports have roughly doubled in the past 10 years. Efforts to attract foreign visitors to Japan through “sake brewery tourism,” in which visitors see the sake brewing process at work, are also spreading.
It is advisable to launch a major campaign for sake, similar to the excitement surrounding the annual release of Beaujolais nouveau wine.
Sake brewing companies in various regions have launched a project — “Don’t stop Noto sake!” — to support sake breweries affected by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake. They have collected donations through crowdfunding and have reportedly raised about ¥52 million so far.
Traditional Japanese techniques must be maintained going forward. It is hoped that the government and the industry will put serious thought into deepening the understanding of Japanese sake making and expand consumption.
