Sake Brewing to Get Bump from UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Designation; Sales Drop in Japan Even as More Sold Abroad

The Yomiuri Shimbun

7:00 JST, November 7, 2024

With traditional brewing techniques for making sake, shochu and awamori expected to be registered by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage, producers are feeling renewed drive to pass on their traditions to the next generation.

Sogen Sake Brewery Co. in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, has a history that stretches back more than 250 years. But on New Year’s Day, it was one of the 11 sake breweries in the Okunoto region that were hit by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake. A mudslide poured into the brewery’s warehouse, tilting and cracking some of the 40 sake storage tanks inside before the product could be shipped. The brewery had to throw out more than half of its sake.

The brewery was also temporarily without water after a mudslide caused by heavy rain in September. However, the workers pushed through and kept brewing. This season’s batch of sake will be ready at the end of November.

“If the techniques are registered [as intangible heritage], it will encourage people in disaster-hit areas,” said Takao Yagi, 61, the president of the brewery. “I hope we can help rebuild the region by continuing to brew sake.”

“I feel proud, grateful as someone who has inherited the techniques and spirit of sake brewing,” said Kosuke Kuji, 52, the president of Nanbu Bijin, a sake brewery with a 122-year history in Ninohe, Iwate Prefecture. Kuji is also chairman of the prefecture’s Japan-Sake Makers Association. His company has been working to export its products since 1997 and was ahead of the pack in expanding overseas sales. He has done sales work in more than 60 countries so far. “If traditional sake brewing techniques make the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list, it will help spur our business,” he added, sounding hopeful.

“The registration would go a long way to encouraging the careful preservation and continued use of techniques that have been passed down over many years,” said Shinuemon Konishi, 72, the president of Konishi Brewing Co. in Itami, Hyogo Prefecture. Konishi is also chairman of a group for preserving traditional sake brewing techniques that use koji mold.

Itaru Tada, 59, the president of Tenpai, a sake brewery known for its barley shochu in Chikuzen, Fukuoka Prefecture, said, “The registration will support us in spirit as we expand into the global market with a pride in sake as Japan’s national alcohol.”

Shipping sake abroad

The government has sought to have traditional sake brewing techniques registered as Intangible Cultural Heritage as a way to boost the brand power of Japanese sake overseas.

Sake shipments have been declining in Japan since they peaked in fiscal 1973 at 1.77 million kiloliters, according to the National Tax Agency. The total was driven down by competition with other kinds of alcohol and more options for places to drink. In fiscal 2023, about 390,000 kiloliters of sake was shipped on a preliminary basis, less than a quarter of the peak volume. On the other hand, sake exports stood at about 16,000 kiloliters in 2013, before rising to a record high of about 36,000 kiloliters in 2022.

Another problem for the industry is ensuring it has enough brewers. According to the Japan Toji Guild Association, the number of sake brewers belonging to the association declined to 712 in fiscal 2022, down from 3,683 in fiscal 1965.

“The entire industry needs to consider how to develop successors,” said Tatsuya Ishikawa, 60, chairman of the association. He expects the registration by UNESCO to help lift the industry.