Hayato Shoji
Seven with Signor Sake: Hayato Shoji (Kidoizumi Shuzo, Chiba)
I’m asking seven questions to my favourite sake makers to hear their story and get their take on the centuries-old craft.
What makes Kidoizumi stand out is their unique, punchy, flavourful sake, and the fact that they have never followed trends. In fact, they have often gone against the grain and been pioneers in their field in several ways. They were one of the first breweries to use organic rice when it was shunned by the government, and they brew with an alternative fermentation starter to the industry norm. Last but not least, they boast one of the best selections of aged sake. Hayato Shoji, who is both fifth-generation owner and master brewer, runs it with a team of five in Ohara, a small fishing village in Chiba prefecture, about two hours from Tokyo.
1. You’re the fifth generation of a 150-year-old family brewery. Did you feel any pressure to join?
When I joined the brewery, it wasn’t in a management capacity but as a brewery worker. There were other jobs I wanted to try out, but nothing that particularly stood out. I’m the eldest of five siblings, and since some of my brothers were also studying sake brewing at university, I wasn’t in a situation where I had to succeed my father in the family business. I knew that I was raised as “the eldest son” since my childhood, but no, I didn’t feel any pressure to join.
“The flavour profile and expression of a brewery’s range of sake can change with the arrival of a new head brewer.”
As a child growing up, I may have felt subconsciously that I would naturally inherit the brewery. I actually felt more pressure since becoming the company director. I returned to the family business in 2001. After our brewmaster passed away in 2012, I took on that position a year later. I had already grasped the whole flow of sake brewing, so I understood the role well enough, but now there was added pressure because I no longer had anyone to rely on.
The flavour profile and expression of a brewery’s range of sake can change with the arrival of a new head brewer. So when I took on that role, I made the point of not telling our customers until we received some feedback about the first batch. I wanted our customers to judge the sake without knowing. It was only when customers said, "It's good sake again this year," that we felt comfortable sharing the fact that the head brewer had changed.
2. You studied brewing at Tokyo University of Agriculture. Did university change your outlook on brewing?
During university, I learned the basics of brewing and fermentation, and in my fourth year, I was researching day and night, so my research came in handy now. At that time, I knew that our brewery did things a little differently than others. Rather than trying to change our methods after university, I was thinking about how we could promote the use of yamahai and take on new, related challenges.
“I knew that our brewery did things a little differently than others.”
3. What are the origins of Kidoizumi?
Kidoizumi was founded by my great-great-grandfather in 1879 when he bought some wooden vats that another buyer had abandoned. That’s when we started making sake. It was all really by chance. Before that, my family was mainly involved in the fishing industry, and selling salt and straw mats called “mushiro”. Back then you needed a license to even sell salt. By the time my grandfather took over, we were focusing completely on brewing sake.
“Kidoizumi was founded by my great-great-grandfather in 1879 when he bought some wooden vats at the nearby fishing port that another buyer had abandoned.”
4. How did the direction of Kidoizumi change under your grandfather’s leadership?
Up until my grandfather took over, we were only making table sake. My grandfather was concerned about what was going into the sake and believed that it should only contain quality, natural ingredients. He wanted people to feel good when they drank sake. Traditionally, sake was also said to be the best of all medicines, so he wanted it to remain a healthy.
In the period following the second world war, Japan was in bad shape and distribution channels and brewing technologies were not like they are now. A lot of sake went bad by the time it reached customers. That’s when preservatives in sake started to become the norm. The government granted permission to use them, so they could boost tax revenues. They were used until around 1965. Due to their toxicity, the WHO banned them in 1969 and they’re not used in sake today.
“My grandfather wanted to produce sake that wouldn't deteriorate without relying on preservatives.”
My grandfather wanted to produce sake that wouldn't deteriorate without relying on preservatives. He was also thinking how he could share sake internationally. At that time, there was no air transportation. Delivery by ship took time and the conditions weren’t ideal. So, what my grandfather wanted to brew was sake that wouldn’t go bad during shipping, and something that would taste better aged. The result of the effort to making “sake that tastes better aged” was ko-on yamahai (hot yamahai). It took ten years of trial and error. Now we have koshu (aged sake) from every year since 1974 stored in our gallery. I still can't believe that my grandfather was planning 50 years into the future at a time when it was difficult to even gather this kind of information.
5. Using chemical-free rice is a big part of Kidoizumi’s story. Can you tell us more about that?
There are no proper rules and definitions for natural cultivation, but the definition we hold ourselves to is to use no pesticides, and no chemical fertilisers. The soil should have been free of pesticides, chemical fertilisers, and organic matter for at least three years. Also, no organic compost such as animal manure, but botanicals such as straw are acceptable. As for the compost, there are some farms in Chiba that recently started using seaweed. It varies from land to land, but I believe it is good if it is made in a creative way with what is suitable for the land.
“Pesticide-free cultivation takes time when you first start out. After a few years, the land becomes fertile and the original energy of the soil is transmitted to the plants.”
Pesticide-free cultivation takes time when you first start out. After a few years, the land becomes fertile and the original energy of the soil is transmitted to the plants. We’ve been using naturally grown rice since 1967. At that time, Japan had a law called the Food Management Law. If you wanted to buy rice, you had to go through the Japan Agricultural Cooperatives. We couldn't freely source rice like we do today. That’s when we skirted the rules to source chemical-free rice. We were treading on dangerous ground for a short period but we wanted to cherish the efforts of the farmers.
6. There’s some conflicting information out there on how Kidoizumi handles lactic acid which is often added to modern fermentation starters methods to minimise the risk of spoilage . Can you set the record straight?
Lactic acid bacteria was first isolated by scholars. They are stored and available for brewers to buy, and we cultivate them ourselves. The difference between lactic acid and lactic acid bacteria is that lactic acid is a substance, whereas lactic acid bacteria are microorganisms—they’re living.
We add it to the fermentation starter at the beginning of the brewing season just for one month in October and then rely on the naturally occurring bacteria in the brewery to do its job. As a challenge for a more natural environment, we have been using this method for the last two to three years. Previously, we would add lactic acid bacteria all the way through the brewing season.
“We’ve been using naturally grown rice since 1967.”
7. You produce two sparkling sakes, the Shizenmai sparkling and the AFS sparkling. Carbonation is a natural byproduct of fermentation but how do you keep it in the bottle?
The bottling method is the same as for other sake. The only difference is that it’s bottled with the sediment. We put the pressed sake in an empty tank and mix it with the coarsely pressed mash, then bottle it. We don't measure the exact pressure, but we open the bottles a few days after bottling and check it by hand. At the moment, we don’t produce a clear type of sparkling, only a cloudy sparkling.
SIGNOR SAKE FAVOURITE
Hakugyokuko
Made using a unique hot fermentation starter method that they developed as a base and then follows the standard three-stage additions of rice and water over 4 days.
This sake starts off sweet and finishes dry. It’s spicy, complex, with fruity and floral notes and tons of acidity.
Rice type: Yamada Nishiki (Hyogo)
Polished to: 60%
Yeast: In-house (Kidoizumi #7)
Alcohol: 18%
Category: Junmai
Subcategory: hot yamahai starter, unpasteurised, undiluted, no charcoal fining.
Official Kidoizumi Shuzo website
https://www.kidoizumi.jp/en/
