Hiroaki Oku
Seven with Signor Sake - Hiroaki Oku (Akishika Shuzo, Osaka)
I’m asking seven questions to my favourite sake makers to hear their story and get their take on the centuries-old craft.
Akishika sakes are some of the most sought-after in Japan and they’re not for the faint-hearted; they’re complex, acidity-driven and age-worthy. Their flagship Okushika label is aged in-house for three years before its release, and it sells out fast. On top of that, they have a single-origin range produced from one paddy of Omachi rice, which the owner and his team of five farm by hand.
When 6th-generation owner and brewer Hiroaki Oku took the reins from his father at Akishika, he set his sight on bringing everything in-house, from growing his own sake-specific rice to polishing it—a rarity in the sake world. His family have farmed rice in the area since the 17th century, but Oku decided to go one step further and grow his rice naturally without the use of pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilisers.
The brewery was founded in 1886 by Oku’s grandfather, Shikanosuke, after he acquired a brewing license. The name of the brewery was coined when he took the first part of his first name, Shika, which means deer, and combined it with the word Aki, meaning autumn. Autumn releases are one of the biggest highlights of the year for sake, so it was a good fit.
1. One of my favourite drinks is your Moto Shibori. How did that come about and how’s it made?
(In most breweries, people get assigned to one step of the brewing process. At our brewery, one person is in charge of preparing the rice, one for the starter, and one for the mash.)
I was in charge of the fermentation starter for about 3 years, and it was just around the time when we started using Yamahai starters. I just loved the aroma and taste of the starter and I wanted to drink as it was.
The taste of the starter and the taste of mash are quite different. The mash uses the starter as a base but it has a less potent character (which I enjoy too) but I really wanted to taste the starter as well. So while working, I would often test it regularly, which is one of the benefits of being a sake brewer.
Starters using the faster Sokujo method wouldn’t be as tasty, so the secret of its deliciousness is really the Yamahai starter made with wild lactic acid bacteria as well as Yamada Nishiki rice. Fermentation varies from year to year but takes at least 20 days, and sometimes up to 30 days. The ratio of koji rice and steamed rice is about the same.
2. You know a thing or two about ageing sake. What have you learnt?
It was through meeting other brewers that we gradually became aware of ageing. There was a brewery that suggested that we should age our sake. I was aware that when our sake was aged it became tastier. Since 2006 we’ve been intentionally ageing our flagship label Okushika Yamahai for 3 years before releasing it. We also store our sake between 10 and 20 degrees celsius, irrespective of whether it’s unpasteurised or not. This is our brewery’s policy to promote ageing, so we don’t actually store any sake at low temperatures. The labels say that refrigeration is required, so it's a contradiction. (laughs)
“That’s how we got started on this idea of bringing everything in-house and taking a seedling-to-sake approach.”
3. Can you explain what ‘ikkan-zukuri’ means?
The typical approach in this industry is for farmers to grow rice and then brewers to make sake. But I started to question that idea. It's taken for granted that winemakers do everything from growing grapes to making wine. And we were growing our own table rice anyway, so I asked myself why we weren't growing sake-specific rice for brewing. That’s how we got started on this idea of bringing everything in-house and taking a seedling-to-sake approach (ikkan-zukuri).
4. What made you switch from using table rice to sake-specific rice?
We used to use table rice, but I was attracted to the charm of Yamada Nishiki. It inspired me to make sake with minimal polishing as opposed to Daiginjo grade which is heavily polishing. I thought that Yamada Nishiki had the potential not only as a highly polished type, but also a minimally polished one. Compared to table rice, Yamada-nishiki has a very low protein content, so I believed we could create a clear but rich and full-bodied sake. We’ve been growing sake rice since 1985, so it has been about 35 years since we changed our direction.
“When I was a child, helicopters used to spray pesticides over the fields.”
5. Why did you choose to go organic and also skip using commercial fertiliser?
One reason is that it’s friendly to the natural environment. When I was a child, helicopters used to spray pesticides over the fields, and toxic substances from the waste treatment plant were mixed in the waste water and released outside, destroying the richness of nature. On top of that, we thought it was wrong to use chemical fertilisers by other makers for the rice we grow, and then use that rice for our sake. When you really think about why breweries should grow rice, there’s no point in copying what other farmers are doing. To me, it’s to thoroughly select and pursue what kind of ingredient you want to use in your own sake.
In terms of using commercial fertilisers, you can’t be sure what they’re truly made from. There’s the possibility that fish bones and animal products are used as ingredients, and hormonal agents may have been used when the animal was bred. So, because of these concerns, it’s simply more reliable to make and use our own. If you ask other farmers to manage it up to that point, it will cost four to five times the current price of rice. Because we make it ourselves, we can manage it to that extent.
6. Can you tell us about your transition to organic farming and some of the methods you employ?
We gradually increased the cultivation area as we moved to a more natural approach. Now, this year, we have 22 hectares of rice paddies and we’ve been farming this way for around five to ten years now. We don’t use any pesticides, herbicides or fertilisers. We take the by-products of rice farming and sake brewing—the rice husks, the rice bran and the sake lees—and we ferment it and use it as compost for the following year’s harvest. It’s a kind of circular farming method.
“But we know everything that goes into the paddies and how the rice has been grown.”
7. What are some of the challenges in growing rice organically?
Since we don’t use herbicides, a lot of weeds grow back strongly and hold back the development of the rice, so we end up getting a lower yield. And we have to weed the fields by hand. The limited amount of by-products means that we can't make a lot of compost, and our rice yield ends up being around one-third to half that of a paddy farmed conventionally. We have 22 acres of paddies but they're scattered over 100 different plots. That makes it difficult to manage. But we know everything that goes into the paddies and how the rice has been grown, so we can be confident about the quality, which puts us at ease.
SIGNOR SAKE FAVOURITE SAKES
Akishika’s sakes are generally all medium-bodied and complex, layered and packed with flavour. They sacrifice high yields for superior quality with their own locally grown organic rice which translates into complexity in their drinks. Bottles with the (henohenomoheji) face stamp indicate that rice from their own fields was used. Aside from their own, they source their additional rice needs from farmers in the Osaka area.
Nyukon Itteki - Muroka Nama Genshu (Unpasteurised, undiluted, no charcoal fining)
In a class of its own, beyond awards and competitions and certainly not your typical Junmai Daiginjo. Made with organic rice grown by the Akishika team, it’s dry with a long finish and effortlessly combines complexity and elegance—a rarity for this top grade of sake.
Black Moheji (Omachi Omachi) - Muroka Nama Genshu (Unpasteurised, undiluted, no charcoal fining)
Single origin concept where all the rice used is from one paddy of organically grown rice by the Akishika team, a stone’s throw away from the brewery. Aged for a minimum of 4 years before release, this is round, elegant and nutty with notes of cedar, dashi and a touch of anise and melon.
Okushika Yamahai - Muroka Nama Genshu (Unpasteurised, undiluted, no charcoal fining)
The flagship Okushika comes in a Yamahai and Kimoto version, both aged in-house for three years before their release. The Yamahai version is more approachable earlier on, but the Kimoto may have more potential to shine if you have the patience to wait a few years. Savoury, nutty, notes of shiitake mushrooms, sweet spice like cinnamon and finishes with cocoa. Incredible.
Moto Shibori (Pressed Moto) - Muroka Nama (Unpasteurised, no charcoal fining)
Essentially a bottled fermentation starter skipping the transfer to a bigger tank. ABV of 8%, sweet and silky with a pleasant green apple acidity tang, and notes of tropical fruits like mango and guava along with pear and a touch of rice bran.
