Rei Amano — Signor Sake

Seven with Signor Sake: Rei Amano (Sasaichi Shuzo, Yamanashi)

I’m asking seven questions to my favourite sake makers to hear their story and get their take on the centuries-old craft.

Rei Amano has been the driving force behind Sasaichi brewery for the best part of a decade. As executive director, he has ushered in a new phase for the brewery by introducing a new range of sake to complement their hundred-year old brand. A look at the website confirms that design and message are just as important as what goes inside the bottle. The website was actually designed by Rei himself.

The origins of the business date back to 1661 but it was Rei’s great grandfather that incorporated it under the current name in 1919. Sasaichi is located in Yamanashi, a landlocked prefecture covered by forests and home to the southern Alps. The area, favoured by beverage makers for its quality water source, is also home to Japan’s revered winemaking areas, Koshu and Katsunuma.

1. Why did you decide to join the brewery?

I grew up in Yamanashi close to the brewery in Otsuki city and went to the United States to study fashion after high school. After coming back to Japan, I was working in marketing for a fashion company before joining the brewery.

Sasaichi brewery is a family business. It was my cousin who was next in line to take it over, but he passed away young, so my father was asked to step in. My father had worked in a brewery and knew about how it operated. Ten years later, when my father asked me to come back to the brewery, I welcomed the offer with open arms. I think it’s important for us to keep the traditional family business going.

“Sake is not selling as well in Japan as it used to in its heyday, so we have to take a new approach.”

2. What challenges have you faced since taking over from your father?

Sake is not selling as well in Japan as it used to in its heyday, so we have to take a new approach. But we still have to create something that is top quality and that can be sold in the best restaurants. It's been a challenge to create something cutting-edge out of tradition.

3. What’s the difference between your two main sake lines, ‘Sasaichi’ and ‘Dan’?

‘Sasaichi’ has our brewery name and the name of our sake range that has been sold locally since 1919, the year we founded the company. The range is made entirely from rice grown in Yamanashi prefecture.

‘Dan’ is our newer range, a premium and luxury sake line, made with the highest grade rice, and brewed using state-of-the-art brewing methods. We grow a tiny amount of rice ourselves but growing fruits such as Muscat and Kyoho grapes is more profitable for farmers in this area, so there isn’t the incentive to grow rice here like there is in other regions.

“Growing grapes such as Muscat and Kyoho is more profitable for farmers in the area.”

4. I love the bold labels. What’s the story behind them?

We put many meanings into this label. The Chinese character for 'Dan’ means the beginning of everything. For example, the word for new years day in Japanese has this character, meaning the beginning of a year, the beginning of something new. It also means the sunrise seen from the top of Mt. Fuji. Also, when you take this character (旦) apart, it becomes 日 (sun) and 一 (one), which could be interpreted as number one in Japan (日本), which is what we are aiming for.

Shoko Kanazawa, a highly renowned calligrapher in Japan, wrote the character on the label. Despite her condition, Down syndrome, she has performed in front of the emperor and has created some profound pieces for numerous temples too. She does calligraphy like painting characters, so I think people instinctively get what’s written in them, even if they can’t read it.

5. I read that your brewery was mass-producing sake up until 2013.

We used to be the largest brewery in the Kanto region. We come from a family whose members served as politicians for the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, so we often supplied sake to political events and donated sake to shrines. Since the brewery is located about an hour from central Tokyo, we used to load our sake onto the truck at 4:00 a.m., and supply clients in Ginza ourselves. About 100 years ago, when it was mainly horse-drawn carriages on the road, my grandfather, who was a politician, drove a red Ford with the ‘Sasaichi’ logo on the side to supply our sake as well.

“We used to be the largest brewery in the Kanto region.”

At that time, there was no distribution of sake from other areas, so we sold a lot of table sake, and supplied the majority of the Kanto region. I believe we supplied around one million bottles a year. Later, sake from western Japan and the Tohoku area started to appear on the distribution channels in the Tokyo area. And with this change of demand and distribution across the country, Sasaichi went through a transformation as well. We phased out mass production and decided to go back to focusing on handmade sake, and thus “Dan” was born.

6. Yamanashi is a rich source of water. How important is it to Sasaichi?

We pay close attention to both rice and water— but especially water. Rice can be transported, but water cannot. That’s why we think water is the most important.

There is a route called Koshu Kaido that connects Edo (Tokyo) and Kofu (the capital of Yamanashi), which was constructed as an escape route for the Shogun, should something happen. Our brewery is located on a mountainous part of this route, by the Sasa no Toge pass. A post town developed near its steepest area, and the town flourished since 350 years ago from the production of soy sauce and miso.

“When Emperor Meiji traveled to Kyoto, he always brought water from this area too.”

This area is abundant in quality water. Sen no Rikyu (a historical tea master) used to order water from this area for all the tea ceremonies he hosted at Edo Castle. When Emperor Meiji traveled to Kyoto, he always brought water from this area too. 45% of the mineral water bottled in Japan comes from Yamanashi. A long time ago, Suntory planned to buy an area of land deep in the mountains but they couldn’t extract much water. They ended up buying land in Hakushu (north of this area), and that’s how Hakushu became famous for whisky.

“One of our goals is to appreciate and utilise our local surroundings more.”

7. Where do you find inspiration as you take the brewery forward?

In terms of the brewing skills, I personally consider the brewmasters of the Noto peninsula to be the best in the world, we aim to get where they are. But in terms of business, we are trying to feature our local area as much as possible. Sharing the culture of sake to future generations and taking on new projects while maintaining and respecting tradition is important. Every year we take on new challenges, and one of our goals is to appreciate and utilize our local surroundings more, which we are so lucky to have.

こちらより日本語版のインタビューご覧いただけます。

SIGNOR SAKE FAVOURITE

Dan Bizen Omachi

Made with a heirloom rice variety harvested from the Bizen area in Okayama which has become somewhat of a brand that producers promote. The area boasts some of the oldest history of rice production, some 3,500 years, and is also home to Japan's thousand-year-old and quintessential pottery making techniques. The great tea master Sen no Rikyu also loved the Bizen pottery.

An elegant expression of Omachi rice with subdued notes of Muscat. Smooth, silky umami with a puckering and lingering acidity bite.

Rice type: Omachi (Bizen, Okayama)
Polished to: 55%
Yeast: unknown
Alcohol: 17%
Category: Junmai Ginjo Yamahai
Subcategory: unpasteurised, undiluted, no charcoal fining.