Toshio Taketsuru

Seven with Signor Sake: Toshio Taketsuru (Taketsuru Shuzo, Hiroshima)

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

Toshio Takesturu once thought that it was a loss to be born in a family with the Takesturu name. Although having such an old name was a source of envy for some of his classmates in Takehara, he chafed under the pressure of family responsibility. His father wanted him to follow in his footsteps—first studying with the renowned brewing faculty at Osaka University, then taking over as the next generation owner of the sake brewery.

He did, in fact, go to Osaka University, but he studied engineering instead of brewing. His choice seemed validated by the bad taste of the cheap sake he drank with his college buddies. Microbiology fascinated him, though, and his passion brought him to study at the National Research Institute of Brewing (NRIB) in Hiroshima.

However, he could no longer avoid the family business when his father became a politician and he was called upon, as the eldest son, to take the reins of the nearly 300-year-old family business. He discovered the charm and potential of this ancient brewing art and soon embraced his role as the 18th-generation owner.

1. Your family brewery dates back to 1733. What are the origins of the name and the history of sake brewing in Hiroshima?

Our original family name was Kishimoto. Our family emblem represents a nail puller (squares in a circle), and it’s common in Wakayama. Therefore, there’s the assumption that our ancestors came from Wakayama 400 years ago.

There is an expression “shou chiku bai” (pine, bamboo and plum) in Japanese, and each of these words all symbolise good fortune. Cranes (tsuru) also stand for good fortune in Japan. Once upon a time, a crane built a nest in the bamboo (take) bush behind our house. It was clearly an auspicious sign, so the name was changed from Kishimoto to Taketsuru (literally meaning “bamboo-crane”). But I don’t know if that happened in Takehara city or back in Wakayama.

The centre of sake brewing in Hiroshima used to be Takehara, but now it’s an area called Saijo. This is where Kamotsuru and Kamoizumi are brewed. There must have been only four decent sake producing areas in the Edo period (1603 - 1868): Nara, Kyoto, Itami, and Nada. I think the sake in the countryside, including Hiroshima, wasn’t any good. In the Meiji era, when logistics began to change, rural people began to realise that their sake was unpleasant, and rural sake breweries felt a sense of crisis.

Takehara city was the first area to succeed in brewing quality sake, but its failure was to not attract the railroad. As a result, Saijo, which attracted the railway, became the place for sake.

“Takehara city was the first area to succeed in brewing quality sake, but its failure was to not attract the railroad.”

2. Was your brewery affected at all by the second World War?

Japan's economy grew rapidly after losing the war, and the same was true for sake breweries. However, after my great-grandfather went missing after the atomic bomb, we couldn't keep up with the growth of other breweries. Women are disadvantaged in society even today, but 70 years ago they were not exposed to the business world at all. After the death of my great-grandfather, my great-grandmother looked after the company. She went through a lot of hardship. I think it's great that a woman took over the business at that time and didn't go bankrupt.

“The old style that has remained in our brewery is suitable for traditional sake brewing.”

I do wonder, if our brewery was able to grow rapidly during the post-war economic growth like other breweries, would things be as challenging as they are now. But at the same time, if it had grown rapidly and we had mechanised the brewing, some things couldn’t have been done. The old style that has remained in our brewery is suitable for traditional sake brewing.

3. What has been the most challenging part of your journey?

Our company was on the verge of collapse and I was in debt for a year of sales. I had no business admin experience and no experience in the business world. I was the company president but also a rookie. Amateur as I may have been, I tried my best to calculate sales to pay off debt, with the goal of paying it back within ten years. I eliminated any unnecessary costs, but in the end it took 13 years to pay everything back.

“We buy rice from agricultural cooperatives, and the one in Hiroshima is really influential.”

4. What’s your approach to sourcing rice?

We buy rice from agricultural cooperatives, and the one in Hiroshima is really influential. You can buy rice directly from farmers, but if you do (even a small part), the agricultural cooperative will pressure you so you won’t be able to buy rice through them anymore. Akishika Shuzo in Osaka grow rice themselves because the agricultural cooperatives in Osaka are not functioning as well.

I'm not happy with the pressure from the agricultural cooperatives, but in Hiroshima they work hard and well. We may contract with a specific farmer, but when purchasing, we go through the agricultural cooperative. The rice of the contracted farmer will not be shipped to other companies.

Recently, there are breweries that make their own rice like Akishika and Izumibashi in Kanagawa, but we don't feel it’s necessary to grow our own rice. Also, since we don’t have the know-how, it’s difficult to start growing it ourselves. Unlike grapes for wine, which are difficult to transport, rice can be easily ordered from other areas. If you can’t source the rice you want from across the country, you may want to make it yourself, but we don’t have any issues with it so far.

5. There’s a lot of controversy about whether we should even be adopting wine terms for sake. Can ‘terroir’—an expression of time and place—exist in the sake world like it does with wine? 

I think it will be necessary in the future, but it’s best not to use the word terroir because it’s a French term. During the Edo period, prime sake brewing regions were Itami and Nada in Kansai. This was due to the system created by Toyotomi Hideyoshi (a samurai who unified Japan in the late 1500s) to bring surplus rice from all over Japan to Osaka. After that, the Tokugawa Shogunate took over this system. Sake could be brewed only with surplus rice, so I think this is the reason why Itami and Nada developed as sake brewing areas. Therefore, it’s not in the tradition of sake that it takes on a particular taste due to the use of local rice like wine terroir. For example, no one can explain why sake made from rice grown in Hiroshima tastes like it does. I think we should aim for that, but it doesn't work as long as we model after wine.

“It’s not in the tradition of sake that it takes on a particular taste due to the use of local rice like wine terroir.”

I think regionality is important, but it’s more to do with regional food culture. Takehara city faces the Seto Inland Sea, so it resembles Tokyo and the fish are delicious. I was surprised that the fish were so expensive in Osaka, where I lived on my own when I was a college student. Fish were easily available and cheap in Takehara city, so I used to eat fish often. My taste is based on that kind of food culture, and because of that, I make sake that I think tastes good. I think that is regionality for sake.

6. Hiroshima was once regarded as unsuitable for brewing because of its water. Can you tell us a little about the water in your area?

Hiroshima has soft water. Hyogo prefecture uses a common well, which was the source of relatively hard water called Miyamizu. During the Edo period, we also used a common well, which was hard water. It’s not soft or hard water that influences the taste of our sake, but the large amount of chloride ion CL- (chlorine) is a major factor. The enzymes made by the koji need to dissolve in water, and chloride promotes the dissolving of koji in water. So if there’s a lot of chloride in the water, the sake is likely to be rich in taste.

You can't know what kind of water will come out before you dig a well. Our well was blessed with no harmful substances such as iron, manganese, copper, mercury, or arsenic. The pH was also neutral 7. This is ideal water. For example, if you make sake with a hot spring water, it may be a hot topic, but no one does it. If you actually brewed sake with acidic hot spring water, the enzymes would be destroyed. On the contrary, alkaline water dissolves rice too easily, so neutral water is the ideal water for making sake.

7. What’s the secret to cracking the overseas market?

We only sell in Australia and Malaysia. Now I'm sowing the seeds so that the overseas market will grow someday. I feel that the Malaysian market has potential. The overseas market is not exactly a “business opportunity”, but rather, sake has no future unless it’s sold overseas. Fifty years from now, Japan's population will be less than 100 million. That’s 20% less than the current situation, and it’s predicted that the consumption of alcohol will decrease to 30-40% due to the declining birthrate and ageing population. Although 1,600 companies have a license to brew sake, only about 1,300 companies actually operate. There might be just 700 to 800 companies remaining 50 years from now. If the portion that cannot be sold in Japan can be sold overseas, the number of breweries may not decline.

“I don't think sake will sell just by appealing to people about how delicious it is. I think it would be better to introduce it as a part of Japanese culture.”

I don't think sake will sell just by appealing to people about how delicious it is. I think it would be better to introduce it as a part of Japanese culture. When I went to Australia and Malaysia, I was asked to talk about Kabuki because I’m Japanese, but that was a problem for me (laughs). I can teach people about the culture of sake though. 

What’s tasty to one person isn’t to another person. Wine is a good example. There are wines for 1000 yen and wines for one million yen, right? One million yen wines are not one million times more delicious than the 1000 yen wine. The history of the cultivation area, how it’s made, and the tradition are all reflected in the product, which are all factors that contribute to it being one million yen. So I'm against drinking sake in a wine glass. I want people to think about Japan when they drink sake.

SIGNOR SAKE FAVOURITE SAKE

Taketsuru Ozasaya Daiwa Omachi 2018

The Ozasaya name is a nod to the company's previous name when they used to sell salt before they got into brewing in 1733. Most of the Ozasaya series are unfiltered, undiluted, and unpasteurised, and really do get better with age. Treat this range of sake like a fine whiskey, have a small pour every now and then, leave it, come back to it and relish it over a year or ten.

Don’t let the 19% ABV turn you off. It's so well made that you don't feel the alcohol. Made with the heirloom Omachi rice variety from the Daiwa area in Hiroshima (the majority of Omachi is from Okayama where it was first identified) which Taketsuru contract out. The main mash sees no temperature control since 2012. After pressing, it's aged at the brewery (surprisingly at around 17 degrees Celsius) for a year before its release. 

Off-dry with notes of malt and spice, complex, rich yet smooth, full of umami with a touch of sweetness from the rice balanced with acidity and a lingering finish. This is one to also warm up and play around with different temperatures. Try 60 degrees Celsius and enjoy as it drops to room temperature.

Pair with bold dishes like grilled meats and chicken skewers (yakitori), Roman oxtail stew (Coda alla vaccinara) and Taiwanese braised pork rice. 

Rice type: Omachi (Daiwa, Hiroshima)
Polished to: 50%
Yeast: N/A
Alcohol: 19%
Category: Junmai
Subcategory: unpasteurised, undiluted, no charcoal fining
Style: Full bodied & Complex

Available from the following distributors;
https://www.imaday.jp/c/nihonsyu/2814

Official Taketsuru website in English
https://www.taketsuru-shuzou.co.jp/?lang=en