Yotaro Sasaki
Seven with Signor Sake: Yotaro Sasaki (Tonoya-yo, Iwate)
I’m asking seven questions to my favourite sake makers to hear their story and get their take on the centuries-old craft.
Yotaro is a first-generation doburoku brewer, which is a rarity in Japan simply because it’s excruciatingly difficult to get a brewing licence. The tough regulation has been in place to protect existing breweries, which have experienced shrinking demand since the 1970s when sake sales peaked.
Although it’s legally a different category of drink, doburoku has all the same ingredients as sake. The difference is that it doesn’t get filtered at the end, so it has a thick viscosity. Its history goes back over a thousand years, and it was essentially food and the precursor to sake.
Luckily for Yotaro, the regulation for obtaining a doburoku brewing license was loosened in the early 2000s, and Tono was declared a special economic zone where brewers could apply. He received his license after a thorough investigation by the authorities, and he’s now one of only two brewers in the area that is allowed to brew the drink.
Yotaro brews doburoku exclusively, and he’s physically present at every step—literally from farm to table. He grows his own organic rice, brews with it, and is the chef at the family inn, serving creative Japanese dishes paired with all of his doburoku variations.
1. What’s the secret to your delicious doburoku?
The secret to making tasty doburoku is balance, the most important thing is the quality of the soil for the rice.
It took twelve years with lots of tweaking to get to today’s recipe, to find the right balance of water, koji, and rice. The first batch of doburoku I made was really bad. I was aiming to create a drink with balance and elegance. Now I want to push the limits of the grain even further and be able to taste acidity. I've been looking for a balance of astringency, sourness, umami, and sweetness from the alcohol.
“Now I want to push the limits of the grain even further.”
When I started brewing, I experimented with different rice polishing ratios from 90% to 50%, changing it by 5% each time to get the taste I was looking for. We came to the conclusion that 60% was the tastiest, and I only sold sake made this way until 2 years ago.
Then two years ago, I brewed a batch with rice polished to 98%, the same as table rice. I released it without telling anyone, and nobody noticed. When I announced that I had changed the polishing ratio earlier that year, no one could believe it. Many producers mill rice to get rid of the rice's taste, but I don’t believe it’s necessary. We have no plans on returning to 60% from 98%.
2. The history of Doburoku goes way back. Can you give a brief insight of the history of it?
Doburoku has a very long history, appearing as far back as 702 AD in the Man’yōshū, (the oldest surviving collection of Japanese poems). After the Meiji Restoration, Japanese government policy changed drastically, and the culture of doburoku was cut off. For this reason, the drink was made from the miscellaneous grains leftover in each household, and is regarded as a farmer’s moonshine.
This is not just about Tono, but Tohoku is a region with scarce resources because it has long winters, so much so that the region was called “poor domains.” At the same time, due to the lack of resources, the culture of salting, fermentation, and drying flourished, and part of that was doburoku. In the past, rice was expensive, so people used millet instead of rice to make doburoku.
“Due to the lack of resources, the culture of salting, fermentation, and drying flourished, and part of that was doburoku.”
There is a proverb: “Shiroki Kuroki” (white sake, black sake). Shiroki refers to doburoku, and Kuroki refers to filtered sake. This is because doburoku is white, and sake is filtered with black charcoal. In this way, doburoku was originally a table culture, but sake became the table culture of choice without anyone noticing.
In the old days, people harvested rice and made just three pots of doburoku using their precious rice. It was fermented, stored in the snow while it was still sweet, and left until spring. Right around when the snow had melted and revealed the pots, a festival for the good harvest of the year began, and we drank doburoku. My grandmother, who tasted it at the time, said it was sour and not very tasty.
A long time ago, there also used to be bone liquor, where the bones of a Japanese wolf would be added to the doburoku. For Japanese people, the wolf is the god and the guardian of the mountains, so it was used as a lucky charm and a valuable medicine.
“A long time ago, there also used to be bone liquor, where the bones of a Japanese wolf would be added to the doburoku.”
3. How and why did you get into brewing?
I started brewing, including harvesting rice, seventeen years ago. The guest house itself has been around for 130 years. It was actually the first inn in Tono, so it was named Tono Minshuku (Tono Guesthouse). I’m the fourth generation of this guesthouse, but the first generation of the brewery.
At a sake study session, I learned that the process of multiple parallel fermentation was unique to Japan. When I heard that, I knew that Japanese drinks could compete against alcoholic beverages of the world. Also, until recently, the taste of doburoku was too wild, borderline undrinkable. I think the culture of filtering rice to make sake developed too early and attracted all the attention before refined doburoku could be developed. I was convinced that the quality of doburoku could be improved, and that’s why I could completely devote myself to this craft.
“I knew that Japanese drinks could compete against alcoholic beverages of the world.”
Since I studied sake brewing for three years at the Industrial Technology Centre, I can also brew sake. At that time I asked my teacher about doburoku making, but I was told that they couldn’t teach anything and if I wanted to learn, I should train at a brewery. But local breweries wouldn’t accept a trainee as they didn’t want a future rival as demand for sake had been steadily declining. A local brewery in Iwate was also opposed to the production of doburoku.
One night, Koichi Mura, a well-known fisherman from Tokushima who we sourced from, stayed at our inn. While drinking sake with him, I asked his advice about training at a sake brewery. He introduced me to Kubo Honke in Nara. I trained for ten days with brewmaster Kato, who I greatly respect to this day.
4. Obtaining a brewing license in Japan, whether it’s for seishu (the legal term for sake in Japan) or doburoku, is exceptionally difficult. How did you get yours?
Until 1990, you couldn’t even apply for a license, but the government started accepting applications. It was still really difficult for us to get a license and there’s only one other brewer in Tono who was successful. The whole idea (of issuing licenses) was to bring vitality to depopulated areas. But when they started accepting applicants, it coincided with an economic decline in Japan, and applicants with debt were denied because the government feared that they may not be able to pay their taxes. I think it’s strange and somewhat contradictory. In that respect though, I’m grateful to my father and grandmother who have managed the inn without debt. I applied for a license in 2002 and got it the following year.
5. You’re growing your own rice using local varieties without pesticides and herbicides. What made you go down this path?
I was able to start growing rice naturally without any discomfort because I love wine. I learned about natural wine in my early twenties when I was an office worker. I got fascinated by the French vintner Henri Jayer and an Austrian scholar named Rudolf Steiner. After doing more research, I found that biodynamics was based on the Onmyodo (Japanese Yin and Yang) culture. Right from the start, I was convinced that pesticides and fertilisers weren’t necessary for rice production, but I couldn’t unilaterally deny them without understanding the feelings of farmers. Also, I wanted to find out the difference myself, so I experimented by cultivating one rice paddy with pesticides and one without.
“I was convinced that pesticides and fertilisers weren’t necessary for rice production, but I couldn’t unilaterally deny them without understanding the feelings of farmers.”
After three years, I realised that there was a change in the fermentation activity when using chemical-free rice. Fermentation took longer, which is actually a positive as it means that the yeast has become stronger over time. If the yeast is weak, it cannot withstand ageing in the bottle, and it can adversely affect the aroma and taste. I think this phenomenon is largely due to the improved soil environment. The power of rice grown in chemical-free soil creates a synergistic effect with the resident yeast and lactic acid bacteria that enabled longer fermentation. As soon as I learnt this, I moved forward without pesticides on all paddies.
For many, it may not be possible to have their entire production made with pesticide-free rice, but if they start with just one tank, I think the idea of using pesticide-free rice will gain traction.
6. Your doburoku has received praise around the world and has been served in Michelin-starred restaurants outside of Japan. What are your thoughts on the international market?
I used to sell our doburoku in Spain, Italy, and Hong Kong, but I'm not selling anything overseas at the moment. The reason is cultural. When I first went to Turin and Parma, I visited producers with large production facilities, as well as small family businesses. I was taught their culture there and I felt the genuine pride that the Italian producers have inherited. That’s when I thought that pride was part of culture. Before I visited those cities, I was making salami, ham and cheese in Tono, but I realised that there is no point for me to make them, so I stopped. My great-grandfather was a matagi (hunter), so instead of making salami, I changed my mind to making dried meat preserves.
I’m flattered to have a reputation from famous overseas chefs, but at the end of the day, I want people to come to Japan to drink our doburoku. I received offers to renew our contract for exporting, including a request to increase the volume, but I politely declined all of them.
7. What does the future look like at Tono?
As our new challenge, we plan to bring in four 1,000-litre wooden barrels to brew. Also, I call a restaurant or an inn a cultural business, not an ordinary business, and there are similar cultural businesses everywhere in the world. I’d like to collaborate with people who have the same philosophy and culture as ours to create products, and share them with everyone worldwide.
“My aim is to do whatever it takes to embrace the natural environment.”
Scientifically speaking, brewing is still evolving. But, even in times when there was little scientific understanding in the Edo period, people were able to use their sixth sense to brew successfully. Brewing technology advances with science, but still the natural environment of that time cannot be reproduced. My aim is to do whatever it takes to recreate the natural environment. I think that will also lead to the adoption of a terroir-like approach.
SIGNOR SAKE FAVOURITE
Doburoku Kimoto
Raw and alive. Be careful that the cap doesn’t fly off when you open it. Matured for three to six months depending on each batch, it’s unpasteurised, undiluted, and sees no charcoal fining. It has a thick viscosity that resembles a rice porridge, but don’t let that deter you. This is a surprisingly elegant brew with tingling acidity, a touch of sweetness, and a unique textural mouthfeel that will keep you coming back for more.
At Tono Minshuku (a guest house and microbrewery), the level of production is immensely small, with just 8,000 bottles per year as of 2019. 98% of the rice used for Yotaro’s doburoku is grown and harvested themselves free from pesticides and herbicides. Since 2017, their Iwate-specific variety, Ichigo-tono, is polished to a mere 98%, shaving off just 2% before being fermented—up to 2017 they had polished it to 60%. It’s a hybrid rice of the native species, Kameno-o and Bousou No. 6, from Hokkaido and Yamagata respectively.
Rice type: Ichigo-tono (Iwate)
Polished to: 98%
Yeast: Natural/ambient
Alcohol: 14%
Category: Doburoku (unfiltered)
Subcategory: Natural (mizumoto) starter, no charcoal fining, unpasteurised, undiluted
Available from the following distributors
https://www.imaday.jp/
For more info on Yotaro’s doburoku and a stay at his inn (Tono Minshuku) with a magical gastronomical experience which includes dinner and breakfast, check out http://tonoya-yo.com/en/yotaro.html
