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Kyoto brewer creates sake using only rice from overseas
Yuichiro Mase shows bottles of sake brewed exclusively with rice cultured outside Japan on April 28 in Kyoto's Fushimi Ward. (Yoko Hibino)
A leading sake brewer has produced the traditional Japanese beverage using only foreign-harvested rice in time for the Osaka Kansai Expo.
The project of Gekkeikan Sake Co., headquartered in Kyoto's Fushimi Ward, started in 2021 under the slogan 'brewing world-class sake with rice worldwide.'
It was proposed and carried out primarily by younger employees in their 20s and 30s who hoped to produce sake in a sustainable and admirable way.
Attempts to produce sake using only rice cultured outside Japan are extremely rare, according to Gekkeikan's public relations department.
Yuichiro Mase, 33, a sub-leader of the research team who is part of the brewer's international trade division, said he grew up in a home near a sake brewery in the southern part of Osaka Prefecture.
After majoring in marketing at college, Mase joined Gekkeikan because he believed that promoting sake in various nations abroad might inspire young consumers in Japan to re-evaluate sake.
Behind his decision was the increasingly harsh environment surrounding the sake brewing community.
Younger generations of consumers generally drink less than their older counterparts, which has led to decreasing sales of alcoholic products, including sake.
In addition, global warming has reduced rice harvests for sake brewing, shifted ingredient production areas, and fueled a surge in rice prices.
Gekkeikan came up with the idea of using rice reaped outside Japan when it was deliberating how to maintain its sake business.
The company went through a trial-and-error process to create the main 'koji-mai' rice that promotes 'koji' mold proliferation.
Rice varieties from Africa, Asia, North and South America and Italy were used in the experiments.
Unlike Japan-made rice species, the foreign grains made the ingredient fermentation process 'unpredictable.'
After close monitoring, the team realized distinctive flavors from the challenging phase.
'We finally completed the intriguing sake,' Mase recalled. 'Their aromas are completely different from products brewed with domestically harvested rice.'
One of the brews takes advantage of Vietnamese kake-mai and Thai koji-mai. Once chilled, the sake gives off a characteristic pineapple-like fragrance.
Another new rice wine variant, based on kake-mai from India and koji-mai cultivated in Thailand, features an aroma that spreads across the mouth when sipped, evoking a taste reminiscent of freshly baked baguettes or popcorn.
'These bottles are all marked by one-of-a-kind flavors distinguished from those of sake brewed from Japan-made rice,' Mase said. 'I would be delighted if consumers see firsthand that delicious sake can be created even with rice species grown in other countries.'
The foreign rice sake products come in palm-sized 180-milliliter bottles with screw caps.
The special brews are available at official souvenir shop Maruzen Junkudo near the east gate of the Osaka Kansai Expo for 1,320 yen ($9.10).
They have already been sold for 1,100 yen on the brewery's website and at the souvenir store of the Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum in Kyoto's Fushimi Ward.
For inquiries, contact Gekkeikan's customer service center at (
