PRODUCER PROFILE: Mii no Kotobuki

MII NO KOTOBUKI | FUKUOKA | JAPAN

Fukuoka is part of the region of Kyushu, which is Japan’s third largest island and is the most southwesterly of its four main islands. Kyushu was the main conduit for continental influences in Japan because of its close proximity to the Korean Peninsula and it is thought that rice farming was introduced into Japan through the Kyushu province around 500BC from China.

Mii no Kotobuki was established in 1922. The brewery is located along the Koishiwara river with the beautiful scenic back drop of the surrounding rice fields and the Mino mountain range in the distance. The Toji [Master Brewer] at Mii no Kotobuki is Tadatsugu Inoue who took over as Toji in 2002, although he was working and assisting his father in sake-making since 1996. Up to 35 years ago Mii no Kotobuki, like many small breweries at the time, were sub-contractors to larger producers of sake. After a trip to France to visit Bordeaux and Burgundy Inoue-san’s father returned home and decided overnight to stop volume-based production and to focus solely on quality and believed with a lot of hard work they could steer the business to success. He was correct. Today with this high attention to detail and by producing smaller amounts of high quality sake, they have built a dedicated local demand and a strong following amongst sake connoisseurs across Japan.⁠

Mii no Kotobuki utilise ‘Itoshima’ Yamada Nishiki rice as well as Gin no Sato and a local variety called Yumeikon both of which are grown locally. In addition Mii no Kotobuki contract local farmers to cultivate two specific rice types; Kokuryo Miyako & Mii-Shinriki. The latter of which is grown specifically for sake-making at Mii no Kotobuki and is not being used by any other brewery in Japan currently.⁠

PRODUCER PROFILE: Chiyo Shuzo

CHIYO SHUZO | NARA | JAPAN

Nara prefecture is one of only eight prefectures out of the 47 prefectures in Japan that is landlocked and therefore not bordered in some way by ocean or sea.  Nara is surrounded by the four prefectures of Osaka to the West, Kyoto to the North, Wakayama to the South and Mie to the East and over half of its land is covered by forest.  Nara occupies an important position in history as it was the location of Japan’s first state.  The ancient capital, Nara Heijo-kyo was established in 710 A.D. and is now a World Heritage site that recently celebrated the 1300th anniversary of its founding.  In the same way, Nara Prefecture can also be considered the historical heartland of sake where centuries ago “Nara-zake” was a term to signify sake of exceptional quality.

Chiyo Shuzo is a very small brewery founded in 1873 which moved to its present location in the southwest part of the Nara basin near the Shinomine mountain range in 1902.  Their very small production consists of many, many tiny meigara [brands] which are constantly sought after in Japan because of their quality and limited availability.  

The current Toji [Master Brewer] is Tetsuya Sakai. Sakai-san started his career as a winemaker when he worked for Grace Winery for 5 years along with a 3 month winemaking stint in California.  After marrying into the family who owned Chiyo Shuzo, Sakai-san’s career path changed to becoming a sake brewer.  After 9 years working alongside the previous Toji at Chiyo, Sakai-san eventually took over the role as Tōji in 2004 and then in 2007 also became the Kuramoto [Brewery Owner].  Those years a winemaker brought a range of new talents to his sake making repertoire and in 2000 Sakai-san started creating a range of sake to specifically showcase local regionality. Named after the nearby mountain this range is called Shinomine.

We are super excited to offer these brilliant products in the Australian sake market and they offer the drinker a wonderful look at Nara-zake at it’s finest.

PRODUCER PROFILE: White Oak Distillery

WHITE OAK DISTILLERY | AKASHI | JAPAN

The White Oak whisky distillery is located in the city of Akashi in Hyogo Prefecture, west of Kobe, facing the Seto Inland Sea. The distillery was founded by Eigashima Shuzo which has produced Sake and Shochu since 1888. Eigashima Shuzo obtained a license to manufacture whisky in 1919, but it was when the company moved to their current facilities in 1984 that White Oak Distillery was born. 

White Oak’s whisky stills are only in operation for a few month’s of the year and so their production quantity is minuscule. Since 2017 Eigashima have since stopped making Shochu to re-focus their energy (and workers) into making Whisky. They are now working 6 day weeks during April - July to maximise the amount of new make they can create, roughly 110 tonnes of malted barley each year. Currently there are around 1200 casks ageing at White Oak, the oldest stock at around 8 years or younger. Most of the ageing is done in first used Bourbon cask (ex Wild Turkey) and new Sherry casks. However in the warehouse there are many different oak expressions; refill American oak, Old Sherry Casks, recharred Shochu casks, Cognac casks, Tequila Casks and some very special locally coopered casks made from a local oak called Konara - often reserved for ageing Shochu.

Black Market Sake started working with White Oak Distillery in 2011. Since that time we remain the only official importer of White Oak into Australia. Each year we are offered a number of one-off single malt bottlings many which you will find only at blackmarketsake.com however quantities are extremely limited.

PRODUCER PROFILE: Kidoizumi Shuzo

KIDOIZUMI SHUZO | CHIBA | JAPAN

There are few producers of sake in Japan so dedicated to naturally brewed sake as Kidoizumi Shuzo. Consistently one of the most sought-after producers, their products can be found in some of the finest dining and drinking establishments in Japan and around the world.

Kidoizumi Shuzo have been brewing sake since 1879 and the current Kuramoto (Brewery Owner) and Toji (Master Brewer) is Hayato Shoji. Shoji-san is the 5th generation to own and operate the brewery and has continued the tradition of the brewery in modern times. The focus at Kidoizumi is on traditional techniques, natural fermentation and ageing of sake. They were one of the first breweries in Japan to offer Koshu (aged sake) commercially in the 1960’s. They have a collection of aged products going back over the last 50 years with the oldest product being from 1967. 

All of the sake at Kidoizumi are made using the ‘Ko-on Yamahai’ or ‘Hot-Yamahai’ method which involves creating the starter (Yamahai traditional starter of simply placing the ingredients together and allowing the yeast activity to kick-off on its own) but in very warm conditions. They have a long history of using this style of starter beginning in 1956 and are the only brewery in Japan to utilise this technique.

We have been lucky to work with Kidoizumi Shuzo since the beginning of Black Market Sake in 2010 and their products have been on every shipment we’ve ever brought to Australia. 

We love working with such fine expressions of sake, so why not experience them for yourself :-)

PRODUCER PROFILE: Fujiichi Shuzo

Katsuaki Yamamoto (Toji)

There are few more exciting sake brewers in Japan right now than Katsuki Yamamoto. His skill, passion and work ethic show in the fine sake he produces. Yamamoto-san until last year was Toji [Master Brewer] at Fujiichi Shuzo located in a small town called Inazawa just north-west of Nagoya.

Founded in 1870 Fujiichi Shuzo has a long history of sake production, however in the 80’s & 90’s their fortunes changed and the demand for their products diminished as did many other quality-driven brewers during that time. Fast forward to 2012 and Yamamoto-san took over as Toji moving his family from western Japan to take on the role. In the first year of working at Fujiichi Yamamoto-san developed the Kikutaka range. His concept in creating this brand was to marry the rice type with the yeast strain depending on the quality of the rice sourced each year. He believes that if you concentrate on making good Koji and understand the intricacies of the rice grown in that season you can make exceptional sake and exceptional sake he does make.

With this range of products under the Kikutaka label Yamamoto-san concentrates on creating sake with a lot of umami and acidity. This is achieved by meticulous work in the Koji room, where he strives to have every individual grain of rice fully coated in pristine Koji coating before being used in production. This level of care and work ethic has ensured the ‘Kikutaka’ brand as being one of the most sort after in Japan, regularly selling out within weeks of release. 

We have been lucky enough to import these wonderful sake to Australia since 2015, being the first export market for the Kikutaka brand. These are sensational products in very limited supply.

PRODUCER PROFILE: Miyoshino Jozo

Miyoshino Jozo was established in 1912. It is located in the heart of the Kii Peninsula under the impressive Mount Yoshino which is famous throughout Japan not only for it’s famous Buddist temple but also for the thousands of Sakura [Cherry Blossom] trees that cover its slopes. An amazing sight during blooming season. The water for the brewery is sourced from a well named ‘Yuzuruha no Ido’ which is thought to be mentioned in one of the most ancient Japanese manuscripts, Manyoshu. 

The current Toji [Master Brewer] at Miyoshino Jozo is Teruaki Hashimoto, who returned to the Kura after studying Sake Brewing at Tokyo Nodai University, Japan’s foremost academic institution of brewing studies. He started working in 2006 and became Toji in 2009. Hashimoto-san focuses on yeast which he believes is the best representation  of the local environment and the acids emitted by the yeast make the resultant Sake very unique. He uses only naturally occurring yeast in the ‘Yamahai’ and ‘Bodaimoto’ versions of their Sake and thus does not want to ‘dilute’ the character or uniqueness of these Sake by adding cultivated yeast.

We are extremely lucky to be able to work with Miyoshino Jozo and bring these wonderful products to Australia. Simply sensational Sake all the way from Nara, Japan.

PRODUCER PROFILE: Terada Honke

OWNER & TOJI - MASARU TERADA

The Terada Honke brewery is in the town of Kozaki in Chiba prefecture and was founded in 1673 [they have been brewing Sake for over 345 years!].  They make naturally brewed Sake using only organic rice, all the work is done manually with the only outside help being from the yeasts and various micro-organisms that are naturally inhabiting the air within the old walls of the brewery.  The current Toji [Master Brewer] & Kuramoto [Brewery Owner] at Terada Honke is Masaru Terada who took over from his father-in-law [Keisuke Terada]. Masaru-san is the 24th generation to own the brewery and he continues the traditional approach to Sake production.

Production at Terada Honke is centred around the traditional Kimoto method [original yeast starter].  They also brew using the ancient Bodai-moto method which is known as the ‘pre-modern’ method of creating Sake, first originating from a temple in Nara over 400 years ago.

Terada Honke also own 2 hectares of land where they grow their own rice. Here they cultivate pesticide and herbicide-free strains of different rice including Kameno-o, Shinriki and Chiba Nishiki varieties. They are also leading the way in the recovery of old indigenous species of rice of their area. Apart from their own rice fields, they also have 10 local farms growing rice for them; they are all practicing organic farming, but each has its own originality in their natural rice cultivation, such as rice duck farming [a method where ducks are freed in the rice fields, to let them eat the weeds and the bugs] and non-tilled cropping [where rice is cropped without ever ploughing the soil].

Also all of the rice used in production is hand-washed without the use of machines. Terada Honke is also one of only a handful or breweries in Japan making their own Koji-kin (the starch converting mould Aspergillus Oryzae).

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