The only apprentice of the famous sake “Jyushidai” brews sake that he dedicates his life to

Good morning. Today’s article is about sake Jyushiyo.

According to GOETHE on September 6, Sumikawa Sake Brewery has been brewing sake in Hagi, Yamaguchi for 100 years. Takafumi Sumikawa, who brews the beautiful sake “Toyo Bijin,” named by the founder in memory of his late wife, was trained by Tatsugoro Takagi, a superstar in the sake world, and has dedicated his life to sake brewing in order to pass on his philosophy to the next generation. The film follows the life of a man who overcame flooding and other difficulties to pursue his “life-destroying sake brewing. Photo] The brewing of the beautiful sake “Toyo Bijin

Encounter with Tatsugoro Takagi, the man who determined the course of his life
The rice paddies here get good sunlight. The rice paddies here get good sunlight. During the daytime, a cool breeze blows through the forest, while the difference in temperature between day and night gives the rice a moderate sense of tension, creating an environment in which extremely delicious rice can grow. The rice grown in this rich natural environment and the clean water are the core of the very popular brand “Toyo Bijin” brewed by Yoshifumi Sumikawa. When I took over the brewery, we were in financial difficulties and could not buy good rice, so our sales were near the bottom among breweries in Yamaguchi Prefecture. The sake industry was still reeling from the black history of the war, and the 1970s, when Sumikawa was born, was a time when people were rapidly turning away from sake. In the 1980s, the first local sake boom took place, and there was a trend to focus attention on some local breweries, but they could not take advantage of this trend without capital. In those days, the head of the brewery was the proprietor, and the division of labor was the norm, with the toji (master brewer) coming to the brewery when it was time to make sake. For a very small regional brewery like ours, sales were only declining. In the early 1990s, while Sumikawa was studying at Tokyo University of Agriculture, a young superstar appeared on the scene who gave a ray of hope to the tiny local sake breweries. He is Tatsugoro Takagi, the 15th generation of Takagi Shuzo, the brewer of Yamagata’s “Jyushiyo. *Mae, Akitsuna. Tatsugoro Takagi succeeded as the 15th generation Tatsugoro Takagi in March 2023. After being entrusted with the brewery, Tatsugoro became the chief brewer himself, and through repeated trial and error, brewed a sake that was distinct from the light, dry sake that was popular at the time. He refined the type of rice used, the degree of polishing, and the brewing process. The refined, elegant, mellow umakuchi flavor attracted a great deal of attention. My father, through Hasegawa Sake Brewery, asked me to enter the Takagi Brewery as a training site for off-campus study at a university. He provided me with the best environment to learn the philosophy of monozukuri (the art of making things). I felt compelled to respond to my father’s wishes, but as soon as I met Tatsugoro, I was captivated by his aura of personality, his words and behavior, which were the result of deep insight and thought, and I was determined to devote my life to sake brewing. I was determined to devote my life to sake making. In December of my junior year of college, I spent a little less than a month living and working with Tatsugoro, experiencing all aspects of sake brewing, from washing rice, making koji, preparing sake, and making sake mother, to bottling. He said, “Of course, I learned the technical aspects of sake brewing, but it was the more fundamental aspects, such as the attitude toward sake brewing, that were etched in my mind. That training period was the most intense time in my life. What I learned from Mr. Tatsugoro was that “if you are going to make things, you should be a front-line worker and live your life solely focused on sake making. He learned from Mr. Tatsugoro that “if you are going to make something, you must be a front-line worker and live your life solely focused on making sake. This means to continue to be onsite and create “works of art” that pursue the taste he envisions. If he is satisfied with his work, it will be conveyed to those who drink it. Tatsugoro always said, “Make sake that people want to drink.

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