Japanese Sake : All Japan News,Inc

By Ryuji Takahashi

Ichinomiya Sake Brewery is located at the entrance of the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine (Oda city, Shimane prefecture), registered as a World Heritage Site in 2007. Fastidious about their sake rice, Ichinomiya Sake Brewery uses underground water flowing from Mt. Sanbe to produce their Japanese sake brand “Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine,” the same name as the World Heritage Site. The brewery won the Gold Prize in The Annual Japan Sake Awards in 2020.

Winning the Gold Prize is a wonderful achievement. On the other hand, many brands also won the Gold Prize in past competitions. This report focuses on the Gold Prize won by the sake brand Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine because the sake by this brewery operating for 125 years since its foundation is produced by a young married couple in their twenties. Rika Asano is the wife and Master Sake Brewer. Born as the second of three daughters, Rika graduated high school and earned a degree from the Tokyo University of Agriculture, Department of Fermentation Science and Technology.

Rika went home after graduating from the university to inherit the family business, the sake brewery. She trained in how the Ichinomiya Sake Brewery produces sake under the previous “Toji” (Master Sake Brewer) before assuming the role in 2017. Her spouse Satoki Asano worked as a nurse after graduating from a university. He met and married his wife Rika after meeting her at a local izakaya, then quit his career as a nurse to embark on a new career in sake production. Just under four years into producing sake together, their second entry into a national new sake competition won them the Gold Prize for a definitive reason - Satoki’s passion to win the Gold Prize was immeasurable, says Rika. Satoki researched data and information on past sake entries that won the Gold Prize, thoroughly researched what was lacking in their own past sake entries, and implemented various efforts to reflect what he learned in their sake during the production period.

Master Sake Brewer Rika says she was a bit worried over her husband’s intense motivation. The impression of the couple is they’re humble and take their work seriously, openly sharing information about their brewery. Their passion for sake production is comparable to that of veteran brewers in my opinion. Quality sake is produced from quality water. The brewery’s website shows 80% of Japanese sake consists of water. However, their passion and diligent efforts such as continued learning, researching and analyzing data of competing sake brands considered to be of high quality, thoroughly understanding trends and measures to comply with these trends when submitting a sake entry into a competition are all reflected in their delicious sake flavor.

Although basic, some of these efforts are omitted by many sake breweries in their long-established production process. Perhaps, some sake breweries hitting a wall in their sake production may want to stop in their tracks and review their entire production process from the very beginning. I look forward to future sake produced by this young couple carefully adhere to traditions, study hard, and implement various efforts to produce delicious sake.

東京地酒散歩（石見銀山と夫婦）

島根県で２００７年に世界遺産に登録された石見銀山の玄関口である大田市で酒米に拘り、私も子供の頃に登った三瓶山の麓から湧き出る伏流水を使用し世界遺産と同名の石見銀山という日本酒の製造を行っている一宮酒造という酒蔵が有る。この酒蔵が令和2酒造年度の全国新酒鑑評会で金賞を受賞した。金賞を取ることは素晴らしい事だが、過去の鑑評会も含めると多くの銘柄が金賞受賞をしているにも関わらず、なぜこの石見銀山の金賞受賞を取り上げるかというと、この一宮酒造、創業１２５年くらいなのだが、現在、製造している酒を支えているのは２０代の若い夫婦である。

杜氏は妻の浅野理可（あさのりか）さん。蔵元三姉妹の次女として生まれ、高校を卒業した後、東京農業大学醸造科学科へ進学。卒業後、家業を継ぐ為、酒蔵のある実家へ戻り先代杜氏の元で一宮酒造の酒造りを修行。２０１７年より杜氏に就任した。夫の浅野怜稀（あさのさとき）さんは、大学を卒業後、看護師として働き始めたが、地元の居酒屋で酒好きの縁で理可さんと出会い結婚し、看護師を辞め酒造りの道へと入った。夫婦二人三脚で酒造りを始めて、４年足らず。２度目の出品で全国新酒鑑評会の金賞を取るまでになったのには明確な理由がある。とにかく夫の怜稀さんの金賞受賞に対する情熱が凄かったと理可さんは語る。過去の金賞受賞酒のデータや情報収集、自分の蔵の出品酒には何が足らなかったのかを徹底的に調べ上げ、それを形として酒に反映出来る様に造りの期間中も努力を怠らなかったとのこと。杜氏の理可さんが心配になるほどの気合の入れようだったそうだ。

そんな2人の印象は、謙虚で真面目であり、知りたい酒蔵の情報を惜しみなく教えてくれる。しかも酒造りに対する熱意は他の酒蔵のベテラン蔵人にも負けていないと私は思う。良い酒は良い水から生まれる。日本酒の８０パーセントは水で構成されていると酒蔵のホームページにも書いてあるが、熱意と惜しまぬ勉強、他の蔵の良いとされる酒のデータ収集と分析、酒を何かの賞に出す際は、その傾向と対策をしっかり行うという努力。この蔵の努力も美味い酒には何パーセントか含まれていると思う。基本的な事だが、この基本的な事を昔からの流れで一部スルーする酒蔵は少なくない。壁にぶち当たっている酒蔵は、一度立ち止まって酒蔵を基本から見直すことも大事ではないだろうか。そんな中、伝統を大切にしつつ、必死で勉強と努力で若い夫婦が造りだす酒を私は今後も楽しみにしている。