Growing Koshihikari rice, and students

Nozawa is a quaint little historical area perched on a plateau inside Saku City, which gained commercially importance in the Edo Period when the surrounding land was turned into rice fields. It’s also known for its Pinkoro Jizo, a variant of the small stone figures that grant protection to travelers and children. The Pinkoro Jizo symbolizes health and longevity, the name derived from the onomatopoeic phrases “pin-pin” which suggests a long and healthy life and “korori”, which symbolizes a peaceful death. And who knows, maybe it's responsible for data showing that the residents of Saku City enjoy good health right up until the end of life... or that could be down to the health benefits of their traditional diet.

The area is also blessed with plentiful subterranean water from the Chikuma River, making it ideal for farming the Saku carp that provide high quality protein for local consumption. But its biggest claim to fame is its Koshihikari rice, particularly the brand Kogen no Shizuku (Dewdrops from the Plateau). Rice must be grown under exacting conditions to qualify for the brand name: using only specified fertilizer, cutting use of certain agrochemicals by half and reducing the amount of chemical fertilizer used by 90%. One of the fields where Shigeyuki Koizumi grows Kogen no Shizuku rice happens to be right in front of Nozawa Minami High School. He watched the energetic students pass by as he worked in the field, cheerfully greeting everyone regardless of gender or age, and basked in the warm-hearted nature of his neighbors. But 2023 brought the sad news that the school was going to be closed down and be merged with nearby Nozawa Kita High School, and Koizumi realized that the days where he and the students could watch the Kogen no Shizuku rice grow were numbered. So he resolved to use the time before the school closed to create something that would make them remember the rice fields they used to pass by.

Making sake from table rice

Koizumi knew his rice was delicious, and thought that it could be transformed into equally delicious sake by one of the local breweries. He asked Masamichi Yoda, fifth-generation head of the nearby Fuyou Sake Brewery, but couldn't persuade him – not least because making sake from table rice is no easy task. Sake is normally made from rice varieties developed specifically for sake production. The outer layers of the grains contain protein and fat, which are detrimental in sake brewing when present in large quantities. That's why the rice used to make sake is always polished to some extent. And that meant the grains had to be large and resistant to cracking, to make them suitable for polishing.

Most importantly, sake-specific rice varieties have a core of starch in their center called a shinpaku (white heart). It has a particular structure, with loosely-packed starch and lots of space between molecules, which makes it easy for koji to penetrate and break down to release sugar for alcoholic fermentation. These differences from sake rice varieties, especially the lack of a shinpaku, make it hard to brew sake from table rice. As well as that, Koshihikari tends to be sticky which makes it even less suitable for growing koji. But one person was willing to take on the challenge – Takanori, the sixth-generation head of Fuyou Sake Brewery. It was a struggle in the beginning, he admits, with the sake behaving unpredictably in the early stages of brewing. But he kept going, never giving up until through trial and error he found a way to produce sake with a consistent level of quality.

Full of joy! The lively label for Yoyoi no Yoi

The sake Fuyou Sake Brewery made with the Kogen no Shizuku rice grown in the field in front of the school was named Yoyoi no Yoi, an abbreviation of the Japanese for “drunk on the goodness of this world”, and was sold in bottles with quirky, eye-catching labels. Despite its fruity aroma, the first impression of the sake inside is bold and intense with firm mouthfeel. It has the smooth, viscous character particular to undiluted sake, and lingering sweetness that finishes in a touch of alcoholic bitterness and relatively high acidity. The sake is solid, but never feels heavy thanks to its exquisite balance.

Koizumi confesses that he was blown away when his rice was first made into sake. The emotion was particularly strong as the Kogen no Shizuku sake he wished for was finally released after three long years of negotiation. Takenori Yoda notes that the Koshihikari rice itself is superb, and his role is simply to transform it into sake. Now he relies on Koizumi to deliver high-quality rice to him every year. So not only did Fuyou Sake Brewery make Koizumi's dream of a Kogen no Shizuku sake come true, they will continue to craft it. The brewery intends to carry on making sake with table rice, not only out of respect for the strong ties between local agriculture and sake production, but also simply because they want to continue producing delicious sake.

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