Chasing flavor

Despite being forced to cease operations temporarily during World War II, the Sakunohana Sake Brewery in Usuda, Saku was revived in its present form in 1955. Hisatomo Takahashi, the current 5th generation owner, had no real intention of taking over the family business. He went to university and studied engineering and found a job in systems engineering in Tokyo, but then returned to his hometown at age 31 when the Sakunohana brewery faced financial difficulties. It was not easy to rebuild, but also no simple matter to close down and wind up the business, so he committed to restoring the brewery. Hisatomo was out of his depth, and faced many difficulties as he handled both making sake and managing the brewery. “I didn't go to an agricultural university, and was a novice when it came to brewing. I had helped out at home during university holidays, so I knew the basic process. But we were only making table sake at the time, so I had no idea how to make really good sake,” he remembers. When trying to revive the brewery, Hisatomo at first found that the local shops with their set range of products wouldn't stock their sake. He visited many other prefectures but was turned away before he could get his foot in the door, told that their sake wasn't good.

Struggling to understand how to make better sake, Hisatomo sought mentoring from the late Shige Baba, former director of the Nagano Prefecture Brewing Experiment Station and renowned as the “father” of Nagano's famed Alps yeast, a ginjo sake yeast developed in 1989. Under Baba’s instruction, Hisatomo started making sake using Alps yeast and his family's Hitogokochi rice. “That’s where my journey of making sake started,” Hisatomo states, and he carried on making sake from Hitogokochi rice and Alps yeast, nothing else.
“If you change the initial conditions, you can't identify the cause of success or failure. So I started by dedicating myself to making good sake from Hitogokochi and Alps yeast.” Alps yeast is temperamental, and he struggled with it at the beginning. But overcoming that difficulty gave him confidence, and now Hisatomo is glad that he started off working with it. Nagano Prefecture has developed new yeasts since then, such as Nagano R, which produces lots of malic acid, and Nagano D which produces plenty of ethyl caproate. Both are widely used by local breweries, including Sakunohana, which added them to create a wider range of flavor and aroma profiles. They leveled up their brewing skills, the quality of their sake meant more retailers were willing to stock it, and it even became popular with the demanding clientele of the greater Tokyo area.

Sakunohana, synonymous with Hitogokochi

Most of the sake rice Sakunohana grow in their own fields is Hitogokochi.
The Nagano Prefecture Agriculture Experiment Station started developing this sake rice variety in 1987, registered it in 1994, and brewers started testing it the following year. It came from a cross with Shinko Sake #444, which is descended from Shirotae Nishiki (Shinko Sake #437) and Koshihikari. Rice ideal for sake brewing has large grains with a large starch core, is low in protein, and turns soft on the inside and firm on the outside when steamed. Hitogokochi checks all of these boxes, and develops the prized starch core more frequently than Miyama Nishiki. It’s also very easy to grow, so most farmers growing sake rice in Nagano Prefecture have opted for Hitogokochi.

Part of the variety's success is due to the former owner of another brewery in Usuda, Tamio Ide of Kitsukura Sake Brewery. It had always been difficult to get hold of seeds for sake rice in the area, but Saku volunteered to test growing Hitogokochi when it was newly developed. Tamio negotiated with the local Japan Agricultural Cooperative to set up a section for sake rice, which in turn meant that Saku secured a supply of sake rice seeds. Hitogokochi can be grown in cold areas and is less liable to be blown over by wind. Its ears develop more slowly than Miyama Nishiki but it is ready for harvest at the same time, making it ideal for cultivating in Nagano and giving the Sakunohana Sake Brewery an opportunity to commit to growing sake rice. Hisatomo admits that at first the brewery grew its own rice simply because it reduced costs, not because they wanted to grow their own raw ingredients. But as they carried on brewing with Hitogokochi and built up experience working with it, the variety became widely associated with the brewery.

The Hitogokochi grown in Sakunohana's rice fields is used to make the Sakunohana Brewery-Grown Rice Junmai Ginjo Muroka Nama Genshu, which is released as freshly-made sake during the brewing season.Bottled straight from the press, it retains a lively effervescence along the fresh and lush aromas typical of unpasteurized sake. Being undiluted also gives it bold and full flavor, with the juicy acidity expected from a Sakunohana sake. It's produced in limited quantities and has many fans eagerly awaiting its release, so it's always in short supply. “Hitogokochi always has a large starch core, so it can't be polished down too much. That means it produces sake with rich flavors and plenty of umami. But recently it seems to be less full and more clean,” comments Hisatomo, who has been working with Hitogokochi ever since he started learning to brew and is therefore sensitive to the changes. His long experience with the variety also helps him to coax it into delivering the profile he's aiming for. “Sake is heavily influenced by the environment – where you drink it, who you drink it with, what you’re eating.

Back to list