Hand-crafted sake brewing in Hida Takayama, where sake is not just brewed, but nurtured
Hida Takayama, also known as Gifu’s Little Kyoto, is a town where old buildings from the Edo and Meiji periods line the streets. The atmosphere of an old castle town remains strong.
During the Edo period, Hida Takayama was under the direct control of the shogunate. Conditions were ideal for businesses to flourish, and a culture of artisans and masters flourished in the town.
In the Meiji era, the fifth generation of a merchant family that had operated a pomade oil and candle shop founded a sake brewery in the centre of Hida Takayama. Ever since, the Hirata Sake Brewery has produced sake under its motto of “sake that is nurtured, not just brewed” – sometimes gently and with love, sometimes strictly when needed.
Today, with an emphasis on hand-crafted sake, the Hirata Sake Brewery specialises in brewing “Tokutei-Meishoushu” sake (sake belonging to a designated category e.g. Junmai, Honjozo, Daiginjo), and has set up their equipment to facilitate a system of small batch, small volume brews, allowing them to nurture an exciting and at times exclusive range of sake.
Hida Takayama: a strong sake culture and a natural environment perfect for sake brewing
Surrounded by the majestic Northern Alps and forests with many broad-leaved trees, Hida Takayama is blessed with natural beauty – and, especially important for sake brewing, there is an abundant supply of clear, soft underground water. The Hirata Sake Brewery uses groundwater from the clear Miyagawa River for brewing.
The cold winters in Hida Takayama provide a natural temperature control to the fermentation, aiding the production of aromatic sake.
On long winter nights when it is too cold to go outside, sake parties with friends are part of the Takayama culture, and the custom of giving sake as gifts for celebrations, weddings, funerals, year-end and mid-year gifts, and as souvenirs to express gratitude and appreciation, is also deeply rooted in the town.
If there is one thing the people of the Hida region love more than their local sake, it’s sharing its charm with others. Many are avid sake drinkers and in the tourist district of Hida Takayama alone, there are seven breweries clustered together, one of which is the Hirata Sake Brewery. It is little wonder that the unique customs and culture of sake brewing are intertwined with the local community.
Tsuda Toji’s vision for a new era of sake brewing
The Hirata Sake Brewery’s head brewer, Tsuda Toji, has a major say in determining the direction of the brewery. Originally from Wakayama, Tsuda worked at several breweries in his home prefecture, working his way up from Kurabito (brewery worker) to Toji (head brewer). Having achieved the rank of Toji, his desire explore his own identity as a brewer grew, and he began to search for opportunities at new addresses that would be accommodating of his desire to experiment. It was during this time that an opportunity to brew at the Hirata Sake Brewery presented itself.
At first, he was struck by the differences between sake brewing in Wakayama and Hida Takayama but recognized the local way of making sake as the natural product of the water and climate of the region.
Hida Takayama’s sake has long been recognised for its strong umami and full-bodied style, and under the direction of Tsuda Toji, the Hirata Sake Brewery makes full use of the climate and water of Hida Takayama that have led to this profile, all while taking care to make a sake that, in line with modern tastes, is fresh and pure, characteristics which have become the signature Tsuda Toji’s work at the brewery.
A mellow, dry Junmai Daiginjo – perfect for food pairings
If you’re thinking of gifting a bottle of sake to someone special, and you’re looking for a Junmai Daiginjo, you will find a lot of fruity sake with gorgeous aromas, but the category tends to be dominated by sweeter styles – it is surprisingly difficult to find a dry Junmai Daiginjo.
Tsuda Toji’s concept for Fire and Snow, beautifully realized, was to bring together Hida’s traditional dry sake style with the elegance of the Junmai Daiginjo category to create the perfect sake for pairing with food.
The high acidity lends a clearer sense of expression to the sake’s umami and the well-polished rice gives it a beautiful mouthfeel. Both elegant and savoury, it is an excellent companion to a wide range of dishes. It is a miraculous sake, a fusing of the seemingly incompatible characteristics of richness and purity.
The label design of Fire and Snow
Craft Sake is Mottox’s range of collaborations with sake breweries across Japan – while giving feedback and direction on the flavour and style of the final sake, Mottox’s product development team and in-house designers are responsible for the product’s branding, from concept to label design.
When it came to naming Fire and Snow (in Japanese: Hi-to Yuki-to), inspiration came from the sake’s flavour, characterised by a profile that is both full of flavoursome umami, but also pure and clear.
The design uses fire and snow as motifs to represent umami and purity, two extremes of flavour, and the fusion of the two in this remarkable bottling.
The geometric design, carefully polished for a minimalist aesthetic, mimics the process of carefully and meticulously milling the Hidahomare rice used to brew the sake, known to be extremely difficult to polish, to ratio of 40%.
The motifs, colours and the tactile feel of the paper used for the label are all selected to express the taste of the sake within.
