Jump to main content
『酒飯論』 / 国立国会図書館

Japanese Sake (Nihonshu)

Distinctively Japanese brewed alcoholic beverages made using Aspergillus culture and starch saccharification

“Sake” is a general term in Japan for alcoholic beverages, including refined sake, unrefined doburoku or dakushu, and distilled shochu, although ordinarily it refers to refined sake. Its alcohol content is 15% to 20%. It is brewed by mixing steamed rice with a rice malt (koji) and water to induce parallel alcoholic fermentation by means of starch saccharification and yeast-induced alcoholic fermentation. The use of enzymes from Aspergillus culture with starch saccharification in making Japanese sake makes sake unique as a brewed alcoholic beverage. The raw ingredients that go into sake are not mixed together all at once. Rather, a starter mash is first made by mixing the three main ingredients, the amounts of which are increased in three stages called the first addition, the second addition, and the final addition. The main mash, with a 20% alcohol content, develops after one month into unrefined doburoku. Refined sake is then made by filtration and pasteurization. Traditionally, sake makers made sake between December and March, but now sake is made all year round.

In the distant past, to create an unrefined form of sake using the amylase occurring in saliva, the sake maker would chew rice in the mouth to begin the process of fermentation through saccharification. The Japanese verb kamosu (to brew [sake]) to make by chewing. Eventually, rice malt inoculated with Aspergillus culture (koji) came into use, and in the Muromachi period (1392–1507) polished rice came to be used instead of husked but unpolished rice for both the rice malt and the steamed rice used for brewing. In the Edo period (1603–1867), refined sake came to be made with virtually the same method used today. Famous breweries were located in such places as Ikeda and Itami in Settsu Province, but following the discovery of hard water well suited to sake brewing in Nishinomiya during the Tenpo era (1830–1843), the center of production shifted to the Nada region near Nishinomiya. With the improvement in quality, Nada surpassed Itami in volume of production as well in 1815. The sake produced in Nada and the rest of the Kamigata region were shipped from Osaka to Edo by sea on cargo vessels.

The Spanish missionary Francis Xavier wrote in a report to the Society of Jesus in 1552, “Alcohol here is made from rice, and no other alcohol is found. It is scarce in quantity and high in price”—the first record regarding Japanese sake made by a Westerner.

Related People, Things and Events

Books

Books about Refined Sake

Books about Unrefined Sake (Home‐brewed Sake)

Books about Japanese Distilled Spirit

Books about "Tozi (The traditional assosiation of Sake craftmen)"

Related Works

清酒のポスターなど

酒呑

Videos

地図で探す

External Links

  • 兵庫県神戸市東灘区にある酒造、菊正宗の記念館。創業以来の酒造りに関する歴史史料が展示されている(日本酒専門WEBメディア「SAKETIMES」より)。

  • 長野県大町市にある博物館。古来の酒造りに関する歴史資料や全国の酒瓶が展示されている(酒の博物館HPより)。

  • 東京都港区にある日本酒造組合中央会が運営する博物館。日本各地の酒器や酒造に関する道具類などが展示されており、各地の酒の試飲もできる(日本酒造組合中央会HPより)。

  • 広島県東広島市にある独立行政法人 酒類総合研究所のHPより。研究所の前身は大蔵省醸造試験場。日本酒についてのさまざまな情報を発信している。

  • 「日本酒学」の確立のために、平成30年(2018)に新潟県新潟市西区の新潟大学内に設立された。HPによると、日本酒学に関わる「教育、研究、情報発信、国際交流」を柱に活動を展開している。

  • 酒税の保全及び酒類業の取引の安定を図ることを目的とする組合として、昭和28年(1953)12月に設立。HPは「日本酒」と「本格焼酎と泡盛」から構成されている。

  • 1975年に設立。 HPによると、「地酒」という言葉は、この組合が企画した「全国地酒頒布会」に始まる。

  • 明治39年(1906)に醸造協会として設立された。平成23年(2011)より「公益財団法人日本醸造協会」となる。「きょうかい酵母」の頒布で有名。

  • 独立行政法人 酒類総合研究所情報誌より。

Other Materials in Japan Search

References

  1. 秋山裕一 著,岩波書店
  2. 「日本酒」「清酒」「酒」の項
  3. 「清酒」「酒」の項
  4. 「清酒→酒」の項
  5. 「日本酒」「清酒」「酒」の項
  6. 対外関係史総合年表編集委員会 編,吉川弘文館
  7. 歴史学研究会 編,岩波書店