AN INTRODUCTION TO SAKE
RICE 米 :
WHITE PEARL FROM THE FIELD
WATER 水 :
BEAUTIFUL GIFT OF NATURE
The reason why sake is historically related to
Japanese Shinto religion comes from sake’s main
ingredient: rice.
Brewing sake takes enormous amounts of water.
From washing and steaming rice, cleaning all the
equipment as well as in fermentation stage, sake
production normally requires about 50 times the
weight of the rice in water. In addition, water makes
up 80% of all ingredients, since the rice grain itself
does not contain any liquid. It goes without saying
that the quality of the sake is influenced greatly
by the quality of the water.
The Japanese diet has been nourished by wet rice
cultivation, or ‘Inasaku’ (稲作) culture for 2,500 years.
Within the Shinto religion itself, people believe in
the existence of ‘Inadama’ (稲魂) - namely, that rice
paddy has a soul and spirit. Therefore rice and sake
have been the ‘religion’ of Japan throughout history.
Sake
Juzo
Pressing
Bottled
Sake
There are two types of rice for sake making, table
rice and ‘Shuzo-koteki-mai’ (酒造好適). Table rice is
everyday rice that one eats as a meal