Yamagata days: A certain distinction
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“Culture must belong to society and then only can it become a cultural heritage and art must be seen by many people to increase its value”. Akari Nakano
We visit the award winning Dewazakura Sake Brewery in Tendo City in Yamagata Prefecture with its collection of Korean ceramics, 300 kilometers to the northeast of Tokyo. Our host, from its founding family, is the brewery’s director Akari Nakano.
Sake is made from rice and a form of Sake has been made since the time when rice cultivation was introduced to Japan from China in the Yayoi Period, which ended in 250 AD. The origins of Sake making in Japan stretch back 2000 years or more.
It was during the Muromachi Period (1333–1573) that Sake breweries were established, prior to that time Sake had been made at temples and shrines. Many of the ‘modern’ techniques of Sake making were invented in the second half of the sixteenth century, including polishing the rice and the pressing of the fermentation mass to separate the Sake. In the earlier periods, Sake was drunk to celebrate special occasions and festivals. Today Sake is part of daily life.
Just like wine, there are many kinds of Sake and these can be defined by the variety of rice used, the alcohol content and the rice polishing ratio and more.
Dewazakura Sake Brewery was founded in 1892. Tendo City is surrounded by high mountains and like much of Honshu, summers are hot and winters are cold. Tendo City may receive as much as one metre of snow. These climatic conditions have enabled the region to become a major centre for rice production. Both bountiful and beautiful, Yamagata Prefecture produces a great variety of fruits and vegetables as well as other food items. There are numerous regional specialities which can be enjoyed with a glass of Sake.
Dewazakura Sake Brewery was a pioneer in marketing Ginjo-Shu, a type of Sake that requires great care during the production process and is made from highly polished rice, the rice which is from the region is polished at the brewery, so each stage of the process is carefully monitored to ensure the highest quality. The rice is polished to remove the proteins and minerals contained in the outer layer of brown rice. Once polished, the rice must be handled with great care as it is vulnerable to crushing. The polishing improves the flavour of the Sake.
The brewery uses small fermentation tanks and this allows for precision temperature control and means relatively small batches of Sake are produced during each fermentation round. The whole process takes between 40 to 50 days. Although aged Sake is available it is more common that Sake is consumed within one or two years of production.
The enterprising and cultural nature of Akari Nakano’s family has meant that a portion of the monies earned from this very successful brewing business have been spent in developing a very fine art collection, housed at the Dewazakura Art Museum which is located alongside the brewery in the very beautiful and historic art museum building, a Registered National Tangible Cultural Property. The collection was created by Seijiro Nakano, Akari’s grandfather and was moved to the museum, which was opened 1988. The collection includes a remarkable collection of ceramics from the Silla, Goryeo and Yi Dynasties of ancient Korea and paintings by Shinichi Saito (1922–1994).
Chiaki Kato, former Director of the Yamagata Art Museum and Director of the Dewazakura Art Museum, showed the art collection to us during our visit to the brewery.
"The Korean ceramics in our collection have a human warmth and that those pieces of ceramics carry the heartbeat and human blood running through them, so that the white celadon may look hard on the surface but it can warm you in a very cold winter. Beyond the arts and the skills they show these are for the people and that is the spirit of the Yi Dynasty and that has been the essence that has captured my heart to this day". Seijiro Nakano
Our thanks to Akari Nakano and the Dewazakura Sake Brewery, the Yamagata Prefecture Government and staff and to the journalists from Yamagata TV, Mainichi Newspaper, the Yamagata Shimbun and others and finally to Yamashin Travel Service for getting us all there.
Sake is made from rice and a form of Sake has been made since the time when rice cultivation was introduced to Japan from China in the Yayoi Period, which ended in 250 AD. The origins of Sake making in Japan stretch back 2000 years or more.
It was during the Muromachi Period (1333–1573) that Sake breweries were established, prior to that time Sake had been made at temples and shrines. Many of the ‘modern’ techniques of Sake making were invented in the second half of the sixteenth century, including polishing the rice and the pressing of the fermentation mass to separate the Sake. In the earlier periods, Sake was drunk to celebrate special occasions and festivals. Today Sake is part of daily life.
Just like wine, there are many kinds of Sake and these can be defined by the variety of rice used, the alcohol content and the rice polishing ratio and more.
Dewazakura Sake Brewery was founded in 1892. Tendo City is surrounded by high mountains and like much of Honshu, summers are hot and winters are cold. Tendo City may receive as much as one metre of snow. These climatic conditions have enabled the region to become a major centre for rice production. Both bountiful and beautiful, Yamagata Prefecture produces a great variety of fruits and vegetables as well as other food items. There are numerous regional specialities which can be enjoyed with a glass of Sake.
Dewazakura Sake Brewery was a pioneer in marketing Ginjo-Shu, a type of Sake that requires great care during the production process and is made from highly polished rice, the rice which is from the region is polished at the brewery, so each stage of the process is carefully monitored to ensure the highest quality. The rice is polished to remove the proteins and minerals contained in the outer layer of brown rice. Once polished, the rice must be handled with great care as it is vulnerable to crushing. The polishing improves the flavour of the Sake.
The brewery uses small fermentation tanks and this allows for precision temperature control and means relatively small batches of Sake are produced during each fermentation round. The whole process takes between 40 to 50 days. Although aged Sake is available it is more common that Sake is consumed within one or two years of production.
The enterprising and cultural nature of Akari Nakano’s family has meant that a portion of the monies earned from this very successful brewing business have been spent in developing a very fine art collection, housed at the Dewazakura Art Museum which is located alongside the brewery in the very beautiful and historic art museum building, a Registered National Tangible Cultural Property. The collection was created by Seijiro Nakano, Akari’s grandfather and was moved to the museum, which was opened 1988. The collection includes a remarkable collection of ceramics from the Silla, Goryeo and Yi Dynasties of ancient Korea and paintings by Shinichi Saito (1922–1994).
Chiaki Kato, former Director of the Yamagata Art Museum and Director of the Dewazakura Art Museum, showed the art collection to us during our visit to the brewery.
"The Korean ceramics in our collection have a human warmth and that those pieces of ceramics carry the heartbeat and human blood running through them, so that the white celadon may look hard on the surface but it can warm you in a very cold winter. Beyond the arts and the skills they show these are for the people and that is the spirit of the Yi Dynasty and that has been the essence that has captured my heart to this day". Seijiro Nakano
Our thanks to Akari Nakano and the Dewazakura Sake Brewery, the Yamagata Prefecture Government and staff and to the journalists from Yamagata TV, Mainichi Newspaper, the Yamagata Shimbun and others and finally to Yamashin Travel Service for getting us all there.
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