(Note, this is a re-post of a post that was lost in some kind of digital mishap.)
At the very beginning of July, torrential rains ravaged western Japan, in particular (but not limited to) Hiroshima Prefecture and Okayama Prefecture. Over 120 people lost their lives. The damage was close to unimaginable, and pictures and video footage of entire towns under water were commonly seen via all media. Our thoughts and prayers are with the deceased, injured, and the displaced. Recovery and cleanup will take a long, long time.
The sake industry was of course affected. While a handful of breweries in the western half of Japan were affected to varying degrees, several notable examples were widely covered.
Asahi Shuzo, the brewers of well-known Dassai, suffered a lot of damage in several ways. One of the two brewery buildings flooded, the other lost all power. Not only could no work be done, but the loss of electricity meant that all temperature control was lost, and at each stage of the process. Fortunately, though, there were no injuries to any personnel.
Initial reports mentioned a loss of a massive amount of sake that was in production, as well as huge costs and a long, long time to get back to normal. However, the company began production again 21 days later!
Also, some of the sake that was considered to be lost was actually perfectly good and tasty sake, but “just not Dassai.” So the clever company teamed up with a manga-ka (somehow “cartoonist” does not do that word true justice) to create a new, one time brand called Shima Kousaku, which Dassai will sell, and a portion of the proceeds will be used to benefit those affected by the rains. The name refers to a famous 70’s comic book (again, that translation does no real justice done to the concept of “manga”) character that excelled at making the most of difficult situations and turning them around.
Another well publicized brewery that suffered great damage was Ishii Shuzo in Takehara, Hiroshima, which brews the sake Ryusei and the sake Houju. They are fairly small, but in a well-known sake area with a well-established, wonderful and traditional style.
The kura flooded with about a meter of water, which stood in the kura for days before receding. During that time, huge empty brewing tanks floated haphazardly around the kura, and all the machinery took on water damage. When the floodwater did recede, it left slime and a layer of mud on everything – and this obviously will be extremely challenging to clean well. In a craft where sanitation is like 99 percent of everything, that will be a significant endeavor.
Several other breweries in Hiroshima were damaged, including those making Hakuko, Kansai Ichi, and Hanahato. Other breweries in other area prefectures were also affected.
In Okayama, an area in which entire towns were under deep water, Marumoto Shuzo, brewers of Chikurin sake, did not suffer much damage to the kura building itself. However, they have about 30 rice fields near the brewery in which they grow their own rice. Many of these are for organic rice, the rules and regulations of which are very, very strict. Nothing that is not approved and recorded can be brought into the rice paddy. Any person physically entering the paddy must sign in, and equipment and even boots worn must not be used for any non-organic field work.
But with the flooding, because outside water came into the paddies, the rice grown in them can no longer qualify for certified organic. Not only that, but a field has to be free of all outside influences for a full three years before the rice grown there can be certified as organic. So he has to wait three years before making organic sake with organic rice – at least from those fields. (He has some access to others.)
Interestingly enough, the rice plants themselves survived the flood to some degree.
Naturally, sake breweries were far, far from being the only enterprises affected. The damage was widespread and really hard to comprehend, even when seeing it. Let us hope for as quickly a recovery as possible for everyone affected, and support the region in any and all ways.
Should you want to provide monetary support, a bit of poking around on the internet will reveal ways to do that.