Perhaps what sake needs for a rebound is a woman¡¯s touch.
Even as sake makes inroads abroad, sales of the iconic alcoholic beverage have suffered a steady decline in its home market over the past 50 years.
Sales of nihonshu, as it¡¯s known in Japanese, currently make up less than 7% of alcohol sales in Japan, compared to a 30% share for beer. That¡¯s a long way down from the dominant position sake held after World War II when its market share peaked at around 80%.
Since the turn of the century, however, the industry has tried to bounce back, with small breweries turning their focus to producing premium sake in an effort to make a name for themselves and gain a competitive edge over mass producers.
But their numbers have dwindled.
Around 30,000 breweries were in operation in the 1800s, but only about 1,200 active breweries remain.
To adapt to a changing industry, breweries have also altered the way they make sake, which has meant, among other things, opening their doors to women.
In the past 30 years, women have gained ground in all areas of sake production, with an ever increasing number even taking on the revered role of ³Ù¨Âá¾± (master brewer).
¡°Becoming a ³Ù¨Âá¾± requires a great deal of knowledge and physical power. Anyone who makes it, man or woman, is a force of nature, and, if you add the myriad issues faced by women in Japanese society, then that makes female brewers even more remarkable,¡± says Brian Ashcraft, author of ¡°The Japanese Sake Bible.¡±
Offering a variety of innovative approaches to production, female brewers are strengthening the industry and bringing exciting new batches to the table.
Indeed, if the industry is to regain its lost foothold in the market, women may end up being an important part of the solution.
Rise of the female brewer
The emergence of female master brewers in Japan is a relatively new phenomenon.
¡°It isn¡¯t until the 1980s that we really start to see the rise of female brewers,¡± Ashcraft says.
While official figures are lacking, the Japan Sake Brewing Toji Union believes that 16 of its 694 members are women, with around 50 of Japan¡¯s breweries having either a female owner or master brewer.
Two decades ago, Miho Imada became the first female master brewer of Imada Shuzo Honten brewery, Hiroshima Prefecture, which has been producing sake since the late 1800s. Imada is regarded as one of the most accomplished ³Ù¨Âá¾± in all of Hiroshima and her sake is widely respected.
¡°We¡¯ve shown that having women in breweries is no...
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