Greetings to all CSPs and ASPs,
I hope this finds you well. Here in Japan the summer languishes on, hot and oh-so-sticky. It is within this environment that the brewing industry takes one last collective breath of relaxation before the fall hits, with its tastings and preparations for the coming brewing season. There will be much more to deal with this year than in normal years; more than brittle rice due to increasingly hot summers, more than still further decreased consumption, more than a flat recovery.
How the sake of Tohoku bounces back is one more thing that hangs in the balance. Will the capacities of the various kura, the infrastructures and the local economies support a comeback? How will sake’s image fare? These questions should be answered in a scant few months. A few relevant issues are covered in the newsletter below.
Also read about the recently-completed New York City Sake Professional Course, as well as the scheduled Las Vegas SPC and one coming together in Europe next year.
That and the usual mix of industry news round out this month’s Sake Education Council newsletter. May you find it enjoyable and relevant.
Warm regards,
John Gauntner
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 FUTURE COURSES
Sake Professional Course Las Vegas, December 5 - 7, 2011
There will be a second SPC in the US this year at the behest of a significant number of people interested in attending a course in the US sooner rather than later. It is scheduled for December 5, 6 and 7 at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. While the official announcement has yet to go out to the masses, inquiries and/or reservations are being accepted already. And, in fact, based on the aforementioned interest, the seats are perhaps one-third taken. If someone you know or employ is interested in attending, please contact me at sakeguy@gol.com.
Sake Professional Course Europe, 2012
At long last, the first Europe-based Sake Professional Course appears as if it will actually happen in the first half of 2012. Details are being hammered out as you read this, and there will be an announcement as soon as clarity permits.
Sake Professional Course Level II,
Japan, 2012
The Sake Professional Course Level II and the accompanying ASP (Advanced Sake Professional) testing will take place in Japan, February 13 - 17, 2012. More detail will be forthcoming soon, but since I expect the course to be full, please email me as soon as you can if you are interested in attending. This will help me gauge things a bit more effectively.
The cost of the Level II course is expected to be \150,000, and we have a half-year to hope the exchange rate will cooperate. That fee includes instruction, materials and evening meals. Transportation to, from and within Japan, hotel and non-evening meals are not included in the tuition.
Again: if interested please let me know sooner rather than later. I can at that time provide an estimate of the non-tuition costs at that time.
All graduates are reminded that the Facebook Sake Professional Course Alumni page is a great platform to interact and exchange ideas and information.
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INDUSTRY NEWS
Government to check half of all rice for Cesium
Funny; I had no idea how to spell Cesium, much less what it was, before March of this year. Yet now, I can proceed knowing that we all know what it is. For better or for worse.
An article that appeared in English in the Japan Times on August 12 stated that the government has asked 17 prefectures in the eastern half of Japan to test soil for radiation. The area in question covers 54 percent of all domestic rice production. If soil tests exceed a given threshold for cesium, wider tests will be done.
Testing is being done on rice itself as well. Initial testing (before the final harvest, on as-of-yet-unharvested young rice) has indicated that all rice grown has shown no trace elements of cesium. While this is encouraging and likely indicative if the final results, the rice will also be tested later in the fall after harvesting.
Readers will recall that rice is planted between April and June (more realistically speaking, no later than May in eastern Japan, although June is common in western Japan), and as such the planting itself was done after radiation levels everywhere had fallen significantly. Also, Mr. Shigeo Uchida, an agronomist (a who?) at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences has stated that “Generally, cesium does not spread much from soil to grains.”
Also, bear in mind that much (dare I say most?) of the really good sake rice is grown out west, Hyogo, Okayama, Fukuoka, Tokushima… far from the Tohoku region and far from Fukushima. Certainly much great sake rice comes from the northeast as well, but my point is that supplies of good sake rice will not be compromised by the March tragedies.
Chuokai Requests “Special Clause 87” to become permanent
Last month it was reported that the Japan Sake and Shochu Producers’ Association, formerly known as the Japan Sake Brewers Association, known informally as “Chuokai,” requested several things of the Ministry of Finance. One was a reduction of sake taxes of a whopping 50% for the regions affected by the triple disasters of March 11 to allow them to rebuild.
Chuokai also requested that “Clause 87” be made permanent. Readers may likely recall that Clause 87, short for “Sozei Tokubetsu Sochi Houan 87 Jou” (see why I just call it “Clause 87”?) is a clause in the tax code that relieves smaller brewers of about 30 percent of their alcohol tax to the government. The point was to allow them to invest in themselves and modernize, thereby securing their future. But things have been so tight that brewers need that thirty percent just to survive.
The Clause was meant to expire and has been extended several times. Most recently a schedule was established to drop it five percent a year, totally eliminating it several years down the line. Now the industry is formally requesting it be made permanent, and at 30 percent.
Why is this so significant? Because many say that if this clause is eliminated, we would lose half the brewing industry immediately. (More on this gloomy reality below.) But bear in mind it only helps the smaller brewers. The big brewers of the industry get nothing. The big goose egg in breaks. And no, this fact is not lost on them. ‘Nuff said.
More as things develop.
SAKE IN PLASTIC PET BOTTLES?
From September 20, Hakutsuru, the largest brewing in the country, will begin selling sake in plastic PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) bottles. The three items with which they will start are all 1.5 liter bottles, and seem to be futsu-shu from the article. The non-standard bottle size (1.8 liter is usual) was also part of the planning. The PET bottles have a number of wonderful characteristics related to maintaining quality, and weigh one-thirteenth of a glass bottle. Aesthetics notwithstanding.
GEKKEIKAN, the second largest brewer, across the Kansai region in Kyoto, will begin September 6 to sell junmai-shu in boxes (usually reserved for very inexpensive sake). The 900ml and 1.8 liter products are designed to bring good junmai-shu to consumers at a more reasonable price.
KIKUMASAMUNE has as their flagship product a honjozo sold under the “Josen” grade/product name, which is unofficially usually reserved for a brewery’s better-than-average futsu-shu. They have decided to make 100 percent of it in the kimoto method, citing a return to traditional Nada production and style.
SAKE PRODUCTION FOR 22BY DROPPED 4 PERCENT
Readers will surely recall BY means Brewing Year, and runs from July 1 to June 30, thereby encompassing a single brewing season for all breweries. 22 refers to Heisei 22, or 2010. So production of all breweries in the country from July 1, 2010 to June 30 2011 was down four percent from the previous year, to 3,300,000 koku. Readers surely recall one koku equals 180 liters.
61 Percent of All Brewers Make Little or No Money
While I will expound on this in the future, a survey by the Ministry of Taxation of 1600 licensed brewers showed that 980 of them were either in the red or close to that for 2010. More details on this survey next month.
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Sake Professional Course, New York City 2011 Graduates
| The eighth stateside Sake Professional Course took place July 31 to August 2 in New York City. In spite of all that is happening in Japan and the sake world, 59 people took the course, showing that interest in sake has not waned, but on the contrary, continues to grow. All those that took the test subsequently passed to qualify as Certified Sake Professionals. Congratulations to all! The names are listed below as well as on the Sake Education Council website (www.sakeducationcouncil.org).
Jeff Andrews
David Beauroy
Ben Bell
Heather Branch
Michael Carlson
John Cascino
Chase Cook
Alyssa DiPasquale
Giri Dusanapudi
Tim Fahy
Lyn Farmer
Daniel Ford
Eric Freeburg
Chris Gambelli
Matt Gold
Adrienne Griffith
Kenneth Griggs
Justin Hammer
Jen Hancox
Ryan Hart
Kei Hashimoto
Yuka Hinoda
Mary Horn
Tim Hosking
Chris Hughes
Noon Inthasuwan
John Jernigan
Debbie Johnson
Neal Johnson
Elizabeth Justice
Motokazu Kondo
Darryl Lai
Allana Lau
Abraham Lerner
Katrina Matthews
Miriam McLachlan
Aaron Menche
Lori Michaels
Akiyo Murayama
Layne Nguyen
Carlos Perez
Drew Peterson
Eduardio Preciado
Andre Reid
Todd Richman
Pauline Riley
Susan Rowland
Melissa Shea
Christy Shibata
Bob Sprentall
Alana Stone
Teressa Stone
Eric Tetrault
Samantha Weinberg
Joe Williams
Edith Wong
Tom Wood
Birdie Yang
Trevor Zebulon
Interesting to me was that this time perhaps ninety percent of the attendees were either in the industry or planning on “doing something with sake.” This bodes well for the future of sake, methinks. |
In spite of all the gloomy news, ironically, sake has never been better – nor has the sake world ever been more interesting. And of course, sake seems still very popular overseas. There are many reasons for what is happening in Japan in the sake world, and all we can do is promote its greatness outside of Japan and hope the realizations of how wonderful it is, both as a beverage and as a culture, are again realized by consumers at home.
Let us all stay the course, the “sake promotion” course, that is.
And Finally,
If you are no longer involved with sake, God forbid, or for any other reason you prefer to not receive this email, then please let us know. We welcome feedback, ideas and contributions from all of the CSP/ASP community.
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