Women making inroads into Japan’s male-dominated sake brewing industry

(14 Dec 2024)
HZ JAPAN SAKE BREWERY

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

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LENGTH: 6:36

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Okaya, Japan – 30 November 2024

1. Various of Mie Takahashi, master sake brewer or ‘toji’, mixing brew at Koten brewery
2. SOUNDBITE (Japanese), Mie Takahashi, master sake brewer at Koten brewery:
“(When I was 15) I was taken to see the fermentation process, I saw it bubbling. It was fascinating to learn that those bubbles were the works of microorganisms that you can’t even see. At the time, I was still a minor and couldn’t drink, but it smelled amazing. I thought it was really interesting that such a wonderful-smelling sake could be made from rice and water. That’s when I started thinking that I’d like to try making sake myself.”

3. Takahashi checks temperature of her brew
4. Takahashi takes a sample of her brew for a daily analysis
5. SOUNDBITE (Japanese), Mie Takahashi, master sake brewer at Koten brewery:
“It’s often said that if the atmosphere in the brewery is tense, the sake will turn out harsh, but if things are going well in the brewery, the sake will turn out smooth. People say that the feelings of the person making the sake come through in the final product.”

6. Various of Takahashi and team of brewers preparing steamed rice with koji mould for making sake
7. SOUNDBITE (Japanese), Mie Takahashi, master sake brewer at Koten brewery:
“Since we are making it with living organisms, it’s impossible to produce the exactly same (sake, ed) every time. You need to pay attention to the balance and adjust accordingly—it’s an intuition that you can’t rely on machines to do it for you.”

8. Various of Takahashi and team of brewers preparing steamed rice with koji mould for making sake

9. SOUNDBITE (Japanese), Mie Takahashi, master sake brewer at Koten brewery:
“Sake making involves a lot of physical labour. And in the past, brewers slept over at the brewery, so having women would have made things complicated. But now we have more machinery doing the job, and so there are more tasks women are able to do.”

10. Various of rice being steamed
11. Various of brewers transferring steamed rice
12. SOUNDBITE (Japanese), Mie Takahashi, master sake brewer at Koten brewery:
“It’s still mostly a male-dominated industry. But I think now many people focus on whether someone has the passion, regardless of gender.”

13. Various of brewers sprinkling koji
14. Takahashi and another brewer transporting steamed rice
15. SOUNDBITE (Japanese), Mie Takahashi, master sake brewer at Koten brewery:
“What makes me happy the most is seeing people enjoying my sake. So it’s not just the making part — I get my job satisfaction from seeing people happy with my drink.”

16. Takashi carrying out daily analysis of her brew
17. Various of workers mixing brew

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Okaya, Japan – 29 November 2024

18. Skyline of Okaya with mountains in the background

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Okaya, Japan – 30 November 2024

19. Koten’s CEO Isao Takahashi, Mie’s older brother, hanging ‘noren’ fabric outside brewery’s doorway
20. Various of display of brewery’s sake bottles
21. SOUNDBITE (Japanese), Isao Takahashi, Koten’s CEO:
“In Japan, the generation that used to drink that sake is gradually getting older, and people are now starting to drink a variety of different types of alcohol with more diversity. As a result, the number of people drinking sake is steadily decreasing, and the demand is also dropping.”

22. Takahashi checking brew

24. Various of locals in Okaya, drinking sake

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