insights from frontier Japan

Gin distillery operator "Shakotan Spirit" in Shakotan, Central Hokkaido loaded 12 bottles of its craft gin onto the underwater observation boat "New Shakotan" and conducted a shipboard aging verification experiment for approximately half of a year to test whether or not the swaying of the ship changed the flavor of the alcohol. The alcohol met with the positive feedback that it has, "matured into a mellow flavor," and Shakotan Spirit plans to enlist cooperation from ship operator Shakotan Tourism Promotion Public Corporation and industrial economy organizations in the town to perform a double-pronged test of shipboard aging along with "ocean floor aging", in which alcohol is lowered into the ocean waters of Shakotan.

Kobayashi Shuzo Co., Ltd, a sake brewery in the town of Kuriyama in central Hokkaido, began its online sales ‘Autumn Sake Festival’ on September 10. Two types of sets containing three 720 ml bottles, are available: one ‘dining’ set suitable for drinking with meals and another ‘night drink’ set suitable for post-meal drinking with snacks. Labeling with regard to the difference in the polishing ratio of the sake rice can also be enjoyed. The sales will end when stocks run out.

Since the Coronavirus pandemic took hold last spring, sake companies in Hokkaido have continued to face adversity. In a bid to expand their sales channels, many are looking overseas. The volume of exports in the past five years (including sales at duty-free shops in Hokkaido) has been in the range of 100 to 200 thousand liters. This accounts for just 5% or so of the total shipment of alcohol and, therefore, depending on the Coronavirus being brought under control, there can be said to be sufficient room for growth.

Wine and the like that cannot be made elsewhere; initiatives in pursuit of thorough quality are beginning in regions throughout Hokkaido.

The town of Shakotan, located on a peninsula that protrudes west from central Hokkaido, is known for having one of Hokkaido’s leading beaches and for its specialty product of sea urchin. ‘Craft gin’ that utilizes the region’s abundant botanical resources is produced at a small distillery in the town.

Brewing of new, high-quality sake is getting into full swing at the Kikkogura branch of the Tanaka Sake Brewery in the city of Otaru. On February 20, cotton bags were filled with the unrefined sake to filter out the turbidity of the resulting drips in a process known as ‘Shizukudori’.

Sapporo bar owner Ikkei Honma started an enterprise to age Hokkaido-made Western alcohol and sake along the ocean floor. After amassing financing through crowdfunding, he will submerge alcoholic beverages in the Tsugaru Strait starting in January of next year, age them there for about a year, and then market them as a new Hokkaido flavour.