insights from frontier Japan

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.