Through Sake, a Portal to the Past #7: Meiji Jidai (1868-1912 AD)

THROUGH SAKE, A PORTAL TO THE PAST #7: MEIJI JIDAI (1868-1912 AD) 10/6/26

1 CHIYONOSONO “SACRED POWER” ($44)

Junmai Ginjo, 60% polish, Shinriki rice; Kumamoto pref. Historical reference: rice breeding, tenant farmers, land tax reform Timeline: 1877-1896

Rice was incredibly political in the Meiji period. The 1873 land tax reform made taxes payable in cash-- not rice-- and was based on theoretical yield, not actual. At the same time, forests were privatized and farmers could no longer forage for green fertilizer. Cash-strapped farmers sold their land, instead farming it as tenants and paying a share to landlords. The percentage of tenant farmers soared from 27% in 1840 to 67% in 1912! At the same time, Meiji pushed agricultural initiatives to increase productivity: compulsory farming societies, research stations, rezoning and reassessing land, promoting artificial fertilizers, even developing rice varieties specifically for sake brewing such as Shinriki (1877). Shinriki was the #1 brewing rice variety in 1907 before being lost for almost 50 years. “Sacred Power” is made from Kyushu Shinriki, a local Kumamoto strain developed by the first brewery president; Chiyonosono began as rice dealers specializing in rice breeding (est. 1896).

2 KAWATSURU “OLIVE” ($39)

Junmai Ginjo, 60% polish, olive yeast; Kagawa pref. Historical reference: tax reforms & revenue, sake privatization, the brewery boom Timeline: ~1888-1910

In order to encourage industry growth and with it tax revenues, the Meiji tax reform law of 1873 abolished the strict, hereditary Edo-period sake licensing system and made home-brewing illegal. It took decades to enforce (~40% of all sake at this time was home brew), and they had to introduce new rules requiring filtration so that tax collectors could tell hooch from legal sake, but the government had enormous financial incentive to see it through. By 1899, revenues from alcohol tax eclipsed land tax for the first time, contributing 35.5% of national tax revenue. As these reforms picked up speed in the late 1800’s, money, power and rice were consolidating under a new, wealthy land-owner-merchant class; with money to burn and railways still a decade off from upending local trade, landowners begin opening breweries left and right. Kawatsuru founder Seizo Kawahito originally operated an indigo business in neighboring Tokushima, but moved to the current site of Kawatsuru in search of an “extremely high-quality and beautiful water source” for indigo and to expand into sake brewing. The natural dye industry was about to crash from the rise of imported synthetic dyes, but sake would persist, and Kawatsuru is today managed by its 6th generation president.

3 RYUSEI “RYOFU” ($37)

Junmai Kimoto Nama Genshu, Hiroshima Ref: Ginjo brewing + National New Sake Competition Timeline: ~1895-1910

Before Senzaburo Miura, Hiroshima was not known for quality sake, and ginjo (floral, aromatic) sake did not exist. The soft, nutrient-poor water led to weak fermentations that often spoiled and lacked character. Unsatisfied with this, at the turn of the century a Hiroshima brewer named Senzaburo Miura figured out how to brew extra-polished rice at a cold temperature over a longer period of time: low-and-slow fermentation, the first ginjo brewing! The sake was uncommonly smooth and clean, and an unintended consequence of this new method was that when yeasts are stressed by the nutrient-starved and cold conditions of ginjo brewing, they release aromatic esters: melon, banana, etc. In 1907, Fujii Shuzo’s Ryusei brand won first place in the NRIB’s inaugural national sake competition; another Hiroshima brewery took 2nd. Overnight, Hiroshima was on the map for its brand-new ginjo style.

4 HAKUSHIKA JUNMAI GINJO (NFS)

Junmai Ginjo, 60% polish Hitomebore rice Historical reference: Japan’s world cultural debut; Timeline: ~1867-1900

In 1878, Japanese sake was introduced to the world when Tatsuuma Honke entered Hakushika sake into a competition at the Paris World Expo. Reception was poor, but it’s likely that the long trip in a wooden barrel sullied its quality. Hakushika competed again in 1889 and 1893, this time with other large producers like Ozeki... but again, records indicate that the stalls closed early due to negative feedback. Hakushika museum curator Kazuya Oura describes this as sake’s “bitter debut,” in a time when other Japanese cultural elements in Parisian Expo’s had tremendous impact on French art (the Japonisme movement). Hakushika persisted, shipping sample bottles to SE Asia, Russia, Canada and China, following Japanese immigrants in Japan’s early colonial era. In 1889, Harushika became Japan’s largest sake producer at >3,000 kiloliters (~4 million bottles)/year and most exported. Today, Hakushika remains a large producer and is best known for its Tanuki milkbox.

5 SAKURA MASAMUNE YEAST #1 (NFS) BONUS: $10/45ml

Junmai, 80% polish, Kimoto, Yamadanishiki (Toku-A), Hyogo pref. Historical reference: National Research Institute of Brewing Timeline: 1904

In light of its tax revenue potential, the Meiji government made sake brewing a subject of research. Its primary arm, the National Research Institute of Brewing (NRIB) est. 1904 in Tokyo, developed sokujo method, introduced the national new sake competition, published brewing best practices, and established a system to select high-quality yeast, pure-culture it, and distribute it nationwide. Shortly after sake yeast was first identified and isolated by Japanese researchers, the government saw an opportunity to harness science to reduce the incidence of spoilage and improve tax revenues. Although the NRIB was initially planned to be under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, it was transferred to the Ministry of Finance in 1903 because of its deeper connection to national finance. The research laboratory design was based on a German beer factory, fireproof red brick with labs and lecture halls. In 1904, its researchers sampled yeasts from all over the country, isolating 62 and testing them for sensory quality, strength, and yield. Sakura Masamune’s was determined to be the best and was christened Kyokai Kobo #1: Association Yeast #1. Other strains quickly followed, but when Aramasa yeast was isolated and named #6, #1 fell off the map entirely-- #6 was just that good, that strong. And when #7 came out it was game over, #7 dominated from 1946 to around 2010 when #9 finally surpassed it. In 2023, Sakuramasamune revisited their heritage by brewing with #1 for the first time in 60 years using classic techniques and a rice polishing degree typical of 1904. This sake is exceptionally hard to get, and was hand-carried to the US in February for Fuyu Fest. I’ve been holding on to this last bottle since.

MAP 1) CHIYONOSONO 2) KAWATSURU 3) RYUSEI 4) HAKUSHIKA 5) SAKURA MASAMUNE OSAKA

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1868-1912 MEIJI PERIOD

The Meiji period era begins as the Shogunate is dissolvd and the Imperial house is restored to political authority. Under duress from American military, Japan has ended its ~250 year period of isolation and the new Emperor Meiji (only 16 years old-- his portrait when freshly deified is on left) is fiercely committed to modernization, science, militarism and nationalism, while also being fascinated by Western culture and technology. Faced with Western military strength, Meiji’s tenure tackled one central concern: “Unless Japan modernised and made herself strong militarily and economically, the country would always be at the mercy of western demands”(Koutsoukis). But to do so is expensive, and those funds were ultimately from farmers, laborers, colonies and select industries-- particularly sake.

MUTSUHITO MEIJI HIMSELF While the emperor’s vision clearly shaped 20th century Japan, analysts often comment that he wasn’t an especially brilliant man, an intellectual or a strategist, but he was bold, had a brilliant retinue, and was determined: he stood the course and made dramatic, often very politically unpopular moves in service of greater objectives. Public education, making Japan a colonial superpower, building a nationwide rail network, increasing international trade, changing to the gregorian calendar and 24-hour timekeeping, flattening the social heirarchy of the Edo period, making home brewing illegal, privatizing the foreests-- countless sweeping changes. Meiji was famously stoic, yet a prolific poet (~30,000 waka poems!) and had a weakness for drink: Japanese sake in his younger days, Western wine and champagne as he grew older, experiencing periods of despondency and depression in his life.

“Enrich the country, strengthen the military” 富国強兵 “Civilization and enlightenment” 文明開化

A day that is Listening only to the sound Of the summer rain – How depressing it has been, Even within the palace. - Emperor Meiji

JAPAN IN THE WORLD There are good and bad parts to this, the worst of which has to be the nationalist imperatives of the Meiji era, which would one day culminate in WW2. The erasure of indigenous Ainu and Ryukyuan culture in pursuit of Hokkaido’s vast farmlands and Okinawa’s strategic position was an early signifier of Japan’s move toward cultural homogenization. The first Sino-Japanese war (1894) between China and Japan for control of Korea led to a temporary Korean independence but Japanese control of Taiwan and neighboring areas. Japanese military governors exhibited the usual 19th century colonial MO: half “saviors,” introducing Japanese education, a “more civilized way of life,” but also extractive and abusive-- exporting large quantities of grain, forcing men into hard labor, stealing farmland to give to Japanese immigrants, forbidding local culture. On the other side, international cultural exchange was a priority of Meiji Japan. Students and envoys were sent abroad for all sorts of purposes to bring their findings back to the motherland, from sending winemakers to France, doctors to the US. Japan welcomed researchers and writers, exported mass amounts of fine silks, natural dyes, gilded art and ceramics, participated in cultural expos, ultimately inspiring plays, fashion, vocabulary, travel and research internationally. In London, where a performance of The Mikado was cancelled on the day of Meiji’s funeral, the Daily Telegraph wrote: “In the history of civilisation there is nothing more wonderful than the evolution of this island kingdom.” In Vienna, a newspaper went even further: “Proudly Emperor Mutsuhito might say that he had created a great power out of nothing in one generation.”

SAKE IN THE MEIJI While adding zero farmland, Japan doubled its rice production during the Meiji & Taisho years, thanks to synthetic fertilizers, new technologies, and new rice breeds. There was simply more rice and therefore more sake, as well as a wealthy urban class to enjoy it. Sake had also never been better thanks to improvements in brewing technology. The Meiji period is a turning point, and the start of the modern era in sake.

HISTORY OF SAKE: PART 1 (NOT TO SCALE) • ~500 BC: Rice agriculture introduced from mainland • 200BC: Chinese Brewing techniques • Ritual Kuchikamizake (mouth chewing) • 689: Imperial court establishes brewing division • 711: Kojiki written • 921: Brewing methods first documented • 1186: Sudo Honke est. • 1233: Record of religious institutions brewing sake • 1355: Goshu no Nikki; Shoryaku-ji innovations: bodaimoto, pasteurization, bag filtration, stage mashing, morohaku • Edo period: No war, Ronin • 1600 on: Hyogo dominance; innovations: adding shochu, kimoto method, guild system, mass production, ash fining • 1639: Sakoku Japan isolation policy • 1698: >27,000 breweries in operation • 1830: Miyamizu Identified • 1853: Sakoku ends • 1859: Omachi discovered • 1868: Meiji period • 1872: First export, First bottling • 1873: Tax reform • 1890-1910: Rise of Fushimi (Kyoto) brewing • 1896: Rice Milling • 1898: Ginjo method • 1900: Rail system expansion • 1919: Rice riots Bands: Early history · Nara · Heian · Early medieval · Medieval, war, power struggles · Isolationism, edo period, peace · Meiji period · Modernization, Taisho Bottle markers on the timeline: 4, 1, 2, 3, 5

PORTAL TO THE PAST, EPISODE 7: MEIJI PERIOD • Jomon (<300AD): Ancient. Hunter-gatherer, Indigenous & immigrants • Kofun- Yamato - Asuka periods (300-710 AD): Imperial line. First records • Nara (710-794): Buddhism via Korea (552), Chinese culture • Heian (794-1185): Imperial courts. Court culture • Kamakura (1185-1333): Shogunate. Samurai culture, Zen Buddhism • Warring States (1467-1615): Civil war. First Europeans • Edo (1603-1867): Borders close. Peace, economic stability • Meiji - Taisho (1868-1926): Borders reopen (1854); Colonial era, Russia/China wars • Showa (1926-1989): WW2 (1939-45); Economic Miracle (1955-73) • Heisei - Reiwa (1989- present)

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Printed on the sheet as #7; sequenced here by date.