Japan brewers hope UNESCO listing will make sake as popular as sushi

Bangkok Post Group

Japan's sake brewers are hoping for a boost when the process of making the traditional rice wine this week gets official recognition by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage. - REUTERS

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00:00This Tokyo brewery dates back to the days of the samurai. It's making sake, Japan's

00:06traditional rice wine. But the industry has been battling decades of declining sales at

00:12home, as locals switch to cocktails and other alternatives. Now brewers are hoping for a

00:19boost this week, when UNESCO is set to officially recognise the process of making the drink

00:24as intangible cultural heritage.

00:28Koichi Maesako is head brewer at Ishikawa Brewery. He says the sake in this tank will

00:34be ready in a week or so. It's made with ancient techniques that are the basis for the UNESCO

00:39listing. That includes the use of special culinary mould known as koji, and the use

00:46of a unique three-step fermentation process. Maesako says there's precedent to hope the

00:52UNESCO move could help sales.

00:54Since our food was listed by UNESCO, Japanese cuisine has spread all over the world. I hope

01:00that the same thing will happen with sake. Our brewery is seeing an increase in exports

01:05and we hope the UNESCO listing would accelerate this trend and lead to a bigger growth in

01:09overseas sales.

01:10But waning domestic demand isn't the only challenge for Japan's sake brewers. Unseasonably

01:16warm weather has also seen a poor rice harvest, hitting the quality of the grain and driving

01:21prices higher. That has made it challenging to produce an affordable product. Now UNESCO

01:28is due to formally endorse sake's listing at a meeting in Paraguay this week. With exports

01:34already rising, brewers hope that we'll see the drink follow sushi in conquering global

01:39markets.

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