What started as an innocent hot alcoholic drink on a cold winter night, led to a journey of discovery in flavours, aromas and rice polishing ratios – through sake brewing training in Sado Island.
On a tour to visit a number of sake breweries in Japan’s Niigata Prefecture in the late winter of 2024, which to be honest, after the first 2, memories of each brewery tended to merge with the next.
Sake Brewing at Obata Shuzo: A Hidden Gem on Sado Island
The one that left the strongest impression was Obata Shuzo on Sado Island, a traditional brewery over a hundred years old on this remote island over an hour by high speed jetfoil from the mainland and one and a half times the size of Tokyo. An island so remote that even many Japanese people have not been to.
Obata Shuzo was first founded in 1892 and is now led by its fifth generation owner and one of the very few lady brewery chiefs in Japan – Rumiko Obata.
Discovering the Art of Sake Brewing through an Immersive Program
During this visit, I discovered that they also managed a series of brewery immersion programs for professionals and enthusiasts each Spring. The only challenge was that they were conducted only in Japanese!
After successfully persuading my wife to apply for the highly-subscribed program and convincing Rumiko-san that our Japanese skills would be proficient within a few months with diligent and daily practice on Duolingo, we found ourselves on the early morning jetfoil departing Niigata City for Sado Island again!
Sake Brewing at Gakkogura: A Classroom Turned Brewery
The program is run at Obata’s second brewery, converted from an old primary school which they have named Gakkogura. In our group, we were joined by two other participants from the US and Hong Kong,
The Program would be led by the well experienced and camera shy Toji – brewery master, and his cheerful team.
And we embarked on a well-structured, systematic daily program to turn rice into sake!
Everyday being progressively a little different, sometimes involving gruelling, back-breaking work, but always requiring coordinated team work in a very clean and well cooled environment.
The Sake Brewing Process: Rice, Koji, and Fermentation
Starting with the very basics of weighing, washing, soaking, steaming the rice, but with a precision in quantity and timing never experienced before in my life time of cooking rice at home….
At times the action can be fast-moving but mostly sustained at a breathable pace, although teamwork is always key to ensure that the connected steps are done correctly…
And fermenting it with koji in the scorching and humid koji muro (room) to convert the starch in the rice into sugar, where the temperature of the rice is maintained at around 35 – 37 degrees celsius for two days…
The rice is then spread evenly onto separate trays.
…washing the rice and carefully lifting it to avoid breakage
…… transferring fermented yeast into the main tank … every step carefully monitored in timing, temperatures, texture and quantity.
The final mixed yeast and rice will continue the process in the main tank for another 8 weeks, before being bottled for sale.
What Makes Japanese Sake Brewing Unique
The occasional breaks provided the opportunity to learn about work further up and down stream.
Where it begins, rice farming – much as Sake depends on the type and quality of the rice, quality of the water is important to rice. For example farmers ensure the water has the important minerals by flowing it through oyster shells.
And where it ends – a half day was devoted to training and tasting different types of sake, how the various ingredients and rice polishing ratios would affect the final Sake, to be able to discern between the different types and aromas.
Even though we had to pass a stringent exam for our tasting skills, this had to be the favourite part of the program for every participant!
Other pockets of free time were opportunities for quiet contemplation over views of the Sea of Japan or in a quiet corner revising what was learned.
Sado Island’s Sake Brewing Legacy and Growing Appeal
Being remote, Sado Island does not see many tourists most of the year except during several major events. However the recent UNESCO’s recognitions for its Gold Mines as a World Heritage Site, as well as for Japanese traditional brewing as Intangible Cultural Heritage will bring more interest to the Island, as there are five excellent Sake breweries on Sado.
A week of hard work, laughter and numb hands came to a fruitful graduation ceremony, when everyone returned to our normal lives.
But not without bringing that knowledge of what goes into a sake, savouring every sip with visual memories!
If you’re curious about joining the program yourself, 2025 is already fully booked (yes, it’s that popular), but you can check for 2026 availability or register interest via Obata Shuzo’s Gakkogura page.
