Unconventional Sake Starts Behind the Scenes
The people who make Kubota have been at it for decades. What they've developed goes beyond technique; it's become a feel for the craft that comes from years of brewing, observing, and following their curiosity wherever it leads.
Master Brewers Take Tradition Even Further
Motoyoshi Yamaga began working at Asahi-Shuzo in 1985 as a seasonal part-time worker. He became a certified Echigo Toji, the traditional designation for a master brewer from Niigata, and has led brewing at the Asahi facility since 2012. He also farms rice on the side, personally supplying one of the brewery's key ingredients. Motoyoshi’s seed-to-bottle involvement is rare, but it is a natural extension of his belief that "sake making is a natural part of life." He doesn't treat the work as exceptional. He treats it as essential. "I want to make the best possible sake," he says. "The brewery is a place for my self-expression and the realization of my goals."
Ryosaku Ohashi has been a master brewer at Kubota's larger Shorai facility since 2016. His gift is calibration. After years of practice, he reads the fermentation process in a way that's more intuitive than analytical, less about measuring and more about simply knowing. "After a while, the sake becomes the way you expect it to be," he says. "That's a reflection of experience." He views sake as a tool, something that supports connection and reflection at the end of a day. His advice for anyone unsure where to start? Pick a bottle, pair it with food, find what suits you, and follow your taste.
Unwritten Rules Are Also Worth Rewriting
For most of sake's history, the brewing floor was considered off-limits to women. The reasons ranged from time-honored rituals to cultural superstitions. But regardless of the reason, the end result was that tradition held its ground — and held back progress — much longer than it should have. Thankfully, that’s changing.
Over the last decade, women have started to make their name in the industry as brewers, researchers, and leaders. Kubota is leading that change.
Eri Ichikawa works at Kubota's Sake Research Center, researching, developing, and testing new sake varieties and methods. But her curiosity doesn't stop at the brewery door. She tests sake pairings with dinner at home, following ideas and inspiration wherever they lead. Good research, she believes, comes from broad interests and staying open to unexpected connections because the craft she works with is alive, literally. Koji, the mold at the heart of sake fermentation, is a living ingredient, and one small adjustment can change everything. "There's still a lot about sake that we don't know," she says. "We have a lot to learn." That kind of honesty leaves room for imagination. And for someone this deep in the process, it's as rare as it is refreshing.
The rules of sake have always been written by the people who understand it best. At Kubota, that’s still the case. And the rewrite continues.
