Jizake- Japan's Regional Premium Sake

An American Expat with First-hand Industrial Experience-  Daniel J. Stone, founder of the Japanese-themed blog, The Divine Wind Vault, spent five years living and working in Japan coupled by working as a business developer for a Japanese food and beverage distributor in Los Angeles, California. To highlight his nationwide accounts, Daniel was the account manager for Costco Wholesale, Whole Foods Market and the United States Marine Corps Community Services. Through observing and embracing Japanese culture and cuisine, he educates industry buyers and customers on the subject.

He currently instructs English-language learners from all over the world at Clemson University and helps business professionals sell their self-serving message in the areas on English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) and Cross-Culture Communications (CCC). For a quote, contact Daniel at stoneone19@yahoo.com

Here's a snipet regarding Daniel's experience in Japanese food and beverage retail sales:

Sake, Japan's national alcoholic drink is a rice wine. The term, Jizake meaning regional sake is premium sake brewed by independent micro-breweries often located in the rural countryside of Japan. The best sakes come from Niigata and Nada/Fushimi (present day Kyoto). Niigata is the rice growing capital of Japan and has the largest numbers of seasoned Toji, aka sake brew-masters. The Kyoto area is synonymous with the US's Napa and Sonoma area and historically was the cultural center of fine Japanese cuisine.

Presently, there are about 2000 sake breweries in Japan. About a dozen of these breweries are large, commercial breweries and another dozen are medium size breweries. The remaining 1,700 are small scale breweries that produce sake in small batches. These small scale breweries ignore the advances of modern technology and create their signature brew by hand using traditional methods and skills gained through years of experience. At last count, there are over 50,000 brands of sake.

The ingredients used in making sake are rice, water and koji. The rice used in making sake is different than the rice served at a meal. This sake rice is used exclusively for brewing sake. The rice kernels are much larger than ordinary rice, has a softer texture and a central core that has a large concentration of starch. Semi-hard water is best in making sake. This type of water is abundant throughout Japan due to the several underground spring waters filled by the plentiful rain. The annual average rainfall in Japan is over 60 inches. Koji, a microbe, is crucial in breaking down starch molecules in sugars.

Sake is made by polishing the rice. The more that is polished away, the more pure the flavor becomes. This type of polishing rids amino acids, fats and proteins and gets the starch concentration core. After it is polished, the rice is washed gently in cold water. The rice must soak before the next step. After it is soaked, the rice is steamed. During this steaming process, the key ingredient of koji is produced. Then sake yeast and water is added to the steamed rice. The flavor of the sake depends of the yeast. This is usually kept secret by the sake brew-masters. Then the sake is mashed. This causes the starch to break down the sugars and convents the sugars into alcohol. Next the sake is filtered, then pasteurized, then stored, then bottled.

Traditionally, sake making season starts in the fall and goes throughout the winter. Presently, sake is made throughout the year and stored in climate controlled storage areas by the large, commercial breweries. In the spring, the sake that was made the previous fall is bottled and shipped. In ancient times, the sake brew-masters were rice farmers who kept busy in the winter down months by making sake.

The alcohol content of sake ranges from 14-17% which is a bit higher than wine. Sake has the highest alcohol content among all naturally brewed alcoholic beverages in the world. This is made possible by the following:

1. Sake yeast which resists the breakdown in higher alcohol levels than with wines,
2. The rice polishing which produces a highly pure starch, which later becomes sugar, then alcohol,
3. The fermentation process that is unique to making sake.
Sake is graded by its polishing rate off the original rice kernel. The rice polish ratio is an intricate art.

Grade Rice Polish Ratio Characteristics
1. Dai Ginjyo (Super Premium) 50%+ Pure and refined, clean fragrance
2. Ginjyo (Premium) 60% smooth, floral and/or floral aroma
3. Tokubetsu Junmai (Special naturally pure brew) 60% Varies
4. Junmai (Natural Pure Brew) 70% Pronounced character

The percentages indicate what the actual rice kernel was before and what the size of it is now. If it was polished down to 50% then the inner core is steamed which has the highest concentration of starch. The higher content of starch the more pure it is and this reduces the chance of hangovers. If you receive a hangover from drinking sake, it is because you consumed a type of sake that was not polished many times.

There are four basic flavors of sake. They are fragrant, light, rich and aged.

Fragrant- Abundant in floral fragrance, low in acid. Fruity, young and refreshing. Goes well with lightly seasoned foods such as fresh seafood, smoked salmon, steamed vegetables and tofu.
Light- clean aroma, moderate levels of acid, brisk flavor with a dry aftertaste. Goes well with fresh seafood, sushi, broiled fish, chicken, tempura, light pasta and sandwiches.
Rich- robust flavor. Goes well with rich and creamy dishes such as teriyaki seasoned foods, steaks and caviar.
Aged- Mellow aroma with a unique, spice-nutty taste that is similar to sherry. Goes well with BBQ, deep fried dishes, meat sauces and spicy dishes.

Misconceptions of Sake

A misconception is that all sake is sweet. Another is that sake should be served hot. The truth is that sake can have a fruity flavor by it dry, snappy character. Also, sake can be served hot and this is common in the winter or done to rejuvenate sake that has been opened and on the verge of going bad. Premium sake is best served cold at room temperature. The heating process would compromise the flavor.

Other misconceptions are that sake has a shelf life similar to wine. In general, an unopened bottle of sake is good up to 18 months when kept in a cool dark place. Once it is opened, it should be chilled and kept for a couple of weeks. This hold true for all sakes except a kind of sake called Ko Shu aged Sake. Also, regional sake is so expensive in the US due to transportation and import duty fees. Of course, these things are factored in to the price but the core of the price is the rice used in making the sake. Rice sake is grown in limited regions of Japan and is difficult to cultivate.

The Divine Wind Vault http://divinewindvault.blogspot.com (C)2006-11

"Barking up the wrong tree"

Back in May of last year, I was working at one of my schools and the sole English teacher was telling me of a recent discovery to her. It was Barking up the wrong tree. (Ken tou chigai.) It was around that time that I started to make a note of how I wanted to maintain, or at least try, some of the healthy lifestyle changes that I did for three years in Japan.

Car Pooling- As the billboard read when I was living in Los Angeles, "Life sucks without a car." No, it just sucks in general in Los Angeles. Anyway, being about to do without a car as we did in Japan was not going to be feasible back in the US. For the first six months back in the US, my wife and I car pooled with my parents helping out when we were in a pinch. Eventually, we will get a second car and I'd like to get a hybrid since there is no end in sight with every week being a record breaking price for gas.

No Cable TV- Prior to moving to Japan, we would enjoy TV courtesy of the rabbit ears which means I had half a dozen channels in English and about as many in Spanish and that was it. In Japan, we had to break down and get Yahoo TV which allowed us to get some American programming through the Internet viewed on our TV. Now, with work and life outside the home, cable TV is a luxury that I can finally afford but don't need and only have the basic 24 channels. I was looking at NHK's package for the US and it looked interesting.

Biking- As the old saying goes, "Give the customer a choice." That was my take on owning and maintaining a bike while living in Japan. If I needed to get to work and the weather was nice, I could bike. This was helpful when I was running late. Since we were not going to get a car, I was able to get a bike for around $80 which I gave to my sister-in-law when we moved back to the US. Unfortunately, biking in the US is more trouble than it is worth since there are few bike paths for commuters to travel for practical uses such as getting to the store or work. Not too long ago, a jogger was killed by a passing motorist. This is an alternative to beating the gas prices continuously spiking every week.

Workout 3-5 times a week-   Back in the summer of 2005, I had six weeks of not eating starchy school lunches and could take full control of my diet. I spent most of that time living like a hermit eating like a health nut and finally figured out a workout routine that was consistent with my goal of losing weight. I jogged for 25 minutes at a slow pace while listing to a old MP3 player and then finished up by using the stationary bike for 20 minutes. In between I gradually worked up to 100 sit-ups. I did this for basically 5-6 days a week while maintaining a strict diet for the first time in my life. The results were successful but it is not realistic to be so strict on a diet and workout routine as I was in 2005. The reason why is in 2005, I was on hiatus from work and if I did not have the goal of loosing weight, I would have been bored to tears. Now, I'm working a full week unlike anything that went on while I was in Japan. Upon my return from Japan and living out of a suitcase for several weeks while we stayed at different people's houses, the workout and diet went out the window but is slowing making its way back. I currently workout 3-4 times a week. My only concern now is that I've became accustomed to the abbreviated workouts and am not getting enough intensity.

Japanese language training- For the better part of three years, I studied Japanese in a structured environment at a local Japanese university. It was a wonderful experience on many levels. Although I wore my wedding ring and had been around the Japanese culture enough to know when somebody was kissing up or just wanting to kiss, it felt good to have women 10 years younger than me find me a stud muffin. The studying aspect will resume on some sort of routine and hopefully in a structured environment.

The Divine Wind Vault http://divinewindvault.blogspot.com (C)2006-10

Watermelon Card

While watching the Olympics in China, I was reminded of how mobile Asians are. In the US, I think of the elderly woman who still brings her checkbook to the grocery store and spending five minutes writing the check out, filling out the ledger, then balancing their account while the world screeches to a halt.

In various countries in Asia, they have debit cards which are in no relation to their financial institution and are used at train stations and other stores near train stations.

The Watermelon suica card is used as a train pass and in the later part of my stay in Japan was also used for purchases at the nearby convenience stores. Since 2004, a user of suica loads money onto their card via a machine at any train station and when entering the stalls at the station the lead to the platform, they swipe their card and then do the same when they arrive at their final destination. If I'm on the way to the station or just leaving the station and I want to buy a drink or snack at one of the vending machines or stores in the station, I can use the card for that as well.

The Divine Wind Vault http://divinewindvault.blogspot.com (C)2006-10

Reminiscing about Teaching Days gone by...

My first semester as a teacher, September 2004, Kawaguchi City, Saitama, Japan



My first Christmas as a teacher in Japan, December 2004, Kawaguchi City, Saitama, Japan




Some Japanese young people playing a popular Smap song, "Sekai Ni Hitotsu Dake No Hana".

The Divine Wind Vault http://divinewindvault.blogspot.com (C)2006-10

Applying American values to Japanese realities

What’s wrong with this picture?


This morning, on my hour commute to work, requiring the modes of walking, train and bus; I noticed that the crowd and narrow street to the train station, the trains bound for Tokyo and Yokohama and the bus were considerably light. With Christmas and New Year’s around the corner, many Japanese start “dogging the watch” (Navy term for operating on a skeletal crew on an off-peak time). The other day on this commute, I noticed a lady on a bike talking on her cell phone with two children riding (one in the front and one in the back). What’s wrong with this picture?

At lunch today, I had a “Twister Set" at KFC at the local shopping mall. ”(Not the game from Milton Bradley but it would have been interesting to play a game with some of the KFC employees before lunch!) It had been a while since I’ve been there and noticed that they have installed a new smoking area enclosed like a smoking room on a train station platform. At first I thought this was great but then noticed that it was bigger than the non-smoking section. In the smoking room there were 28 seats for smoking patrons and only 18 seats for non-smoking patrons? What’s wrong with this picture?

One of my Japanese Teacher of English colleague has been interested in joining me on my next visit to Costco Wholesale in Chiba-ken but due to his hectic coaching schedule year-round, it has been hard for him to find a Sunday to join me. On December 25th he is coaching his school in a six-team basketball tournament. What’s wrong with this picture?

From time to time, I’ll listen to the radio in Japan and due to my dwelling being on the 9th floor of a “danchi” (Housing Urban Development building), I can only get one AM channel in English which is the American military’s Far East Network, aka "The Eagle" 810 which is broadcasted from the US Air Force`s Yokota Base located in West Tokyo. In the warmer seasons, I can pick up bilingual FM channels from Tokyo by opening my sliding door to the balcony. Two years ago, I had deep appreciation for the FEN broadcasts since I could get a taste of back home with commentary from Paul Harvey, Rush Limbaugh among music ranging from the latest top 40 from home, Country/Western and could call in off base on a Tuesday and make a request for Van Halen during their "Two for Tuesday" request hour. Lucky armed forces personnel such as "Help Me! Ronda" would spend their days working as DJ’s and in between the music and broadcasts, would provide information such as the rate exchange at the base, movie schedule on base and local news and interviews with military personnel serving in the Far East. However, over the course of the past 2+ years, I’ve noticed myself getting frustrated with this broadcast and have found myself listening to the radio about once a week instead of everyday before work.

Why is it that this broadcast provides the weather in Fahrenheit? I can not think of any nation outside of North America that recognizes the tempature like this. As a Navy Vet who listened to this broadcast back in the day in the shuttle going from the ship on the back side Yokosuka Navy Base to the main gate and having fond memories of listening to FEN, I must admit that it is pretty arrogant for “guest” in a foreign land to blatantly disregard the local custom of recognizing the tempature in Celsius. Granted, I sometimes will say to myself, “Man is it cold! It must be about 40.” Of course, this is 30 plus years of being an American that keeps me grounded which is to be expected. I wouldn’t dare tell someone that the tempature is 40 because they’d think I was joking since to a non-American, 40 is over 100 degrees (F).

Another thing that irritates me about my fellow countrymen on the various military bases throughout Japan (of course not referring to the junior enlisted folks that are carrying the flag that I once held) is this recent commercial about how to get an Armed Forces Network decoder box if you reside off base and want to watch the same programs provided on base. Here’s an idea…You are living in Japan! I’ll admit that Japanese TV requires a strong handle on the Japanese language and a deep appreciation for Japanese humor and the way that they go about doing things, but there are such services such as Yahoo TV, NHK BS, SkyPerfect and other satellite and broadband services to name a few. Living off base in subsidized housing funded by the Japanese government (at least the housing on base is) in more than spacious quarters, how do you think your Japanese hosts feel about you and your sorry excuses to get with the program? It is like the foreigners that I dealt with in the People’s Republic of California who refuse to learn English, expect me to do such things like celebrate New Year's in February and recognize some other nation's Independence day in May and the nonsense at any Department of Motor Vehicles and the 12 different languages on any given form.

Are you like me and see something wrong with this picture?

Miltary spouses, brass and government leaches, you are living in Japan. Get right or get gone!

I wonder if the men and women who have no choice but to live on the ship can get some decent programming in their berthing? We were lucky to have a TV that worked.

Today's picture was taken in Shinjuku's 1-chome. With a name like "Hotel Nuts" I imagine they were busy on Christmas Eve. What's wrong with this picture?

The Divine Wind Vault http://divinewindvault.blogspot.com (C)2006-10

An Ode to Christmas in Japan

Christmas of Japan, how have you been?

With all of your traditional Christmas lights and KFC for din din.

I pass Colonel Sanders who is wearing a red velvet stocking cap with trim in white

As I eat British Christmas cake, heading out for a hot date tonight

With reservations at a love hotel on the other side of town made nearly a year ago

I ride the train to meet my new sweetie, a girl I first met six month ago

Romance is in the air as we lay on the heart-shaped bed

Sounds of George Michaels' Wham! song, "Last Christmas" are dancing in my head

As I fall asleep watching naughty movies paid for by the hour

This hotel with no chimney for Santa makes my mouth sour

A moment later, I wake up recalling my recent dreams

Of returning from candlelight church service sitting with family next to the big, bright tree,

The Christmas of Japan is a farce, or so it seems

As I awake, it is now December 25th, Christmas is over in Japan

We wake up early to check out of our room with my sweetie's gift in my hand

The streets are busy with salarymen all dressed in the same dark clothes

It is business as usual and store owners are already taking down their mistletoe

Instead of opening presents around the Christmas tree

I part ways at the train station with my sweetie, who says she will call me at three
I report to work, on the day that the baby laid in the manger

I can't focus on work, my boss senses the danger

The only thing significant about Christmas Day in this oriental and strange place

Is how everybody talks about placing bets on horses at the annual race

Christmas of Japan, how you made me feel so blue

Now, I'm back home where I don't have to deal with you!

The Divine Wind Vault http://divinewindvault.blogspot.com (C)2006-10

Wintertime Blues in Japan

Tuesday, December 05, 2006


Category: Travel and Places

When you are a foreigner in Japan, their ain`t no cure for the Wintertime blues. This year, I elected to stay in Japan due to the expensive plane tickets back to the US or anywhere from Japan for that matter since this would be the time that the Japanese travel due to the last three days of December and the first three days in January being days when everything is closed and on holiday schedule.

First, as a foreigner in Japan at this time of the year, you are away from family. Christmas and Thanksgiving are those times when you go home if given the chance. In Japan, this imported holiday has been big in decorations but even bigger with the lovers and the love hotels in Japan are booked a year in advance for this day. Clearly, this is in conflict with this Christian holiday were the birth of Jesus is celebrated. Non-Japanese will go out for singing and dancing and whatnot for New Years which is in conflict with the Japanese who go to the local shrines for worship and to the nearby family's home and have a Japanese version of the holiday spread consisting of osechi ryouri (a variety of dishes prepared for New Year's such as fish cakes, seafood, cooked vegetables, cooked beans, candied chestnuts etc.). Very Japanese and takes some getting use to.

Then, there is the chill factor which requires sitting on a cold commode (unless you have a fancy toilet that warms the lid), and no central heating in the average Japanese dwelling. I remember our first winter in Japan, we didn't have a bed and sleeping on a futon on top of a tatami mat and relying on a wall danbou (which acts like a air conditioner in the summer). Ours would blow out hot air but since it is at the top of the wall, it would never get down to us on the floor.

Lastly, besides visiting with family, going to church, eating a big ham, exchanging gifts and calling up family and friends to wish them a happy holiday season, I really miss watching American Football games. At this time of the year, there are football games nearly on a daily basis ranging from a post-season bowl game in Hawaii to the annual bowl game in Atlanta and all places in between. One of my fondest memory was watching the New Year's Day 1981 Sugar Bowl on TV where a freshman by the name of Hershel Walker led the Univ. of Georgia Bulldogs past the Notre Dame Fighting Irish for the National Championship. I've been a UGA football fan since which hasn't been easy growing up in South Carolina.

In Japan, there is the annual American Football game known as the Rice Bowl which is played in the Tokyo Dome. The top Japanese university team takes on the top semi-pro company team. It's just not the same.


The Divine Wind Vault http://divinewindvault.blogspot.com (C)2006-10

CNN International- The Weather forcast in Japan

The music composed for this commercial is really tranquial and takes me back to my days in Japan. Fond memories of this when I was living in Japan and watching TV courtesy of Yahoo broadband from 2006-07. I noticed that there were no Japanese cities listed on this version. Enjoy!





The Divine Wind Vault
http://divinewindvault.blogspot.com
(C)2006-09