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Anything is possible in the big city, even crafting sake, a traditional alcoholic drink made from rice and more commonly associated with stately breweries nestled among green hills and sourcing water from clear mountain streams. However, Tokyo Port Brewery — operating out of a snug four-story building in Tokyo's Minato City — is a model for urban microbrewing, and its flagship product Edo Kaijo highlights sake's dynamic history in the metropolis.
Restoration of a sake brewery
Tendrils of rice-scented steam once again rise in Tokyo's Minato City from Tokyo Port Brewery (TPB), after the sake manufacturer spent roughly a century shuttered. Inside the brewery, the sweet smell of fermenting rice fills the air.
Following two years of preparation, TPB opened in 2011 with a permit to produce doburoku, completely unfiltered sake with a lower alcohol content, before gaining its refined sake production license in 2016. While a few other companies currently produce doburoku in central Tokyo, only TPB produces the more well-known refined sake.
TPB is operated by Wakamatsu Co., Ltd., which under its former name Wakamatsuya produced sake in Tokyo from 1812 to 1909, until a new alcohol tax meant curtains for the brewery, although Wakamatsuya continued other business ventures.
During its day, the original brewery saw Tokyo transform from the shogunate's capital, then called Edo, to the early iterations of today's modern metropolis. What is more, Wakamatsuya hosted and provided sake to some of the great movers and shakers of the 1868 Meiji Restoration. It is said that Wakamatsuya's inner parlor was used for secret meetings by some of the leading historical figures who ultimately brought down the shogunate, ended Japan's near isolation from the world, and kicked off the country's Westernization and rapid industrialization. TPB's signature sake is named "Edo Kaijo" (The Fall of Edo) in reference to Wakamatsuya's supporting role in opening the shogun's castle and, with it, a fateful new era.
"To be successful, it's important not only for our sake to be delicious but also to have a story," says Shunichi Saito, Wakamatsu Co.'s president.
Fermentation in the center of Tokyo
With an elegant wooden sign and hanging sugidama cedar ball indicating that this is a sake brewery, TPB works its magic inside an unassuming four-story building of just 171 square meters.
The sake production process begins in the morning, with the tōji (master brewer) Yoshimi Terasawa and his small team steaming rice for 70 minutes in a large metal vat on the building's fourth-floor balcony. Morning is best for steaming, as the air is cleanest then, Terasawa says. Inside, a slim futon mattress and blankets are discreetly stacked on top of a cabinet, for times when sake production requires staff to stay overnight.
Once steamed, the piping hot rice is dropped down to the third floor via a vertical shoot cut into the floor. The efficiency of gravity helps compensate for the microbrewery's limited space and manpower. As rice lands in a waiting bucket with a mighty thud, the staff do not flinch but quickly spread it across stacked crates lined with fabric to cool, assisted by a few well-positioned fans.
The brewing takes place one level lower, in a room kept cool at around 10ºC; climate control enables sake production to occur all year round. The milky soon-to-be-sake bubbles away in large metal vats. Modern equipment and electricity aside, sake production has not changed much since the Edo Period (1603-1868), Terasawa says. TPB produces roughly 50 brews each year, with the flavor subtly changing from one batch to the next.
At its core, sake only needs three ingredients: rice, the koji fermenting agent, and water. TPB proudly uses Minato City tap water, which originates at the Tokyo Bureau of Waterworks' Asaka Purification Plant. The plant's advanced water treatment system removes odor, trace organic substances and ammonium-nitrogen using ozone and biological activated carbon.
"The Tokyo authorities check the water closely to ensure it's safe, as the purification plant serves a large portion of the metropolis," Terasawa says, noting that TPB conducts no additional processes for improving the water's flavor.
Continuation to future generations
Although Japan had roughly 11,000 sake breweries around 1900, now only about 1,200 remain. Many of these have been bought out by large corporations—even TPB receives various M&A offers, Saito says—while others struggle to make a profit. Faced with a tough business environment, Saito and Terasawa are focused on ensuring TBP will stick around for decades to come.
One way to do that, the pair believe, is to remain a microbrewery. Terasawa emphasizes the importance of self-sufficiency. In his view, a small-scale operation is more likely to be sustainable long-term. The master brewer, committed to sharing his knowledge and experience, has also established a consultancy business to help aspiring sake microbrewers get started.
Some of TPB's Edo Kaijo brews are ultra-local, sourcing both rice grown in western Tokyo and two types of local yeast; these bottles are identifiable by an "All Edo" or "All Tokyo" label. Other, premium batches are made using organically grown rice from Hyogo Prefecture in western Japan.
Wakamatsu Co. recently expanded from 4 to 11 employees, after they established a nearby lounge that serves TPB sake and is managed by Saito's daughter. However, the 70-year-old president emphasizes that passing down Wakamatsu Co. and TPB to the next generation is his top priority, rather than further expansion of the business.
"Sometimes it's easier to be adventurous if you're not rich," Saito says with a smile, reflecting on his own journey to keep the family business afloat and his decision to restart the brewery.
With the ever-present mystique of Tokyo's past and an innovative vision for the future, TPB's adventure will surely continue for years to come.
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