A 15th-generation sake brewer in Kyoto, Japan, on tradition, innovation and taking on the family name
- Junichi Masuda’s family have been in the sake business since the 17th century, and the 15th-generation owner will soon take the family name, Tokubee
- He talks about balancing tradition and innovation – reviving old sake rice varieties while updating Masuda Tokubee Shoten’s labels
“From shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations” is a saying that describes how 90 per cent of the wealth accumulated by the first generation of a family is likely to be lost by the third.
Defying these odds fivefold is Junichi Masuda of Masuda Tokubee Shoten, a sake brewery in Kyoto, now running the family business that was established in 1675 during Japan’s Edo period (1603 – 1867). Masuda is the 15th-generation owner and continues to produce Tsuki no Katsura sake, a brand name steeped in lore.
“We used to be rice farmers who ran an inn and we eventually got into sake brewing to serve travellers,” says Masuda.
“Masutoku used to be the name of our sake until one day a poet was staying at our inn and was drinking sake. It was autumn and in the night, as he looked up at the full moon, he said our sake is like ambrosia, and the name Tsuki no Katsura was born – tsuki means moon and katsura is the deciduous tree that was in our garden at the time.”
Kyoto sits on an abundance of good-quality groundwater suited for making sake. Not only that, the city was historically at the centre of commerce, making it easy to procure large amounts of rice.
Ann Kang, general manager of the Doubletree by Hilton Kyoto Higashiyama hotel, says: “While sake can be enjoyed neat, warm or cold, I find that its relatively low alcohol content … and complex flavours make it a naturally good choice for pairing with food.