6th Tsuneyama Shuzo Goshi Kaisha (Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture)

Brewery Interviews

Interviewee: Toji Shinpei Tsuneyama (hereafter “Tsuneyama”)

Interviewer: Ayako Yoshida of bien (hereafter “bien”)

bien: Good morning. The aroma of freshly steamed rice is lovely! Sorry to intrude during such a busy time.

You, Shinpei Tsuneyama, are set to become the 9th-generation president as the son of the family.

Succession aside, what got you involved in sake making?

Tsuneyama: It has to do with the environment I grew up in, but I've never actually felt I had to take over.

As a child the kura was a place where I'd be scolded and shut in — a dark, scary image (laughs), but

it was really the environment I was raised in, the natural flow of having spent my life with it.

bien: Even so, in an age with few successors, protecting the kura is truly admirable.

What in your daily work brings you a sense of fulfillment and joy?

Tsuneyama: When a delicious sake comes out, and when I see customers enjoying it, that makes me happy.

bien: I imagine so. Having a work you poured yourself into delight others must be the greatest joy.

It's rather like a parent's feeling when their child is recognized.

What do you pay attention to each day to make sake that delights people?

Tsuneyama: To clean properly and keep things hygienic.

And I pay close attention to my state of mind.

bien: Even amid all that, is there anything you find difficult about sake making?

Tsuneyama: Hmm, it has to be teamwork. How to cooperate with everyone and coordinate them.

It's only through everyone working together

that good sake is made, I believe.

bien: Indeed. Alone,

it would be hard to handle this much work, wouldn't it.

Finally, how would you sum up your sake in one phrase?

Tsuneyama: A clear, beautiful sake that still has umami.

Clear, juicy, dry! (laughs)

bien: Nicely summed up! Clear, juicy, dry — easy to understand and remember.

Fresh Fukui seafood and sake — there's no way they wouldn't pair. Congratulations on your award in France,

and on this year's gold medal at the shinshu (新酒, new sake) appraisal competition!

I look forward to your delicious sake in the future.

Thank you very much.

Read the interview with President Yukiko Tsuneyama here