Yamatada Honke Shuzo
"Brewing is my calling" Managing Director (11th-generation, next president) Masahiro Yamada
Founded in the mid-Edo period (1789–1801)
Located in Aisai, Aichi Prefecture. This kuramoto (蔵元) uses Tojo Yamada Nishiki, a sakamai (酒米) grown in an area of Kato, Hyogo Prefecture certified as a "Special A" region, and places more weight on quality than quantity. The gateway with its red-walled kura is quite magnificent.
Interviewee: Managing Director (11th-generation, next president) Masahiro Yamada (hereafter Yamada)
Interviewer: bien Ayako Yoshida (hereafter bien)
bien: Mr. Yamada, I hear you're actively involved with Tojo Yamada Nishiki from Hyogo Prefecture.
Yamada: Yes. To carefully protect Hyogo's flagship sakamai "Yamada Nishiki,"
and to promote it as a brand, I'm actively involved with Tojo Yamada Nishiki.
bien: That's wonderful.
As a kura, what do you want to convey to the public?
Yamada: I want to convey that there are many different kinds of sake.
And that there are many dishes to pair with it, and that it's enjoyable. I'd like people to know that.
bien: Indeed. We do suggest pairings, but I'd like people to enjoy it broadly.
What does sake making mean to you?
Yamada: It's my calling! It's something I love.
I've completely blurred work and private life! (laughs)
Anyway, I just love brewing.
bien: A happy blurring of work and life! (laughs)
What would you like to become in the future?
Yamada: I want to grow on the world stage.
And I want farmers and retailers,
everyone involved with Gikyo, to be happy.
I want to honor and cherish the sense of duty (giri) I owe to the water, the rice, and all things.
bien: That is truly the very name "Gikyo"!
Yamada: As for brewing, I'm not interested in making a lot,
so I aim for quality over quantity.
bien: While some kuramoto aim for mass production, you go the opposite way. Gikyo doesn't even have a website,
more analog than digital. Going against the times is, again, wonderful.
What made you decide to continue brewing?
Yamada: Apparently by the time I finished elementary school I had already written in my graduation book that I wanted to make a legendary sake.
But I went to a completely different faculty at university and worked at izakaya.
As I lived watching all kinds of people, when I looked at my father, he was living a very fulfilling life,
and I saw he had a brilliance unlike others. With respect and admiration, I asked my father to let me join the kura.
But his condition was that I could join only if I got a job offer from a major company,
so after getting the offer, and after three years of apprenticeship, I was allowed to join.
bien: So that's what happened. I'm moved by your respect for your father.
You said brewing is your calling — what part of it is fun?
Yamada: The fact that nothing ever happens the same way.
The work is different every time, so I never get bored.
bien: On the other hand, is there anything you find hard?
Yamada: Hmm, nothing in particular feels hard, but I feel sorry for my family...
Especially when brewing is busy.
bien: Starting early in the morning and even managing temperature late at night, balancing it with family must be hard.
Yamada: Now the brewery team cooperates and tells me, "You can go home now."
They're working to share the load, and I'm very grateful for that.
bien: That's your virtue, Mr. Yamada.
Finally, how would you sum up Gikyo's sake?
Yamada: It's sake with the umami of rice, depth, and breadth.
Sake you can drink deliciously down to the last ichigo (一合, 180 ml).
Gikyo's sake is the kind you want to keep lifting to your lips.
