"The Engine of our Hometown" - Thinking Globally, Acting Locally -

 

Japan is preparing for a long weekend thanks to two back-to-back public holidays. The day before, our product department is working hard, packing the fresh Hon Jozo - Ichinoide Namazake ready for sale.

 

Meanwhile, at the shochu brewery, the second mash of the vacuum distilled barley shochu, Tsunezo, is being fermented using our own prefecture’s home-grown barley, Toyonohoshi. This one is a real taste of Oita. The shochu production will continue throughout the long weekend.

On the weekend of July 17th and 18th, sales manager, Mr. Hinago, will hold a special sales event in Tokiwa - Beppu’s liquor area in the basement. We have a limited summer sake called Natsuoto, and our delicious Tokubetsu Junmai Muroka Namagenshu - USUKI, which tastes great on the rocks, are both available
Please feel free to pop in if you are in the area.

 

On Sunday, June 13th, Oita Prefecture’s request to some of the hospitality industry to operate reduced business hours to combat the rise in COVID19 infections was lifted.

 

The voluntary restrictions included:

 

- Businesses should only operate between the hours of 05:00 and 21:00.
- Alcohol should only be served from 11:00, with the last order being no later than 20:00.
Oita Prefecture continues to ask citizens of Oita to make a measured judgement regarding dining. Dining with family members or colleagues who share your workspace is acceptable if caution is implemented. Countermeasures such as having dinner with small numbers of people for a short time, wearing masks when you talk, and avoiding close and crowded situations, should be adhered to.
If you are using a restaurant, please look for a POP display “Safety is Tasty (安心 はおいしい)” and select a restaurant which complies with spread of infection prevention guidelines.

 

Please feel free to use the “Oita Miryoku Coupon (Oita Miryoku kuupon-ken [おおいた味力食うぽん券])” where the above guidelines are adhered to.

 

The countermeasures against new coronavirus infections are of the utmost importance. However, it is also important to remember that restaurants, liquor retailers, liquor wholesalers, and brewers have been hard-hit economically since the measures began well over a year ago.

 

From this week, we would be very grateful if the people of Oita would support our restaurants, both in Usuki and Oita, whilst adhering to the guidelines set out by Oita Prefecture.

The photo shows our sales manager, Mr. Hinago, at the tasting and sales event at Tokiwa - Wasada Town’s liquor shop. He put in a shift on his day off!

 

You can see he is holding a red bottle of our sweet potato shochu, Tsunezo. Manufactured in 2013, this shochu was then aged for 8 years (vacuum distilled). This particular Tsunezo won the “Honour Prize” at this year’s Kumamoto Regional Taxation Bureau Liquor Appraisal - Kanpyokai. The “mild bottle” is only available from this shop.

The movie “The Last Snow” (Nagoriyuki) is set in Usuki, directed by Nobuhiko Onayashi, and is based on the song “Nagoriyuki” written and composed by Shozo Ise.

 

In commemoration of the movie, Kuge Honten released Daiginjo - Nagoriyuki and Ginjo - Nagoriyuki. The director, Mr Obayashi, supervised in the design of the bottle and his handwriting can be seen on the label.

 

On March 28, 2021, Usuki City’s Secretary and General Policy Division Manager, Mr. Hirayama, featured in a live telephone interview on the JRT Shikoku Broadcasting Radio show - “Sunday Nostalgia Daizenshu”. He touched on a variety of topics including what happened during filming. They also discussed how best to preserve Usuki’s historical town.

 

It was a really insightful interview. If you would like to learn more, you can listen to the full recording here → JRT.m4a

 

 

In March 2021, Usuki City started a project to make Usuki a “Creative City of Gastronomy”.
Usuki has a strong food culture with many traditional customs, techniques, and recipes that have been passed down over generations. We want to use our unique brand to become a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy. Currently, Tsuruoka City in Yamagata is the only Japanese city to hold this position. Usuki City would like to become the second.

 

We at Kuge Honten feel that this project reflects our own philosophy, and as “The engine of our hometown”, we want to fully support the project.

 

Recently Usuki City released some promotional videos. In the above video titled “The Road of Sake”, you can see Mr. Matsuno, the *Toji of Kuge Honten, passionately overseeing the sake production process.

 

*Toji - The head of a sake brewery, responsible for managing the complicated and delicate brewing process.

 

Tokubetsu Junmai Muroka Namagensyu - USUKI (“Special Junmai”) which was freshly made on February 19, 2021, is now on sale.

 

This year’s USUKI is a little zesty with a sake degree of +5. You can really enjoy the unique flavour of Wakamizu, a rice known for producing excellent sake.
Additionally, it has a rich aroma and is reminiscent of a ginjo sake. It comes highly recommended.

 

Our president’s old classmate Mr. Minato cultivates Wakamizu with all his energy and heart, so the products created using this fantastic rice are literally full of “USUKI LOVE”.

 

In February, Mr. Ogami of the Ogami Beppu Restaurant, joined us during the week - enthusiastically experiencing the brewing process. His goal was to study the sake brewing process with the hope of using some of this new knowledge in the running of his restaurant. His effort and contribution were really helpful. After spending the weekdays brewing, he returned to his business at weekends. I was struck by his incredible work ethic!

 

The photo on the left shows Mr. Ogami washing the tank. Just before that, he was rolling with the tank!!! (LOL)
In the photo on the right Mr.Ogami (right) can be seen with Toji, Mr. Matsuno (left).

Today, the temperature is expected to reach around 15 degrees celsius.
The weather is mild, and it seems that spring is well on its way.

 

The pansies and violas planted in the autumn continue to bloom during the winter months and they have a real calming effect on our factory. Next week we will finally begin to press the daiginjo and tokubetsu junmai.

 

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications have released Oita Prefecture’s “Hometown Working Holiday Project” promotional video via their website.

 

Kuge Honten was featured in the video and you can see the brewery, the representative director, the manufacturing section chief - Mr. Murakami, and Mr. Takeguchi - production, all talking about their passion for sake brewing.

 

Mr. Hasegawa, from Nagoya, spent 10 days experiencing sake brewing with us (Prior to his arrival he received a PCR test - confirmed negative). He really enjoyed his time here.

 

In addition, although social interaction was kept to a minimum, Mr. Hasegawa had a positive influence on our employees as well.

 

The chief of the Oita Revitalisation and Promotion Division said “Although the news regarding the coronavirus shows no sign of improvement, we hope that as things do improve, participation in the project will increase boosted by the promotional video”.