Do you all know when sake came from?
Surprisingly, there is a theory that existed around 2000 years ago.As you know, the raw material for sake is rice. It is said that the origin of sake is about 2000 years ago because it was during the Yayoi Period when rice cultivation was introduced from China to Japan about 2000 years ago.
Isn’t it unimaginable that the technology from 2000 years ago is still inherited in 2020? If you think that sake masters have been carefully handed it down to future generations, it seems that sake is truly sacred.
In other words, it is no exaggeration to say that the history of sake is the history of Japanese rice culture. I would like to introduce the history and culture of sake in an easy-to-understand manner.
In fact, there are various theories about the origin and history of sake, and research is still ongoing. It’s understandable because it has such a history. Do you want the research results to be clear? Because there are things you do not understand, you can taste sake carefully, thinking of old people. By doing so, you may be able to taste sake better than ever.
It seems that there is an article called “Wakoku no Sake” (倭国の酒) around 250 A.D. in the history of Japanese sake. You can feel the history in the expression “Ｗakoku“. Also, in 745, it was described in the famous “Man’yoshu” about a sake shop in “Noto no Kuni Kumaki“. The sake shop was specified in the Man’yoshu.
In 1233, there is also a record in the “Kongo-ji Temple Documents” that sake was being made at the temple. Sake was made in the temple. It seems that there was also such an era. Also, in 1598, the celebrity “Toyotomi Hideyoshi” made his feudal lords bring the famous sake of each country at the cherry blossom viewing party. It is said that the record is written in “Hoan Taikoki“.
Hideyoshi also seems to have liked sake. Don’t you feel a sense of familiarity?
Surprisingly lately, in 1901 the sale of sake in a bottle began for the first time by ”Hakutsuru”. I guess it’s an evolution of the manufacturing method.In 1973, the ban on the use of preservatives was enacted. Until then, it contained preservatives, as a Japanese myself I didn’t even know it.
Sake is available everywhere now, but it has a long history, and there has been twists and turns to become the current distribution. Personally, I want to just try a bit of the original sake from 2000 years ago. Maybe just a lick…
If you are going to have sake next time, why don’t you put its history in the corner of your head?
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