On July 18-19, JAL offered JGC members (JGC Six Star/Five Star/Four Star/Three Star) a special experience at SHINKA, an invitation-only tasting room and brewing laboratory, guided by the brewer and his wife of Gunma Prefecture’s long-established sake brewery Nagai Shuzo.
Kawaba Village in Gunma Prefecture has a beautiful rural landscape that makes one forget the hustle and bustle of the city. It is here that the Nagai Sake Brewery, founded in 1886, is located. After gathering at Jomo Kogen Station on the Joetsu Shinkansen Line, which is visited by many climbers including Mt. This area is close to the source of the Tone River system and is an important land that supports the lives of 34 million people. This can be seen from the fact that most of the surrounding forests are national forests and are well managed by the government.
Eighty percent of sake is made from water,” said Noriyoshi Nagai, the sixth-generation head brewer of Nagai Shuzo, a sake brewery. He first taught us about the importance of water by personally sipping water from a clear stream. He then toasted the occasion with “MIZUBASHO PURE,” an authentic sparkling sake developed by the brewery itself, which incorporates secondary fermentation in the bottle into the sake production process. The participants’ faces were filled with smiles as they tasted sparkling sake for the first time in such a natural setting.
While viewing the rice paddies where “Snow Hotaka,” Kawaba Village’s brand-name rice, is growing vigorously, we finally arrived at the Nagai Sake Brewery. The Nagai Sake Brewery’s brewing water is gushing out of the grounds. The abundant snow and rain are slowly filtered by the earth of Oze, and the natural water is soft and sweet. Water is the core of sake brewing! The participants could already sense Mr. Nagai’s passion and love for sake brewing, as he said that since he made up his mind that “water is the core of sake brewing,” he has no hesitation in brewing sake.
Eventually, we were invited to “SHINKA,” a tasting room where we could experience the world of Nagai Sake Brewery. After listening to the brewery’s passionate thoughts on how the tasting room “SHINKA” was created, the authentic sparkling sake “MIZUBASHO PURE” that was served as a toast earlier, and vintage sake, the tasting time finally began. The brewer’s humor and personality oozed out in his tone of voice, making the sake tasting an exceptional experience.
The tasting was elegant and profound enough to enjoy Nagai Sake Brewery’s sake. Then it was time for a wonderful lunch. We were served a special dish using locally grown vegetables and wagyu beef paired with sake at the Koshinkan warehouse café, a renovated former sake brewery that has been in business since the company’s founding.
During the pairing, guests enjoyed a sake pairing of “Nagai Style,” a sake concept that the brewery spent 20 years perfecting under the banner of tradition and innovation (the Kura Café is not currently open as a café, but is used only when serving lunch by invitation only, as was the case here).
During lunchtime, the brewery’s owner, Mr. Nagai, entertained the participants with a wealth of topics, and both food and sake were enjoyed. The brewery’s wife, Matsumi Nagai, who is a director of Nagai Sake Brewery and is involved in creating added value and customer experience through “tradition and innovation” with a focus on branding, also shared many entertaining stories with the participants. The couple’s hospitality was evident in the wonderful time that passed, and the conversation with the participants was lively, making it a truly special day that will remain in the hearts of the participants.
On the way back, they stopped by “Michi no Eki Kawaba Rural Plaza,” which was ranked second in the Jaran National Roadside Station Grand Prix 2024 and first in the Roadside Station Running 2024 that they would like to use again. Although they were unable to visit all of the facilities, as they are spread out over a large area, the visitors seemed to be enjoying their time there.
Finally, I would like to note something that impressed me about what the brewer said.
A participant asked, “It was said that water is important, but I think it also depends on the quality of the rice. In response to the question, “How do you think about the balance between water, rice, and technique?” the brewer replied, “I think that water, rice, and technique form an equilateral triangle of 1:1:1. That is why our technique, or research, is also important. That is what LABO SAKE is all about.
Moreover, they do not interfere in the process at all. He only deals with the result (the finished sake). He then shares what he feels about the process with the toji and deputy toji.
The passion and love of the brewer for making sake in Kawaba-machi, and his attitude toward challenge and innovation without being proud of his confidence and conviction as a solid brewer, matched the commitment and pride of JAL’s senior members.
The required mileage was 35,000 miles for one entrant and 70,000 miles for two entrants. The fact that many of the participants purchased a large number of Nagai Sake Brewery’s sake products on the spot also suggests the high satisfaction level of the participants.
This event for JAL’s senior members will be a great opportunity to learn about the good old traditions of Japan and the companies that continue to challenge and innovate and do their best. Expectations are high for future developments.
© Source travel watch
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