Interview with Wataru Hosokawa Director of Overseas Business Development at Amabuki Shuzo

Both bottles this month for Sake Gumi are from Amabuki Shuzo, a brewery in Saga Prefecture. I have a special place in my heart for Saga, as it’s the place where my late grandma grew up. She would tell me stories of playing on the beach in Karatsu which inspired me to visit Saga multiple times over the years. It is a magical place full of handmade ceramics, live edible squid, clear ocean water, and pine forests. Add Amabuki Shuzo’s flower yeast sakes to the list to make Saga even more mystical.

Wataru Hosokawa at Amabuki Shuzo was kind enough to take time out of his busy day to tell me more about the brewery and its history.

Yoko: Can you tell me about Amabuki Shuzo and its surroundings?

Hosokawa-san: Saga is located in the north of Kyushu, the southwestern island of Japan. The northern area of Saga faces the Genkai Sea, whose beautiful coastal area is designated as Genkai Quasi-National Park, and the southern area has a fertile plain stretching out to the Ariake Sea, which is known for its vast tidal flat with the maximum tidal range of six meters. Saga is a prefecture with a population of about 800,000, which boasts agriculture and fishery as main industry and features laid-back country landscapes.

The prefecture also offers many other things such as internationally famous potteries, high-quality foods cultivated in the rich nature, relaxing hot springs, festivals, and other historical and traditional cultures which are well worth checking out.

Yoko: We love carrying your flower yeast sakes. Can you tell us about how Amabuki Shuzo came to use flower yeasts?

Hosokawa-san: Flower yeasts for sake use were founded by Professor Hisayasu Nakata at Tokyo University of Agriculture over 20 years ago. Our president and his younger brother, Sotaro Kinoshita and Daisuke Kinoshita studied sake brewing under Professor Nakata. After the brothers graduated, they got a call from Nakata and Nakata told them that he found interesting yeasts from flowers in nature. Nakata made sake with the yeasts and sent samples to the brothers. The brothers were impressed, and decided that these yeasts were exactly what they were looking for, ultimately defining their brewery.

Yoko: Can you tell me why you use flower yeast?

Hosokawa-san: There are several reasons. It has the ability to promote various aromas and flowers even stronger than the existing sake yeasts currently in use. It has the potential to integrate and harmonize its attributes and define the uniqueness of each sake brewery. It can also change the existing concept of sake. Each flower yeast has its own attribute. You will be able to enjoy your meal if you select sake with a flower yeast based on your dish. It can be adjusted to the diversity of change of consumers’ preferences and for different alcoholic beverages. By adding flower yeast to the tradition of each brewery, a new attribute of the brewery will be born.

Queen of the Night flower yeast used in the I Love Sushi sake

Yoko: How do you actually isolate yeast from flowers?

Hosokawa-san: First, we collect the flowers. Then we cultivate the flower and its yeast in a synthetic liquid medium for isolation consisting of an antibiotic called yeastcidin. Moving on to isolating yeast by growing on the TTC and verifying the presence or absence of film and gas forming. Next we verify the assimilation of carbon and nitrogen sources, yeastcidin resistance, and differentiation from wild yeast and isolated yeast. We then perform a fermentation test and analysize the components. This leads to the final result: the birth of flower yeast.

Isolated yeasts at the brewery

Yoko: I love Saga, as it’s the place that my grandma spent her childhood. I’ve been there a few times, but sadly have never been to visit your brewery. Can we visit Amabuki Shuzo?

Hosokawa-san: Yes, we are open to anyone. You can see the inside of our brewery and taste our sake in the tasting room. Purchase is also available at our gift shop.

But, we kindly ask people to make a reservation for the brewery tour online.

Yoko: I will definitely visit you next time I am in the area. In the meantime, we will be having sushi parties with I Love Sushi Junmai and grill some shrimp to pair with Banana Yeast Junmai Daiginjo this summer. 

Thank you so much for your time Hosokawa-san!