Wine Meow Watch News 2021/06/02

A quick glance at the data of the big Japanese sake buyers in April 2021

In the first three months of 2021, Japan’s sake exports to Taiwan are indeed increasing, which is higher than the same period in 2018/2019, but the average unit price per liter is ugly. 552 yen. In April, the average price per liter FOB of sake exported from Japan to Taiwan was 780 yen! During the same period, exports to Hong Kong were 2,333 yen, China 1,269 yen, and the United States 1,032 yen.

If we look at the average export price from January to April 2021, Taiwan is 588 yen, Hong Kong is 2,527 yen, China is 1,252 yen, and the United States is 1,031 yen. As for the Republic of Korea, which has a reputation for being honest and upright, it has remained stable at 543 yen, which is slightly lower than that of Taiwan.

Export-specific sake brewing license top incense - Fukushima prefecture Tadami rice shochu ねっか

Ordinary sake manufacturing licenses need to reach the annual output threshold of 60,000 liters. If you have the ambition to keep rice fields from fallow and develop sake brewing, it is difficult to achieve without mergers or acquisitions or inheriting other sake brewing licenses. However, in response to the trend of Japanese food abroad and the rising demand for Japanese sake, the Japanese government made a change in the liquor tax law. In December 2019, a new "exemption for the manufacture of sake for export" was added. This license is specially used to brew sake for export.

Tadami Town, the westernmost part of Fukushima Prefecture, is adjacent to Uonuma City, Niigata Prefecture. In addition to a homestay, やまかのうや, which makes どぶろく turbid sake, there is only Nekka (Nekka), which was established in 2016. Mr. Hiro Wakisaka, the representative company member of ねっか, also applied to the Tajima Tax Office (governing Minami Aizu County) on 4/1, and obtained the notification of "Exemption for Sake Manufacturing for Export" on 5/28, which is also the first in the country. The annual output can reach 2,000 liters. The plan is to decide on the handle, bottle color and wine label design in early July this year, and then export Japanese sake to Hong Kong in mid-December.

Organic compost from race horse poop, used to grow rice, and brewed into Junmai Daiginjo "Victory Horse"

Ritsumeikan University and Konishi Brewing Co., Ltd., with the cooperation of SOFIX Agriculture Promotion Organization in Kusatsu City, Shiga Prefecture, and Tabuchi Farm, used horse manure from racing horses to make compost (horse organic compost) to grow Koshihikari rice, and jointly developed the "Sake・Victory Horse". (しょうりうま)".

Ritsumeikan University and Konishi Brewery have been using "SOFIX," a soil diagnostic technology designed by Ritsumeikan University's School of Life Sciences Professor Miki Kubo, since 2013 to develop sake brewing from rice that is environmentally friendly and grown using organic compost from horses. SOFIX is a technology that visualizes and indexes the activities of microorganisms in the soil, allowing farmers to use organic fertilizers to adjust soil quality and further improve crop quality and productivity through scientific data, which in the past relied on their experience and intuition.

This time, "Sake・Victory Horse" is brewed using Koshihikari rice grown at Tabuchi Farm, which has obtained a grade A in the "SOFIX Soil Certification" organic environment evaluation. The paddy fields are made more fertile by using high-quality horse and cow compost in the rice fields. In addition to delicious sake, we also support sustainable agriculture by utilizing SOFIX technology to popularize organic cultivation, improve soil environment, and solve soil degradation in farmland.

Why does compost come from race horse poop? In Shiga Prefecture, there is the Lidong Training Center of the Japan Jockey Club. There are more than 2,000 horses living here. It is conceivable that a lot of organic matter is generated every day and must be handled! Since the breeding of racehorses is subject to thorough doping inspections, and the management of drugs and feeds is strictly controlled, the horses' stools naturally do not contain chemical substances such as pharmaceuticals, and can be converted into safe organic materials (compost).