Sarika Sake Credentials

Actually, I never really liked Sake all my life! (even though I loved all other kinds of alcohol!). That was until I tasted a local brew in Fukushima back in 2009. It was so completely different from anything I've tasted before. It was rather shocking to learn that Sake was this good! I had been missing out all these decades, declining Sake, simply based on my prejudices from a few bad earlier Sake experiences.

Since then, I quietly started my own sake studies, unofficially (visiting breweries and meeting brewers) and unofficially (obtaining Sake certifications). The more I learned and tasted, the more I did not understand (!), but I became so much more fascinated by Sake. 

Then, I learned that the domestic consumption of Sake is steeply declining and breweries are having to close every year. In fact, Sake, our 2000-year-old 'national alcohol', only occupies 7% of the whole alcohol market share in Japan! Quite a shock. It did not seem like this reality was doing justice to Sake.

I also became fascinated by women and women masters (toji) who work in this largely male-dominated industry. At present, only about 25 out of 1200 Sake breweries are headed by women tojis.

I wanted to share the beauty of Sake to my friends and others while also supporting women who work in Sake.