Water and its role in the Kansai diet Kansai's famous sake sites 1: Nada The "miyamizu" that produces Nada no Kiippon, or pure Nada sake The traditional "celebrating sake" custom, in which cold sake is drunk from a wooden masu measuring cup The Kansai is home to two towns known as places for Japan's best sake. These are Nada in Hyogo Prefecture and Fushimi in Kyoto Prefecture, and in each are found the perfect combination of climate, water, rice, and skills required for ideal sake making. While there are numerous superior sakes produced around Japan at sites at which these conditions are met, entire towns based on sake production are few. Nada developed as a town of streets lined with numerous sake breweries (sakagura), all competing with one another. And as with Fushimi, it can be said that each town is, more than anything, blessed with water of the best quality for brewing sake. Hot sake, warmed in a tokkuri bottle, is drunk with an inokuchi cup. Nada's sake is made with what is called miyamizu." Miyamizu is short for "Nishinomiya no mizu," or the water of Nishinomiya. This water bubbles forth from shallow wells near the shoreline of the city of Nishinomiya. Flowing down from the lands around Mt. Rokko, this is a hard water with a low iron content and traces of many other minerals including phosphorous, calcium, and potassium. Water like this is not at all tasty for drinking and is not recommended for use in tea, washing clothing, or watering plants. It is a water that is, however, completely appropriate for sake making. The source of miyamizu The Nada sake made with this water is called "otoko-zake," which literally mean "male sake," because of the strength of its aroma as well as the way it feels on the tongue when first brewed. After being stored and ripened for the summer, the sake increases in mellowness and develops a fragrant smoothness by autumn. This process is referred to as "aki-bare suru," or "the clearing of the autumn weather." In the making of Nada sake, of equal importance to the miyamizu is a type of sake rice called Yamada-nishiki. Grown on Hyogo Prefecture's Banshu Plain, Yamada-nishiki is a soft, large-grain rice with qualities well-suited to miyamizu. These qualities, together with such other factors as the skill of the master brewer and the cool air from Mt. Rokko, combine to produce a whole, and from this is born Nada sake. Thus this place with superior sake has superior water. The renowned Nada no Kiippon, a pure sake brewed in Nada, came about as a result of the discovery of miyamizu, and this water that bubbles forth even today continues to form the basis for Japan's finest sake. Nada Gogo Sake Brewery Cooperative TEL 078-841-1101 First, seed malt is added to steamed rice to make koji. The resulting koji is evenly distributed. The koji is then added to a yeast mash, made by adding yeast to steamed rice. During the fermentation process, brewers use an oar to churn the moromi, or final mash. BACK To Sake Manufacturers All images Copyright. 1997 Kansai International Public Relations Promotion Office. All Rights Reserved.