Hokuriku

2 Brewing the Future of Sake

• #Producers
• #City Planning
• #Japanese Nature
• #Japanese history and traditional culture
• #Overseas Expansion
• #Fermentation
• #Public-private partnerships and collaborations
• #Sake
• #Community Revitalization

“If we let ourselves be too restricted by the perceived value of traditions worth preserving, we will be unable to move forward, and we will remain stagnant,” says Ryuichiro Masuda, the fifth head of Masuda Sake Brewery in Toyama Prefecture. Masuda is also a collaborator in the groundbreaking IWA sake project founded by Richard Geoffroy, who served as the fifth chef de cave (cellar master) of Dom Pérignon. Sake has a history of over a thousand years, but Masuda believes that the industry suffers from “a lack of branding power and strategy.” His business philosophy of “Do what needs to be done right now” has guided his efforts in big projects now coming to fruition: the IWA project, which is breathing a fresh sense of value into sake, and a town revival project to attract artists, breweries, and exciting new shops to the beautiful old neighborhood of Iwase, where he grew up, in the city of Toyama.

• #Producers
• #City Planning
• #Japanese Nature
• #Japanese history and traditional culture
• #Overseas Expansion
• #Fermentation
• #Public-private partnerships and collaborations
• #Sake
• #Community Revitalization

Minami-Kanto

1 Developing the Potential of Japan’s Satoyama Culture

• #Ryotei & Restaurants
• #Producers
• #Gastronomy and Culinary
• #Japanese Nature
• #Japanese Food Culture

Yoshihiro Narisawa, the owner-chef of restaurant NARISAWA in Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo, is one of Japan’s world-class chefs and an artist dedicated to crafting a variety of innovative food creations. For more than 20 years, Narisawa has been focused on the culture found in rural foothill villages of Japan, called satoyama culture, where people coexist closely with nature. He explores the rich food culture and the ancestral wisdom passed down there, and expresses it through his uniquely creative cooking style—establishing a new genre he calls “innovative satoyama cuisine.” His work demonstrates his philosophy of “beneficial and sustainable gastronomy,” environmentally-conscious gourmet dining that shows respect for nature while nourishing body and mind. Narisawa shows his commitment to preserving satoyama culture through his activities in Japan and around the world, and by sharing his message, as he continues to search for the ideal future of food culture.

• #Ryotei & Restaurants
• #Producers
• #Gastronomy and Culinary
• #Japanese Nature
• #Japanese Food Culture