I appreciate her being honest about not wanting to work too many hours. Yes, she wants to deliver a quality product but no one really wants to live just to work.
@@carloscervantes66 She works 7 hours per day, that's hardly living to work. In Western Europe we work longer and we are progressive so I disagree with you very much...
I'm impressed with what people do to master a skill and their knowledge of their craft, for her, and other brew masters from other types of alcohol, it is amazing to see how much she understands Sake, from the subtleties and nuance changes for creating, to the taste profile of measuring, critically thinking about perception of taste from sake simply warming at room temperature to it's taste before, during, and after a meal. There is a lot of thought, a lot analyzing, amazing!
I just watched a video of how a brewery in Japan makes sake the way they used to, pre-machines. The amount of work it took for actual manpower to get the rice to the ideal size is mind blowing. I love that some breweries still do all the work by hand. Machines do help make it a much easier process but it seems to take some of the character out of it for me....
5am to noon? Lmao hard work? I get n my service truck at 4:30am usually get home around 6/7 pm 6 days a week (commercial HVAC) now that’s hard work 7/8 hours is laughable
Two great things in this video: 1. The fact other breweries will help another in its worst time 2. How the brewmaster and Nanami are both humble in their positions
There's a great story about how one of the big Soy Sauce companies (the two biggest being Kikkoman and Yamasa), got nearly wiped out by an earthquake, so the other big company let them use their equipment, factory, and warehouses. That's the Third Economy for you.
> 1. The fact other breweries will help another in its worst time Realy a good thing when it comes to people who are entusiastic about what they do. Know a story about a smaller beer brewer in my country, that while experimenting managed to infect all their equipment and brewery, to the point it couldn't be used for brewing any more, and they were in danger of just having to shut down everything since they couldn't afford to replace it all. The brewmaster at one of the larger breweries heard about it, and offered them an area in their brewery and equipment, to keep them going until they could replace it all.
The original brew master has shown immense leadership in creating such a positive work environment and not being threatened by skills of others but rather embracing it.
After living in Japan for 8 years now, my impression is that the vast majority of artisans are older men. It's great seeing women like this who are exceptional at their craft getting recognized by others in the field and the camraderie between those at her workplace and others in times of crisis. In regards to it's popularity here, almost everyone of age in Japan has had a bad experience with sake (it's very easy to drink, hits you like a slap in the face and a really harsh hangover) and beer/whiskey seem to be the most popular. However there are a decent amount of sake (nihonshu) bars, especially in bigger cities
Take any restaurants/hawkers chef & we notices that the good one are usually older men/women. I think certain part of these chef is that they can take critisism as a way to improve. They don't mind working long hours as long as it feed their family. Many young adults either just gave up,could not be bothered to run the stalls properly,can't take a single critisism & didn't want to work long hours. Do we think truck drivers want to work long hours? I agree seeing young people getting recognition is great,but that came with great mentality.
2:32 That's exactly the kind of work ethic Japan and the US need, not necessarily a hard and diligent worker, but someone with a clear sense of purpose, as she said.
It would also help if the employers embraced change and innovation, instead of getting envious and beating others down. That's a MASSIVE problem in the US. Employers are always out for themselves and don't typically want to take the time and energy to cultivate a good work environment.
The fact that other breweries. Who would be their rivals helped them rebuild and get everything to work again is a concept that simply could never happen in the west. If all Pepsi factories exploded. Coke Ceo´s would dance on the employee´s graves.
Japanese people have a very competitive spirit and a deep desire of improvement, so they know there can't be no improvement it there's no rivals around.
Business insider is incredible at making the world of business fascinating to people who would typically find it boring and providing cultural education thats fun to watch. Keep it up!
I am Japanese. To be honest, I didn’t know that making Sake is such a tough work. I can’t have a drink too much, but I felt I should know Sake as a one of Japanese. We live in huge nature, sometimes harsh, but we will be able to overcome the difficulties by helping each other.
@charlottesmom It's not a competition. If they both make good products and enjoy their process, who cares which is more difficult on the body. Upkeep of machinery and automation has its challenges, as well.
She's so humble 😂 She's clearly a diligent worker and very skilled... How wonderful to her her recognized as well and to have been given the chance in the first place. I feel like women are still easily overlooked in Japan compared to their male coworker regardless of their talents.
Her attitude is what brings success to the whole operation: live to learn, work to live not live to work, and it's okay to make mistakes. I love Sake to sushi and sashimi, can't wait to try theirs!
The other sake breweries coming to their aid after the disaster to help them get started again is such a heartwarming admirable thing to hear. I'm not sure that level of respect for the industry would even happen here in the USA. People would just smirk and see their competition taken out. This is one of the many reasons I feel Japanese business are a step above their peers.
Okay.. this video missed a couple of very key points which are very typical of Sake.. 1. After fermentation the 'mash' is slow filtered with hessian clothes (otherwise call Nigori-zake) 2. Then it goes though pasteurization (otherwise called Nama-zake) 3. Local water is added to soften the flavour and to bring the alcohol % down (otherwise call Genshu)
well its not a video on how sake is made, merely one which describes why the sake is expensive. Those quick steps to finish it off don’t necessarily have a place in this video and would do nothing to better establish the main point of the video
@@ethandeutsch1226 I agree. This isn't a step-by-step on how Sake is made, per se. It's THEIR process and the effects this work has on their people. I don't feel this particular video "missed" those points, either lol.
I went to a very fancy sushi place a little while ago and managed to try some sake that was a couple hundred dollars and it was amazing. probably the best spirit I’ve ever had in my life. I can’t imagine what the highest quality would be like.
This was one of my favorite videos from this channel! And she is awesome! A brew master at 22! The president of the company trusted her palette greatly and provides a great place to learn and educate oneself as well. He is a smart President. You could see how the tradedy hurt him as he lost everything but thankfully others came to their need and helped. That in itself is beautiful bc they likely compete for sales but they didn't care about that, they cared about helping him be able to make sake again. It's beautiful. I wish the best for all of them.
To those thinks that everything is expensive in Japan, you can buy sake for $2 at 7/11 but it's entirely factory produced. It's just that Japan has a wide range of products with the accompanying price tag. It's just like with everything else, once you become a fan/hobbyist/connoisseur you may be able to enjoy finer qualities. Doesn't matter if it's sake, or wine, or high end camera equipment. Logically speaking if a lot of time and effort has been consumed to produce something, it's going to be expensive.
Precisely. I've seen a LOT of comments for people comparing the completely hand-made, more ancestral process of brewing sake to this form or other forms that use machines, as if it's competition. They're simply different ways of doing similar work. If the end product is good, then in some cases, it shouldn't matter. It's like people comparing industrial knife-making to 100% handmade blacksmith knife-making. Of course the handmade product will be more unique and possibly more customized. Quality does have a price tag. However, unless you're a professional chef or a hobbyist, do you really NEED a $2000 custom kitchen knife? Sure, it's nice to have, but there are still quality things made in different ways.
What a lovely lady, and so very talented.🤔 I’ve drank this sake in the past, but I didn’t know the real story behind it. Truly an art form worthy of respect.💯 She’s not less worthy of the lofty title “artist”, as Picasso, or Mozart.🤯
... the milling process is what costs money bub, leave your car engine running for two weeks versus two hundred days and tell me which time it burned more gas There isn't some "oh this is special japanese rice from Bangyoumomu" scene, the worker even says he can't tell where the rice in sake comes from when he drinks it
I love how a bunch of people in the comments are mocking the Japanese because they take their jobs seriously and are humble about their skill level. It doesn‘t matter if you think the price is ridiculous or not worth it. It’s a free market economy, the fact that they are standing means some people find it worth it.
1:17 That's a little misleading. Junmai Daiginjo sake (純米大吟醸) uses rice that is polished to less than 50% of its original weight. Just like how white flour is polished wheat without the germ and bran, Junmai Daiginjo sake rice only has the endosperm. However, the range of Junmai Daiginjo sake is so wide, 45%, 39% and 23% are all called Junmai Daiginjo, so the price also varies wildly. Junmai Daiginjo sake can be reasonably priced too, it's not going to be $10 per bottle, but it can be as low as $100 for a good bottle, and expensive ones can fetch the $10,000 price, and they can all be called Junmai Daiginjo sake. And if you want to know what's the effect of the polishing, the sake tastes much much smoother and milder than cheaper sake. I tried higher brand Junmai Daiginjo sake before, and it fucked me up, because of its smooth taste and lack of alcohol's signature punch, it goes down way easier than any other alcohol, thus you'll drink way more alcohol-wise. 1:24 Before you ask, it's not the Kawasaki you're thinking of, nor the bigger and more famous city of Kawasaki right next to Tokyo. Kawasaki the bike, fighter jet, missile, train, and turbine brand (the one you're probably thinking of) is actually from Kobe, it's called that because the founder is named Kawasaki.
Good JDG's dont have a base price of $100....youre insane if you think so. There are plenty of great $30-$60 JDG sakes out there. The other effect of polishing is the natural sweetness of the rice comes out more and is more subtle. There are dry JDG as well however. Another thing people should absolutely NOT think is that just because a sake is JDG doesnt mean its better than a junmai, or junmai ginjo, or anything in between. These are preferences and the same rice from the same brewery using the same water will taste vastly DIFFERENT depending on the polishing ratio. Not better, not worse.
It is not sakay....its is sake...The sound is 'ke' it is not 'kay'. If you say sakay to a Japanese speaker they may not know what you're saying and just laugh at you. If you're a reporter, do your research before publishing a documentary about 'Sake', it's the main topic to the documentary and you can't even say the word correctly. Did an 'editor' look it this or are they just uneducated to publish this documentary with a major error in the main topic. I always thought reporters at Insider Business were uneducated, now we really know! Geez...I took the time to learn English...how about you take the time to learn how to say words in Japanese rather than how you think it should be said...
I love the way she explains things, especially when taking about the environment in which she works and the microorganisms. So much of what she said really jives with my philosophies on life. I thoroughly enjoyed this.
One of the last drinks I enjoyed with my brother was sake. We were on vacation, and the first night that we tasted it, it didn't taste that great to us. We tried it again on the next day, and it was absolutely fantastic. I will never forget that time, and I have a new appreciation for sake!
I've never tasted any rice sake, however, this video is really interesting to me. Well, now I've already known why 1% polished rice sake is such an expensive price and from the bottom of my heart, I give my whole respect to these brew masters.
I don't even think of these videos as being about food. Honestly, it's more fascinating to just experience different parts of the world in some of the most hyper-specialized facilities and traditions that exist there. This planet truly contains multitudes.
It isn't though. You can live easily in central Tokyo with $2000 per month or so, something that can not at all be said for many other major western cities. The Japanese just know where to put a line between commodities and luxuries very well. As they say in the video, you can buy one of their bottles for less than $10, but the highest grade will be expensive.
Holy damn that president is so strong. If I lost my entire house and belongings, and then on top of that my workplace was destroyed and many colleagues and friend died in a tsunami I would just drop and give up. Good thing other breweries stepped up and helped.
It is extremely rare for a woman become a brew master in Japan. Not to mention she is so young. Sake and many Japanese traditional industries rarely allow female to become a master. So this young lady is doing really well and kudos to the company president to promoted her.
The president also started pretty young, so he knows that age doesn't matter if the worker show passion and skill. And Nanami have an abundance of those attributes.
@@anon_148 unlikely, the brewery is probably much more important to this man than just sex, besides he could get it any other way he probably doesn't lack money, someone who dedicated his life to a family business doesn't jeopardize it for such trivial matter.
I really am in awe of Alot of Japanese artisan industries and the relaxed yet demanding nature of employers. Especially the entrepreneurial spirit, and loving to allow your employees to learn in different ways is the best way to captivate people and trusting them to learn definitely develops character. In love with it, to be honest I'd fit in with drinking culture in Japan as well..no one criticizing me for a drink "at work" or "after work for work" lol 🤣🤙
In Idaho, you're legally allowed two beers for lunch. Not sure if they've changed that law in the last decade or not, and many companies put no drinking during work hours or on the premises in their paperwork somewhere to deter that, but it's there lol. Just saying.
Her humility and the president's honorable conduct are my favorite takeaways from this video, and it has made me invested in their work. I'll be sure to try their product.
deeply respect craftsmen that aren't overly proud of themselves; they know that there are always better people out there, and that there are no end goals to their craft so they keep striving to improve
Very informative.. to a Saki drinker like me. Thanks. But BUT.. when you put subtitles and NOT dub the comments... do you expect your audience to WATCH the clip or READ the text? Waste of time making a visual clip then? 😊
I'm sure it's a real handicraft to make, but it honestly tastes foul. I lived in Japan and enjoy and admire many aspects of the Japanese cuisine, but not sake and not anko either
Ppfftthhh dude wanted some cute young tail is all, the recipe has been refined for hundreds of years, computers tell you wat changes to make, he even admits that tasting it tells them nothing.....
Two remarkable aspects shine in this video: The solidarity among breweries, showcasing the support they offer during challenging times. The admirable humility of the brewmaster and Nanami in their respective roles. It's refreshing to see individuals in positions of influence maintaining a grounded and down-to-earth demeanor. 👥🌾🤝 This sense of camaraderie and humility is truly inspiring and sets a positive example for others in the industry. It's heartwarming to witness the collaboration and genuine character displayed throughout the process. Kudos to everyone involved for their generosity and humility! 🍶🙏
I truly appreciate their efforts and their time and history. But we also have to understand that a higher polishing ratio doesn't always mean a more tasty product. The more rice that's removed means the weaker the body of the sake and the less richness in the flavours and aromas. But what a more high-polished ratio sake offers is cleanliness, elegance and subtle aftertastes. Just want to get this fact out there before someone spends their hard earned money on a high-polished ratio sake and disappointed by the lack of impact.
Ive worked in the alcohol industry a long time and this is the number 1 thing i try to explain to my customers all the time. Just because youre buying a JDG does not automatically mean its a BETTER product. Just a different one. Even comparing dassai 45,39, and 23 i try to explain that the 23 will be softer and more subtle and slightly sweeter than the 45 but that comes down to personal preference and not quality. Some people prefer the 45 because it has a more robust flavor, and some people prefer the 23 because its softer and milder, and other people want something mroe in the middle so they prefer the 39. Polishing ratio does NOT equate to quality, just more time and more product used to produce a single bottle which directly correlates to the cost of the bottle.
I'm a Salvadorian living in California, the 1st food I wanted to try when I was able to afford it with my own money was sushi and sake, I enjoy it every time I can since!!! Love the flavor of sake !!! 🙏🙏🙏. I hope I can try this one !!! Here in California!!!
Man, this makes me want to move there so much more. Where I'm at and places I've lived before, if you show even an iota of promise, the higher-ups and other employees do their best to snuff it out. You try to get into other industries, but it's nearly impossible without knowing someone or having past experience. It's a cycle, and it's terrible. It's what keeps so many of us at the bottom rung. It's refreshing to see how well this company works together, and even outside "competition" in helping those who got knocked down. I think many people wish to have a boost up and to be appreciated. I know there are companies in every country that take advantage of their people and treat them badly. I'm just saying that it's been allowed to fester to a volatile point in my country.
I would die to learn japnese work culture ,the way they work,resolve concerns & put themselves in problem on actual ground to see the bigger picture of their future ....
The process seems like an interesting juxtaposition of casual and meticulous approaches. The science of microorganisms is very particular, but she admits that it's an ok place to make mistakes, and she studies her trade by having a nice dinner
"Some people feel stressed when there is no right answer; I find it interesting that there is no goal in deliciousness" ....huh?!?! can someone translated pls
On the tasting tray, more cloudy means less polished rice? And this also reminds me of Scotch and its aging process, with single malt vs blended. Great episode.
