Daisuke Kashiwara (52) lifts the sake he has left on the floor of Ine Bay (Ine) for about a year to the surface. Originally from Kyotango and more recently working in Osaka as a consultant, Daisuke proudly said “no seawater has made it into the bottles, they are perfect,” and took another step towards converting his experiment into a commercial product.

Daisuke, holder of a liquor retail license, wanted to make a product unique to Tango, that built on the region’s sake and ocean. His idea was to ferment sake on the bottom of the ocean. In 2022, he started work on the concept in Kyotango, but after losing the sake to forceful waves he relocated to the deeper and calmer waters of Ine Bay.

Daisuke chose to ferment Sake from the local Mukai Sake Brewery (Ine), and last autumn submerged about 200 bottles of their “Ine Full Bloom”, a red sake that uses local wild rice, 22 meters underwater. He split the sake into two types, one fermented in ultramarine bottles and one in clear bottles, naming them Akai (the clear bottles, after the red color of the sake) and Aoi (the ultramarine bottles).

On August 6th, a licensed diver went underwater, hooked the case of bottles into the rope hanging from the ship, and lifted the sake to the surface.

Daisuke checked each of the bottles carefully for cracks and fractures, saying “Aroma, sweetness, richness and savory flavors come to the surface, and I think it tastes more like an aged sake. I would be happy if it becomes a sake that people would choose for events or to send as a gift.”

As well as being sent out to people who supported Daisuke’s project via crowdfunding, Akai and Aoi are planned to be sold in stores.

Copyright ©The Kyoto Shimbun

Translated by the Kyotango City Tourism Association