Remarkable milling machines contributed to Ginjo Sake

Model of Milling Machine developed in 1898

There's a company named SATAKE in Saijo, Hiroshima. This company is inseparable from the making of super premium sake called Dai-ginjo or Ginjo. 


Thanks to their ingenious inventions of rice milling machines, the very high milling ratio necessary for making Ginjo was achieved.


Many people, from breweries and public entities alike, got involved and devoted in the progress of Sake making; they lived in the same modern period of sake making history when the government encouraged sake breweries to make rapid progress in their scientific techniques so that the quality and quantity of the product would become stable, making people consume more sake happily and the government get the sake tax all the more. The first half of the 20th century for Japan was the period that the country tried to catch up with the industrialized west and become strong in many ways. The revenue that came from the Sake tax was quite significant.


The government exerted its influence, establishing the national research center on brewing under the control of the Finance Ministry in 1904. The center changed its names a few times and moved from Tokyo and now stands in Saijo under the name of the National Research Institute of Brewing. 


The brewers tried hard to improve with the passion of making quality sake. Through national competitions, they got stimulated among each other and made special sake often only for the competitions. But it's true these efforts improved sake as a whole and gave birth to a new aromatic Sake called Ginjo.


Eventually in 1980s, the Ginjo sake became available among ordinary citizens. Before that, that type of sake was called Mirage Sake because it was so hard to obtain.


The rice used for making Ginjo has to be milled far down. It has to be 50% or less of the original weight to be called Ginjo. The very special Ginjo uses rice milled down to 35 to 40% of the original weight.


But as I wrote in a previous article, the rice powder from milling is not wasted a bit. The powder is processed into something useful like sweets and vinegar.


The founder of the company named SATAKE invented a milling machine powered by engine for the first time in Japan. He wanted to make a difference in the tedious physical job of milling grains. The first machine with engine was invented by him in 1896 but he was not satisfied with the three machines he sold and soon retrieved them. The 1898 type was much better but still the milling ratio was only 10%.

The one developed in 1908

In 1908, he produced a new type which achieved the milling ratio of 40%. The original type made use of friction between rice grains which inevitably produced too much heat and didn't perform satisfactorily; this one cleverly employed a grinding system.


And the most outstanding was the invention of Type C in 1931. It was vertical with a grinding unit and milled rice down to 40% of the original weight.


The company offers a tour showing you their museum and part of their facility. Reservation in advance is required. 


It would be one interesting experience for you.

Where does the rice powder from milling go?

The super-premium Dai-ginjo Sake is made from rice milled down to 50% or more of the original weight. You might wonder where the powder from milling goes. The powder is not really bran; it's too good to be classified so. But don't worry; not a bit is wasted but it's fully used for other purposes such as making cooking oil, vinegar, fish feed, and sweets. 


Here's the picture from one of the breweries nestling in the Saijo Sake Brewery Street area.


The powder is divided into four levels of quality. The very best is pure white and used for making Japanese sweets like crackers and rice cake. A gentleman at the brewery keeps these bags for children who come to the brewery on a school field trip  to be able to know that breweries including his are taking great care about the rice they use. 


He also let the children know that the water used at his brewery is filtered before discharge. The discharged water does not go our right away; instead it is brought out by a tank truck to be treated at a public water treatment facility.


Like their Sake, what they do is pure, clear, and environmentally friendly. 

Sky Way in Kyoto

See how glass panels are effectively equipped

Kyoto offers countless tour destination to travelers. Well, add the JR Kyoto Station building designed by HARA Hiroshi to your destination list. It's too good to consider just as a railway station where you arrive and leave. 


The building appears to be more open to the public compared with other urban railway stations. More spaces are accessible and it's fun to explore them. Allow at least one hour or take another hour to see every nook and corner.


My favorite is Kuchu-kei-ro or Sky Way, an aerial corridor about 400 meters long and 45 meters high from the ground floor. Free of charge of course.


The glass panels making up the north facade are also impressive. Here's what the architect said in the design concept submitted to the JR Kyoto Station Reconstruction Competition committee:

The northern facade practically consists of glass to realize a bright elevation surface. As a result the structure may look alternately lost or floating with the northern skies in the backdrop. The same scenery would not be reproduced ever again.

See more photos in my picasa album.

ITO Toyo-o got involved in rebuilding Tohoku

sendai mediatheque model for competition
displayed at TIMA 

ITO's Sendai Mediatheque suffered from the earthquake on March 11, 2011 that devastated and affected the Tohoku and many parts of eastern Japan. The facility had to be repaired and closed for two months but is back in shape and people are gathering again. 

At one of the shelters for the earthquake-affected in Sendai, a "Home-for-All" he designed was built. People planted flowers there, a man made a wooden box to keep logs for the fireplace installed in the Home, and necessary utensils were brought in. They are making it their true communal place where they can feel at ease, meet each other, have a cup of tea, or do some activities. The Home-for-All is a living room for communication.

In April 2011, ITO Toyo-o was asked to join the effort of conceiving the vision for new Kamaishi. It would be a daring challenge to transform the earthquake and tsumami-stricken city to where people feel protected, mentally and physically, from any devastating damage by possible tsunami in the future.

In hilly Kamaishi, the flat area suitable for residence was limited and that small area of land was wiped out by the tsunami on March 11, 2011. In addition to the devastation caused by the natural disaster, the city has been confronted with falling and aging population caused by the declining steel making industry which the city’s economy relied on. The city’s rehabilitation, ITO believed, should not be to restore the city as it was but to solve constructively the inherent issues the city had to fight back.

He was a busy man, working on 20 some projects when he was asked to pitch in but felt urged and took the job because for one thing he wanted to find the answer to his own question: are the architects needed by the society? At the age of 70, he got determined to ask himself if his “architecture” was really architecture.

On December 18, 2011, ITO presented the people of Kamaishi his idea for new-born Kamaishi. He thought of the traditional Gassho-zukuri A-frame collective housings standing at the foot of the hills. Nearby lies the city hall which does not stand out but blends with the other houses and whole scenery. With his architecture, he intended to design the community where people can naturally form bond, be proud of the character of their city and feel like showing it off to others; then the city would attract more people and invigorate itself as a result.

You need hope to go on. ITO’s architecture has to be a source of hope.

Tomo's nostalgic modern buildings

Yuko-ken, a cafe selling hand-made candles

These are also part of Tomo. Besides these two, there stand several nostalgia-evoking buildings for Japanese in Tomo. Fortunately they blend well with the older houses.

Gallery on the hillside

Nunakuma Shrine in Tomo

This pillar was dedicated by a trading house Osaka-ya
according to the inscription. 

More than 1800 years ago, Empress Jingu called on Tomo on her way to western Japan. She came back on her way back. Knowing the divinity was not enshrined, she prepared a sanctuary and summoned Owatatsumi-no-mikoto from the sea. Watasu Shrine was legendarily founded somewhere in Tomo that way.


The present Nunakuma shrine was originally called Gion Shrine, the mother shrine of Kyoto's Gion Shrine (now called Yasaka Shrine and famous for its summer festival). But the Meiji government, promoting the separation of Buddhism and Shinto, demanded the name be changed into something which did not carry Buddhist significance. The old historical name, Nunakuma, was chosen and since then the shrine has been called Nunakuma Jinja and Owatatsumi was invited here as the central divinity in addition to the original host Susano-o in 1876.


Here, take a good look at the structures made of rocks, such as Torii gates, stone stairs and pillars, and smooth oval rocks which were used for strength contests. 


A Noh stage which can be disassembled and made portable sits there. It's an old stage from the beginning of the 17th century. The stage is still used by locals and seeing the Noh performance outdoors must be a lot of fun. But it might just look insignificant to the eyes of travelers when nothing is happening.


The shrine visit will add a spice to your temple hopping exploration.

Macho port workers competed on their strength.

Temples in Tomo-no-ura

There are 19 temples in Tomo. Considering the fact that the town is 600 meters wide from east to west and less than 1 kilometer from north to south, this number is quite large. It is believed that there were nearly 30 temples in the Edo period when the town was prosperous with transit trading.

The oldest is said to be Jokan-ji built around 810 followed by Io-ji on the hill allegedly founded in 826 by Kukai, a great Buddhist monk and cultural hero who, according to local legends, dug wells and built temples instantly. Tomo is likely to have had at least three temples in the ninth century including these two and the other which does not exist anymore.

Ankoku-ji Shaka-do (Sakyamuni Hall)

Ankoku-ji, originally built in the 13th century under a different name, was renamed in the 14 century by ASHIKAGA Takauji, who ordered the construction of Ankoku-ji temples and Risho-to towers nationwide wishing for the repose of the war dead. The temples and towers were especially dedicated to the late Emperor Godaigo, who was opposed to Takauji and escaped to Yoshino, Nara where he died in frustration.

Amitabha trio
See the attendants' elegant hand postures

Ankoku-ji’’s high status didn’t allow it to have parishioners as financial supporters. Sometimes the temple was in dire situation. Historically and academically, however, this is an important temple. The Shaka-do (Sakyamuni Hall) that enshrines not the Sakyamuni trio but the trio of Amitabha Buddha and his attendants is a significant example of architecture from the 13th century which utilized techniques introduced from Buddhist monks and others fleeing Sung China whose authority was waning and about to be replaced by Yuan Dynasty.

Part of the stately tomb stone at Ankoku-ji,
built by a merchant family in the Edo period

Most of the existing temples were built under the order of FUKUSHIMA Masanori who was dispatched at the beginning of the 17th century to present day Hiroshima Prefecture by TOKUGAWA Ieyasu, the first shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, who established peace and stability. Many line up one after another. 


FUKUSHIMA Masanori expanded the already-existing fortress into Tomo Castle. The central citadel was built on top of the hill now situated in the middle of the historic area of Tomo. In those days, the castle stood at the edge of the land but the seashore has receded due to reclamation. The lord too reclaimed some land and that's how Taiga-shima island became part of the main land. He moved Enpuku-ji temple from its original location onto the hill of the former island, a vantage point to overlook the waters and the location of a stronghold during the middle ages. 


The construction of the castle town continued and the planning was grand, which made TOKUGAWA Ieyasu upset and skeptical about his loyalty, leading to the demolition of the castle probably in 1609.


Walk along the temples and see some of your favorites carefully, thinking about the lord who was not a true sympathizer of the Tokugawa clan and demoted to a smaller domain after his short reign in Hiroshima. 

Io-ji on the hill