The Yasuzuka district of Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, is home to a tranquil rural landscape. As you drive deeper and deeper into the mountains along a narrow mountain road just wide enough for one car, the view suddenly opens up and lush green rice fields appear. These are terraced rice fields known to the locals as "Mandouba."

In 2023, a new sake brand was born from this place: "MANDOBA," a sake that conveys the seasonal activities of Satoyama.

It was created by U・STYLE, a design company in Niigata city that was in charge of rice cultivation at Mantoba and the branding of the sake, Takeda Sake Brewery in Joetsu city that attempted the first in-house brewing method, kimoto, which does not use added yeast, and Watago Sake Store, a liquor store in Niigata city that connected the two. At the heart of this collaboration between the three companies from different industries was a shared philosophy of "connecting satoyama to the future with sake."

This time, Sake World interviewed the Matsuuras of U-STYLE and their son, along with Takeda Haruki, the 10th generation head brewer at Takeda Sake Brewery, to find out more about the project's past and future plans for creating new value in satoyama through sake and preserving it for the future.

I spoke to this person

U・STYLE Co., Ltd., Takeda Sake Brewery Limited Partnership

Profile

(From the right)
Kazumi Matsuura: Representative Director of U・STYLE Co., Ltd.
Haruki Takeda: 10th generation brewer of Takeda Sake Brewery Limited Partnership
Yuma Matsuura: Director of U・STYLE Co., Ltd.
Shutaro Matsuura: Director of U・STYLE Co., Ltd.

Growing rice without pesticides or chemical fertilizers: something I didn't know about

MANDOBA's concept is "sake brewed by the cycle of nature." This is achieved by growing rice without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers, and by using the microorganisms that live in the sake brewery.The name expresses the fact that sake is born from the cycle of nature, inviting in the nutrients and allowing it to ferment naturally. "It also conveys the meaning of the yearly cycle of the Satoyama, where the scenery changes with the seasons," explains Matsuura Yuma (hereafter referred to as Yuma), who is in charge of rice cultivation at Mantoba.

The changing of the seasons is also reflected in the names of the five types of sake released under the MANDOBA brand: "Mede" for spring, "Tayasu" for early summer, "Deho" for summer, "Kariage" for autumn, and "Kofu" for winter. These names are deeply connected to agricultural work and represent the seasonal activities of the Satoyama.

From left to right: budding, paddy rest, ear emergence, harvesting, wintering

Behind this concept, which is inseparable from the land of Mantoba, "lies the story of the rice fields that have been connected to it for a long time," says Matsuura Kazumi (hereinafter referred to as Kazumi).

Back in 2016, Shutaro Matsuura (hereafter referred to as Shutaro), who had just started working, wanted to "grow with my own hands the food that will support my livelihood," so he revived a rice field that had been fallow for about a year in Yasuzuka, where his grandparents lived.

Later, when it became difficult for her elderly grandfather to manage the rice fields, Kazumi took over the other fields in 2019, and began growing rice without pesticides or chemical fertilizers in four fields, including Mantoba. Looking back on that time, Kazumi laughs and says, "It's scary not to know."
"No one around me was growing rice without using pesticides or chemical fertilizers, and I think there was an atmosphere that it was impossible. But I had never grown rice properly, so I thought I'd give it a try, and started out without much thought. But when I started, I was surprised at how hard it was," says Kazumi.

Kazumi Matsuura

The rice cultivation cycle begins in the spring, when the deep snow melts. After the snow melts, the rice terraces are damaged by the weight of the snow, making them prone to leaking. For this reason, the soil is stirred up with a tractor while the meltwater is still pooled, making it less susceptible to leaking. In June, rice is planted using seedlings that have been grown in advance. During the subsequent weeding work, the water level in the rice paddies is kept slightly higher to prevent weed growth. For this reason, it is important to use larger seedlings so that they do not get submerged even when the water level gets deep. Then begins the most difficult season of growing rice without using pesticides.
"The one to two months after planting the rice is the most difficult, as we have to weed. We use special weeding tools to weed one of the rice fields almost every day. Once the weeds win, their roots fill the soil, leaving no room for the rice roots to grow, so this is the crucial period," says Yuma.

Rice farming

Even after overcoming the weeding work and reaching the harvest at the end of September, busy days continue, with people making charcoal and spreading rice bran to finish preparing the soil for the next year before the snow falls.With the number of people working in the rice fields continuing to decrease, Kazumi and her colleagues began selling processed rice products in order to add value to the rice and "design new possibilities for satoyama."

Natural yeast sake brewing begins with the thought, "No way!"

Ever since Hiiragi Taro started growing rice, he processed the rice he harvested into sweets and other products and sold them under the local brand "Satoyama Botanical" of "U・STYLE," a design company run by Kazumi. Gradually, the harvest increased, and while he was looking for other ways to use the rice, Hiiragi Taro, who loves alcohol, consulted with the liquor store "Watago Sake Shop," which acted as a coordinator for sake brewing, leading to his encounter with "Takeda Sake Brewery."
"In order to make the most of the power of rice grown without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers, I wanted to polish the rice as little as possible, polish it to 90% (Note 1), add no yeast, and make sake using the kimoto method," says Hiiragi Taro. Understanding his aspirations, Watago Sake Shop contacted Takeda Sake Brewery, which is also located in the Joetsu area.

Haruki Takeda

When Takeda Haruki (hereafter referred to as Takeda), the 10th generation head brewer at Takeda Shuzo, received the call, he recalled his honest feelings at the time, saying, "I thought, 'No way!' (laughs)" at the technical difficulty. At the time, Takeda Shuzo had no experience with 90% rice polishing, no yeast addition, or kimoto brewing.
This is because the kimoto method of sake brewing, which has been practiced since the Edo period, is extremely difficult to control the fermentation process, and it accounts for only about 1% of the national production. Furthermore, because the outer layer of the rice contains many components that cause unpleasant flavors, the general method of sake brewing is to polish the rice to 75% or less.

"It's scary not knowing," says Shutaro with a wry smile. However, Takeda was positive, saying, "I agreed with the idea of ​​turning carefully grown rice into sake, and personally I've always wanted to try kimoto brewing." He had expressed this desire to the master brewer for some time, but it hadn't come to fruition, so he saw this request as a good opportunity and persuaded the master brewer to do the same, and MANDOBA sake brewing began, initially with a rice polishing ratio of 70%.

Takeda says that the most difficult part of making sake, which was full of firsts, was not knowing when the yeast, essential for alcoholic fermentation, would be introduced into the mash.
"Because we don't add yeast artificially, we can't add yeast artificially, so all I could do was pray that natural yeast would somehow get into the mash and start fermentation. If the alcoholic fermentation doesn't progress, an aroma like blue cheese will emerge, which makes me very anxious. I had heard of cases where other breweries had failed because the yeast didn't get into the mash, so I was secretly nervous until the alcoholic fermentation started without any problems."

MANDOBA is produced in a dedicated room to prevent contamination with yeast used in Takeda Shuzo's existing products.

The sake that was completed after such tension was beautifully finished, and in a good way, not like kimoto. Now that it is the fourth year of brewing, Takeda says that he is no longer as worried as he was back then, but the aroma of the sake made over the past three years has all been different. "I think the yeast used is different for each one. That's the romantic side of it," says Takeda, looking forward to this year's finished product.

(Note 1: The polishing ratio is the percentage of rice that remains after polishing brown rice. A polishing ratio of 90% means that 10% of the brown rice has been polished.)

What effect has rice farming had on design?

Hiiragitaro evaluates the MANDOBA project as "a product of the 'positive challenges' taken on by each of the three parties: our design company is involved in rice farming, (Takeda) Haruki is involved in kimoto sake brewing, and Watago Sake Shop is involved in alcohol coordination."

At first glance, rice farming may seem like a world removed from the design industry, but Hiiragitaro says that his experience has had a positive influence on his perspective as a designer.
"Design is not just about drawing illustrations and composing letters; there is always a process of observation before that. Having our own field, the rice paddies, and being able to experience the changes in climate and agriculture firsthand, I feel that this helps us develop the perspectives that underpin our designs, such as 'how do we view society' and 'how do we view nature'," says Hiiragi Taro.

Shutaro Matsuura

This perspective is also well reflected in the design of MANDOBA. The background of the label is made by applying mud from the rice fields of Mantoba directly to the paper, incorporating the pattern. Furthermore, the brand name uses a typeface called Tenbun. "This is a typeface that is in the middle stage of the transition from oracle bone script to modern writing, and it directly embodies the movements of people and the shapes of nature. I wanted to express the activities of each season on the label, so I used this typeface," Yuma explains his intentions.

The name "Mandobaba" comes from a legend that when Senkeiji Temple in Yasuzuka converted from Shingon Buddhism to Jodo Shinshu during the Kamakura period, unnecessary Buddhist altar implements were buried in the surrounding area. There is also a legend that when Senkeiji Temple was a Shingon Buddhist temple, a prayer event called "Mandoe" was held in the surrounding area.

Among these efforts to express the nature and human activities surrounding sake, one that is particularly striking is the leaflet that features an illustration of Mandoba's rice fields and the various creatures that live there. "By not using pesticides, we can see so many creatures, such as insects and frogs, and it feels like they are the reason the rice grows so well," says Kazumi. The creatures that help the sake rice grow healthily are also important partners in sake brewing. The concept of "brewing with the cycle of nature" is truly embodied in all of the designs related to MANDOBA.

Connecting Satoyama to the future with sake

The MANDOBA project, which began as a collaboration between three parties, is now in its fourth year.
In addition to his existing MANDOBA, since last year Takeda has also been trying his hand at making sake with an 85% polishing ratio, leaving the rice unpolished.
"Mr. Matsuura and his team work so hard to produce such high-quality rice, so every year I think about how I can make the most of it. I'm confident that I can improve the flavor of the sake I started making last year with an 85% polishing ratio, and as a sake brewer, I absolutely have to make good sake," says Takeda.

Yuma also has confidence in Takeda's approach, saying, "I'm very grateful that he suggests ways to make the most of the quality of the rice."
Matsuura and his team, who grow rice and sell MANDOBA, aim to connect the Satoyama lifestyle to the future through MANDOBA.

"By making MANDOBA available for sale, we hope to send the message that if we grow pesticide-free rice here, we can make delicious sake that sells well. More and more people are giving up their rice fields, but if people start to realize that they can create value from their rice fields, I think this will lead to the rice fields and satoyama being passed down to future generations." (Hiiragi Taro)
Yuma also spoke of his feelings for the area, saying, "I want more attention to be paid to Yasuzuka, which is the foundation for making sake." He added, "Currently, we don't have a brick-and-mortar store in Yasuzuka, but I'd like to create some kind of mechanism to make this place enjoyable so that people will want to come here."

Yuma Matsuura

Kazumi plans to use MANDOBA to spread messages related to land and nature both domestically and internationally.

"When we were selling at a pop-up store some time ago, a customer from overseas picked up two or three bottles of MANDOBA and headed to the register. He read the leaflet we gave him while he was waiting, and when he returned he bought a bunch of more. That gave me hope that people from overseas might also buy our products after understanding the story of this region and the concept of MANDOBA. I'm sure that if the story is properly conveyed, it will make the purchase more satisfying and the taste will be even better when you drink it.
"I think that in order to preserve satoyama and rice fields for the future, it is necessary to increase the number of people involved in various ways. I hope that MANDOBA will be an opportunity for people to experience and become interested in the workings of satoyama and rice fields," says Kazumi.

On the day I first visited Mantoba, there were already many living creatures in the rice fields, which were filled with water in preparation for rice planting: water striders, earthworms, water bugs, and frogs of different sizes and colors.
What humans can do is not to control nature, but to create an environment in which plants and microorganisms can thrive. This was a common philosophy shared by Matsuura and his team in rice farming and Takeda in sake brewing. Nature is the main character. When I drank MANDOBA, I felt as if I could hear that voice.

(Photo provided by U・STYLE Co., Ltd.)

Writer: Kanon Urabe
Living in Niigata Prefecture / Sake sommelier, sake sommelier, shochu sommelier
I worked for a government agency supporting the export of food products, including sake, and now I work as a freelance writer and editor. I like craft sake, with a pronounced sweet and sour flavor, and sake made with additional ingredients.https://www.foriio.com/k-urabe