It may seem like a simple task, but sake brewing is an inherently laborious process. It goes without saying that the level of labor involved varies depending on the performance of the bottle washer and bottling machine, and the age of the corking machine.

Starting with prehistoric earthenware, ceramic jars, wooden pails and barrels, and sake bottles... Sake containers have remained at the center of commerce, changing in material, shape, and capacity as they discerned trends. Glass bottles only became popular as distribution containers after the war, so the history of 1.8L and 4.8L bottles is quite short.

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This person will explain

Toji shop owner/producer Eri Nakano

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In 1995, he opened the Japanese sake bar "Janapese Refined Sake Bar Tojiya" in Tenjinbashisuji, Osaka. He is active in various fields as a sake critic, seminar lecturer, and lyricist.

●From Glass to Glass - From Imports to Domestic Production!

From the early 18th century, Japan had been producing a wide variety of glass products, including mirrors, wind chimes, glasses, hairpins, and cut glass. However, these were limited to small everyday items, and most of the large glass panes used in windows were imported from the Netherlands.
In 1876 (Meiji 9), the government purchased Shinagawa Kogyosha, a privately run glass factory, and made it a national factory. At that time, there was a rapid increase in demand for plate glass and glass bottles, so they sought to domestically produce them.

Then, in 1887 (Meiji 20), sake bottled in domestically produced glass bottles began to be used exclusively for exhibitions and exports.
The first sake bottled in a glass bottle was sold in Japan in 1894 (Meiji 27) by Sakura Masamune (Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture), and the bottle had a capacity of four go. Later, in 1899 (Meiji 32), Eigashima Sake Brewery (Akashi City, Hyogo Prefecture) began selling sake bottled in mouth-blown glass bottles. This was the first time that a bottle had a capacity of one sho. Glass, known as giyaman in the Edo period, was precious and expensive, but by the Meiji period, the technology for mass production did not yet exist.

● Breaking away from liquor store blends ~ Establishing a brand ~

Until then, sake was sold by weight, and filled into containers brought by customers. Toi-oke and tokkuri were containers that liquor stores loaned to customers, and tokkuri, which became popular from the Edo period to the early Showa period, had the name of the store and the name of the sake (and in the early Showa period, the phone number as well) written on them, serving as advertising and also as an item to increase sales, with the aim of encouraging customers to return to the store instead of going to other stores. Selling by weight also allowed liquor stores to create their own unique blends, which led to the acquisition of their own favorite customers.

On the other hand, selling by weight also became a breeding ground for unscrupulous blends. It seems that there were cases where people would mix large amounts of water or cheap alcohol, but still charge a full price. Automatic bottle-making machines, which are said to have been introduced as a result of machines that had nowhere to go due to Prohibition, brought a large number of glass bottles to Japan.

The major sake makers in Nada and Fushimi aggressively introduced glass bottles due to the risk of blending resulting in a "different sake" and concerns about hygiene that were becoming more prevalent as modernization progressed. By doing so, they were able to firmly establish their own flavors and brands.

However, selling by weight continued into the Showa era. The liquor stores' sense of blending to satisfy customers was also quite impressive.

●We don't leave it up to the machine

There are machines at the sake brewing site, but after cleaning the bottles, they are checked for scratches, after filling them with sake, they are checked to make sure there is the correct amount and that there are no foreign objects inside, and after sealing, they are checked to make sure the cap is not deformed. These are all checked by human eyes, not by machines.

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