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JAPANESE SAKE INSCRIBED AS AN INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE BY UNESCO
By Tony Zhu
5-12-2024
Credit: Pamela Manning/Unsplash
Japanese sake was inscribed by UNESCO as an “intangible cultural heritage of humanity” yesterday in a meeting held in Luque of Paraguay.
Along with sake, yesterday’s meeting voted o recognise 44 other cultural practices and products around the world, including China’s spring festival and SE Asian costume the kebaya.
Unlike UNESCO’s World Heritage List, which includes historical sites considered important to humanity like the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, the Intangible Cultural Heritage designation names products and practices of different cultures that are deserving of recognition.
It is believed that sake-making has more than 1000 years of history in Japan. The crucial skill is the making of koji, a rice mold which breaks down the starches into fermentable sugars.
The quality of the rice is important to the quality of the final product, and for a product to be called Japanese sake, the rice must come from Japan.
The two-month long process of steaming, stirring, fermenting and pressing requires a lot of skills.
Both the Japanese government and the sake industry hope that sake’s new cultural heritage status will help revive sake’s popularity in Japan, particularly among young consumers who have either go dry or prefer imported alcoholic drinks.
“It means a lot to Japan and to the Japanese. This will help renew interest in traditional sake,” said Takehiro Kano, ambassador of Japan to UNESCO.
This view is echoed by the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association in Tokyo. “I hope that this will be an opportunity for Japanese people to take another look at sake, shochu and awamori, which are the essence of their culture. I would like them to try it even once and see what it tastes like,” said director of the association Hitoshi Utsunomiya.
Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in a statement that he was “delighted” by the inscription of traditional sake-making, the traditional drink that Japan is proud of. He also congratulated those who have dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the tradition.
Despite that sake’s popularity in the domestic market is in decline, it’s popularity in overseas market has been in steady rise.
Sake is very popular in USA and China, industry data shows that total export value is over USD265 million a year.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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