Abstract
Chiba Prefecture, Japan, lies very near Tokyo, the capital city of Japan. It borders the sea on three sides and is banded by coastal dunes. Several sake breweries are located near these dunes. Although there are records of sake brewing along the coast of Tokyo Bay since 1925, sake breweries have completely disappeared in several areas. We believe that sake brewing in these areas benefited from the ecosystem services afforded them by their proximity to the coastal ecosystem. We investigated potential environmental factors (e.g., landscape, soil, and groundwater), as well as conditions that could have driven sake brewers away from the coastal area. Many of the sake breweries that no longer exist were located on coastal dunes (i.e., sand, sandbanks, and natural levees) and obtained their water from a freshwater layer located 3–10 m below the surface. We speculate that these sake breweries benefited from using natural ingredients found in the coastal zone. We also investigated the following factors that may have negatively impacted the breweries, driving them out of business: (1) bankruptcies and reconstruction difficulties that followed the destructive 1923 Great Kanto earthquake, (2) industrial wartime adjustments during World War II (1939–1945), (3) development of coastal industries during the period from 1960 to 1975, and (4) increasing choices for other alcoholic drinks (e.g., beer, wine, and whiskey) from the 1960s to the present.
Highlights
Japanese sake is brewed from rice and water, which are the central ingredients of the food culture of Japan
We investigate sake brewing in these areas, which benefitted from the natural environment, and factors that have led to its decline, based on a survey of the social changes such as land development that have occurred in the coastal area, modifying those features that promoted sake brewery during the Taisho era (1912–1926)
In this study, we investigated potential environmental factors and societal factors that were favorable for sake brewing in the coastal area in the 1920s
Summary
Japanese sake is brewed from rice and water, which are the central ingredients of the food culture of Japan. Sake breweries have been supporting this region for a few hundred years, and brewing has received the natural benefits of the coastal sand dunes (terrain, soil, water quality, etc.). Because these areas faced Tokyo, there has been extensive infrastructure maintenance and coastal development since the high economic growth period of the 1960s. We investigate sake brewing in these areas, which benefitted from the natural environment, and factors that have led to its decline, based on a survey of the social changes such as land development that have occurred in the coastal area, modifying those features that promoted sake brewery during the Taisho era (1912–1926). Y 1⁄4 A=ðA þ BÞ ð1Þ where Y is the sake production rate, A is the volume produced in Chiba Prefecture, and B is the volume transferred from outside the prefecture
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