Here's how sake, a rice wine, is made, its myriad varieties, and its role in everyday life and traditions
People take photographs of a display of sake barrels at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo.
Image: Yuichi Yamazaki / AFP©
Japanese tipples sake and shochu—and the knowledge and skills honed over centuries to make them —have been added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
AFP looks at how sake, a rice wine, is made, its myriad varieties, and its role in everyday life and traditions:
By around 1000 AD, the imperial palace had a department to supervise the manufacturing of sake and its use in rituals, according to the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association.
The multi-staged brewing techniques still used today are thought to have been established around the 1700s.