RIKUZENTAKATA, Iwate Prefecture--Suisen Shuzo Co. had scheduled a ceremony to celebrate the shipping of its 2010 sake vintage for mid-afternoon on March 11.
RIKUZENTAKATA, Iwate Prefecture--Suisen Shuzo Co. had scheduled a ceremony to celebrate the shipping of its 2010 sake vintage for mid-afternoon on March 11.
The event was never held. At 2.46 p.m., just as staff were finishing preparations, the Great East Japan Earthquake hit.
The subsequent tsunami killed seven of Suisen’s 57 workers, left the brewery covered in rubble and destroyed its brewing equipment.
Now, Suisen, a 67-year-old company that won national gold prizes in 2007 and 2008 for its sake, is starting the long road back to recovery with the help of rival brewer Iwate Meijo Corp.
After wrapping up formalities with the local tax office in late June, the two companies agreed that Suisen can use Iwate Meijo’s facilities in Ichinoseki, which neighbors Rikuzentakata.
Yorihiko Oikawa, 54, president of Iwate Meijo, says, "If Suisen, a representative of Iwate, should fall, other sake breweries could also collapse."
With sake sales falling nationwide, the number of sake companies in Iwate has dropped from 35 to 23.
"(Their sake is) not too sweet and it goes down smoothly," Oikawa says. "I never tired of drinking it. Even though we are rivals, now is a time to help each other out."
Suisen President Yasuhiko Konno, 65, says the plan is to borrow Iwate Meijo’s facilities for two to three years as the company tries to get the Rikuzentakata operation back on its feet. Oikawa has told Konno that Suisen can use his site for as long as is necessary.
Suisen has received about 200 similar letters of support from fans, including a letter with a 50,000-yen donation from Yoshio Uchimura, 75, proprietor of Iwateya, an “izakaya” pub in Tokyo’s Bunkyo Ward that has served only Suisen sake since the 1960s.
After Iwateya ran out of Suisen, Uchimura said he was bombarded with inquiries from customers about when supplies would resume. A few days after the cooperation agreement with Iwate Meijo was reached, Konno phoned Uchimura, a long-time friend, to give the good news.
Konno said, "I cannot tell you how much those letters have encouraged us."
The immediate goal is to make first shipments in October.
This article was written by Fumiyuki Nakagawa and Atsushi Ishima.