Sake industry counts its losses

The devastation within Japan’s sake industry caused by the recent earthquake and tsunami is gradually becoming apparent.

Building an exact picture of the destruction has been complicated by difficulties in establishing contact with every brewery, or kura, with numerous conflicting reports in circulation.

However, an early report from the Japanese Sake Brewers Association has confirmed that some breweries have been completely destroyed, while many others have seen their facilities severely damaged, often resulting in spoilt or lost stock.

A number of deaths have also been confirmed and many workers have lost members of their family. As of 15 March, the JSBA was unable to account for as many as one third of sake brewery employees within the Iwate Prefecture alone.

Of around 2,000 breweries across the country, the most serious damage has been reported from those in Iwate, Fukushima and Ibaraki, all in the north east of the country, which was closest to the 8.9 magnitude earthquake’s epicentre and whose coastal regions felt the full force of the tsunami.

Lower levels of damage have also been recorded further west in Yamagata, Akita and Aomori.

Even where stock has been unaffected, several producers have raised the issue of supply problems, with impassable roads set to affect shipments.

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Gabriel Savage, 23.03.2011