My neighbor emerged from her house recently dressed stylishly in bright spring colors. She was wearing her usual artistic jewelry and it was clear she was on her way somewhere.
“Going to the beauty parlor?”, I asked.
“I doubt there’s anything they can do for me,” she replied.
It was funny because her reply was so quick and she’s 98-years-old. She has on occasion invited me over for wine–I really need to take her some sake one day. Having her as a neighbor naturally makes me think often about elderly people, of which Japan has many. Japan is famous for having one of the oldest populations in the world. I remember vividly taking the bus to our office in Yokohama one rainy day, then saying after my arrival, “Japan is so old that old people on the bus were giving up their seats to ancient people.” I wasn’t trying to be funny. I was simply struck by what I saw on the bus that day. Retirees were giving up seats for people like my neighbor.
Of course, Japan’s ‘old’ are quite active and healthy–I mean, that’s how they got so old, right? Japan has a considerable number of centenarians as a percentage of its population and, I believe, Okinawa has the highest concentration in the world (experts surmise it’s a combination of their unique diet and active lifestyles, not–I’m afraid to say–the awamori distilled there). Japan’s aging population has enormous implications to society and also affects the sake industry.
You probably know, if you read this magazine regularly, that the number of sake breweries in Japan has been dwindling steadily for the last few decades. It’s sometimes reported ominously outside food-and-beverage media in mainstream publications. As we’ve reported in these pages, there is more than one culprit. Producers face more competition from other beverages, including a growing array of imports. Consumer behavior is changing, too, and there’s been a decided shift toward quality. Bottom-shelf sake breweries have more trouble surviving.
But an aging population really is the biggest reason. As folks get older, they drink less. Contraction of suppliers is only natural. Sake isn’t the only alcoholic beverage in Japan to see consumption volume fall, either (just ask beer).
That Japanese are having fewer children to offset the aging population creates other issues. Marcus Consolini, who writes our closing article for each issue, noted last issue that he knows many brewery owners without a successor. Some may not have children. Others understand that their children want to head into the city to pursue other careers. Sake brewing is a brutal job. In this issue, Julian Houseman alludes to that–albeit humorously–in his feature on the Houraisen Sake Laboratory. In her inspiring and poignant article, Ayuko Yamaguchi profiles some inspiring women supporting Shiga sake, but notes that they, too, are aging–at least there’s a hint of hope in her opening about a university student that wants to work for a sake brewery.
Having constant reminders of Japan’s aging population–and seeing the dwindling numbers for sake on paper–can be dispiriting. But maybe the situation isn’t completely dire. To cite one macro perspective, I recently read something from Jared Diamond (who famously wrote Guns, Germs, and Steel) in which he asserts that Japan’s population decline may be good for it. The country simply doesn’t have the resources to support as large a population as it has. And against the backdrop of these various declines, there are promising signs of a stable future, including for sake.
In his feature on Tomita Shuzō for this issue, John Gauntner notes that there has been a wave of new-generation owners for those breweries fortunate enough to have had a successor. These are young, capable leaders better suited for today’s challenges. The conditions their parents found so difficult to navigate are quite simply the reality they are most familiar with–there is no other business world than one with internet commerce, social media engagement, and export markets. Our regular travel writer Brian Kowalczyk and I have had ample opportunity to meet many of these young brewery owners (oh yes, and drink with them). If there’s anything we can say, it’s that they are inspiring individuals and they give you hope. The sake industry isn’t just here to stay–a better one is coming.
