th Generation Takahashi is appearing on Kitchen Travel, a podcast dedicated to cooking time in the kitchen. Our navigator, Mr. Nomura, visited us two years ago and gave us a tour and a meal. The relationship at that time led to the request for this appearance, and the program will consist of a first part and a second part. The first part of the story focuses on how Takahashi spent his childhood and how he took over the family business. What kind of feeling does a person grow up with as they become aware of their career path and future being determined? I feel that I have once again been able to put my feelings into perspective. We hope you will watch the video.
Our guest this time is Yasushi Takahashi, the 7th generation of Yamamo Miso Soy Sauce Brewing Company. @the_7th_generation @yamamo_garden_cafe Yamamo is a miso and soy sauce brewer located in Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture, and has been in business for generations since 1867. I had the opportunity to visit a while ago, but first of all, there was something strange about the website. When I actually visited, I remember being really surprised to see a view beyond my imagination. As you enter the traditional Japanese house, you see more and more things that are different from what you would normally imagine a brewery to be, such as galleries and glass showcases. A space with a view of a century-old garden can be turned into a café where you can enjoy experimental cuisine that makes full use of fermentation. A space and experience that emanates a unique atmosphere, a mixture of tradition and novelty, and the person who has been setting it all up is Yasushi Takahashi. Since that visit, I’ve had a secret goal of inviting him to join the podcast one day, and now it’s finally happened. As is becoming customary, we’ll be doing it in two parts this time. Nomura is a little nervous, but please enjoy the show.
An article about Yamamo is featured in NIHONMONO, a travel magazine that explores the ‘real things’ of ‘Japan’. Hidetoshi Nakata visited us and explained the benefits of Viamver®︎ yeast and the process that led to its discovery during the tour, and paired wines and food with the same yeast. We had a very interesting discussion about their views on the intended fermentation and the thoughts of the creators and how they communicate their values to the world.
Because of the yeast’s ability to work across technologies and genres, we continue to explore its potential in collaboration with other industries, such as winemaking. This is very rewarding, but it is not easy to communicate completely new products and values. The invisible bacteria and delicate flavours may sometimes have to be made easier to understand or from a different angle. Our conversation with Mr Nakata, who is also involved in efforts to communicate the value of sake to the world, made us think about this.
They have written an article about the efforts of the 7th generation so far. We hope you will take a look at it._mediainfo._magazine
In search of the future, the 7th generation head of the family chose the evolution of fermentation, ‘Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewing Company’
The Minase River flows through the southern part of Akita Prefecture, descends the Oyasu Gorge, enriches the Inaniwa Udon noodle village and joins the Naruse River in the town of Yuzawa. In 1867, Mosuke Takahashi, founder of the Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewing Company, began making miso and soy sauce near the Minase River. The beautiful water was essential for miso and soy sauce production, and the proximity of the river made it possible to transport the products by boat. After 150 years, the Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewing Company is now in the hands of the seventh generation of the family, Yasushi Takahashi. The name “Yasushi” is inscribed in his name, but Yasushi’s first choice was the path of change.
He had previously set his sights on a career in architecture, but at the age of 27 he returned to Akita to take over the family business. His decision to take over the business was driven by his love for the brewery, which had unknowingly taken up residence in his heart, and he thought that if someone else was going to take over the business, it should be him. However, the small brewery in Akita, in the north of Japan, was feeling a sense of entrapment. Tai felt that this was not good enough. He was not attracted to the miso and soy sauce business himself. He decided that he had no choice but to change things himself, and started working on the rebranding of the company on his own.
From the very beginning, it was abroad that he set his sights on. There was also a determination that I would be the one to take on the mission of communicating the proud traditional Japanese culture overseas. The soy sauce labels were changed to Japanese and English, an official website was created in foreign languages, and while retaining the good qualities of traditional industry, the design that emerged from the process looked 180 degrees different from what had been done before. No, to the casual observer, it only looked ‘different’. He clashes with old employees and finally with his parents. Tired and lost day after day, Yasu is still encouraged by the results of his work. In the second year of his involvement in overseas trade, he began doing business in Taiwan, and the following year he made a full-fledged foray overseas by actively exhibiting his products at overseas trade fairs. The brewery was also revamped into a completely different experience-oriented brewery by organising factory tours that include the garden of the Takahashi family mansion, which has been carefully passed down from generation to generation, as part of the tour. Furthermore, they opened the YAMAMO GARDEN CAFE, which connects courses with dishes made only with special yeast while enjoying the view of the garden.
Behind the café’s food offerings is the ‘experimental brewing’ that Tai-san has continued to carry out behind the scenes of innovation in traditional industries. Since taking over the company, Yasushi has conducted a number of experiments, such as actively using fungi used in industries other than miso and soy sauce, and adopting technological applications from other industries. These unprecedented experiments led to the discovery that the company’s own special brewer’s yeast fungus can produce large amounts of umami. Furthermore, many of the yeast strains used in miso brewing are said to be halophilic, meaning that they are active in a salty environment. However, this yeast fungus is not only halophilic, but can also live and work without salt and is a special fungus with the ability to produce nearly 6% alcohol. The yeast, which was discovered through 10 years of trial brewing, has been named Viamver® and will be presented at the Japanese Society of Brewing Science in 2020. In 2020, the yeast will be presented at the ‘Japanese Society of Brewing Science’ and a patent for both its production and manufacturing process has been applied for. Using this new yeast, the company has succeeded in converting it into a new fermented seasoning and in brewing natural wine with Viamver® yeast. It is now also capable of producing bread, butter and cheese. Furthermore, the company is challenging the possibilities of Viamver® yeast by brewing natural beer and doburoku using the same yeast.
The YAMAMO GARDEN CAFE offers full courses using Viamver® yeast not only in meat and fish dishes, but also in desserts and drinks. The company sees pairings and course meals using a single yeast as a new possibility for fermentation, and is working on this with a view to creating an auberge that invites people from home and abroad. Visitors can experience the history of the brewery through a tour of the atmospheric brewery. They can also learn about the evolution of fermented seasonings through cooking while admiring the beautiful garden. Yasushi believes that these experiences are the catalyst for the brewery to remain in people’s memories for a long time and become a much-loved brewery. This is probably because he believes that remaining in people’s memories is the essence of inheriting and passing on the thoughts of the predecessors who have spun them on for so long.
Yasushi adds new scenes to the traditional brewery one after another. He says he aims to revitalise the region by combining tradition, which demands that things remain unchanged, with innovation, which requires the creation of new things, and he hopes to weave a new tradition in the area where he was born and raised. We can’t wait to see what innovations he will continue to bring to the Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewing Company, and how far its products will go beyond the boundaries of traditional industry.
An article by Takahashi, the seventh generation, is published in the web media Professional Online. We believe that the pursuit of our own unique world of fungi, as well as the study of fermentation techniques that continue in the tradition, increases the probability of new innovations and also improves the cultural aspect of our business. You can find the background and details in the following article. We hope you will find it interesting._mediainfo._magazine
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報紙出版_Professional Online
關於第 7 代高橋的文章在 WEB 媒體的 Professional Online 上發布。 我們相信，追求一個獨特的真菌世界，以及對發酵技術的傳統研究，將增加創造新創新的可能性並改善文化方面。 詳細內容和詳細信息發佈在以下文章中。 我想讓你看看。
At the age of 27, Yasushi Takahashi took over the family business and became the seventh generation of the Yamamo Miso Soy Sauce Brewery, a long-established miso and soy sauce brewery that has been in business since 1867. While focusing on tradition, he is also actively pursuing new ventures such as branding of fungi.
In the world of kurayō, where the emphasis is on repetition of the past, Takamo Gomei Kaisha / Yamamo Miso Soy Sauce Brewery is developing new businesses outside the existing framework, such as wine brewing using bacteria derived from miso and soy sauce. We spoke to Mr Takahashi, Managing Director of Yamamo Miso & Soy Sauce Brewery, who is working hard on the business with a desire to “find the meaning of my succession”.
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Communicating value to customers through both inbound and outbound communication.
-Thank you very much for your time today. Could you tell us about the history of your company’s founding?
The company was founded in 1867, the year of the Great Reformation, and I am the seventh generation. I took over the family business when I was 27 years old, and this year marks the 15th year since then. Five years after I took over the family business, we started expanding overseas, and three years after that we started accepting inbound visitors.
As we are an old company, we have a lot of issues to deal with, including the building. Therefore, we would like to solve the issues through renovation, while at the same time stacking the content by accompanying it with new attractions, so that customers can visit us as a final destination.
We believe that we can best convey our value by doing both inbound and outbound, so we have taken the decision to have an inviting function in our own warehouse along with exports.
‘I want to find meaning in what I have inherited’ – a new form of business that is not bound by the style of the industry
-Can you explain the business you are currently engaged in?
As a new business, we are repeatedly conducting test brewing.
As a background, the miso and soy sauce industry differs from the wine industry in that people expect the same taste as last year. It is an industry that is far from innovation, as innovation is not really required. Although we are in such an industry, we are working to innovate in novelty, which has not been required in the industry until now.
There is a strong desire to find the meaning of my own succession, as I myself originally had no intention of taking over the family business and came back from a career in architecture.
We also offer paid tours as part of our inbound initiatives. At 3,300 yen for a tour lasting about one and a half hours, our pricing is high for the industry, but we believe that in order to convert the experience into value and turn it into a business, we need to raise the unit price and create quality that can withstand that.
Japanese craftsmanship is highly regarded around the world, so we believe that if the craftsmanship sites themselves have entertainment value, they can also be launched as experience-based consumption.
We are also actively engaged in efforts to discover new bacteria. This is not an easy task, as even useful bacteria can have the ability to kill, but through repeated work we have been able to discover a special type of bacteria that would fall under our patents.
I think the advantage of our new business is that we are focusing on creating cross-sectional products using this bacteria.
In terms of the characteristics of this fungus, it is capable of producing twice as much flavour as normal. Originally, the fungus was derived from miso soy sauce, so it is halophilic and cannot work in the absence of salt, but this fungus has the ability to ferment without any change.
It is said to be the first time in the world, academically speaking, that wine can be made with bacteria derived from miso soy sauce. The fact that we have found bacteria that can act transversely through our own research is our greatest strength, and ultimately we would like to brand our bacteria.
It has been decided that we will team up with other companies to produce doburoku in order to pursue the potential of our bacteria. We will continue to promote the move to collaborate with places that can brand and apply our bacteria.
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-It’s a ground-breaking initiative. What are your prospects for the future?
I would like to continue to work on initiatives that will allow us to evolve while exploring new areas of application for bacteria.
Before the new coronavirus broke out, people from the restaurant NOMA, which has been awarded the world’s best restaurant four times, came to a lecture and workshop we gave at our research centre in Copenhagen.
In fact, due to the new coronavirus, a German chef who was supposed to work in one of noma’s Japanese outlets lost his way and had to come to our company.
The foreign chef’s point of view is also very important, because he catches a different taste than the Japanese, which has allowed us to strengthen our area as a restaurant very much. Due to visa problems, the German chef went back home, but it was a very good experience for our company.
From there, we have created a movement to strengthen the area of gastronomy. Our bacteria has the ability to ferment soy sauce (barley) and also brew beer because of its resistance to hops.
We are considering teaming up with domestic manufacturers, but lager beer originated in Europe, so we would first like to find partners there who share our ideas.
We would like to continue to propose new possibilities for fermentation to the world in the form of collaboration between East and West using bacteria.
Preventing the decline of the industry. Developing business with a sense of mission.
-What are some of the challenges facing the industry as a whole?
I feel that the high barriers for new entrants are a challenge. There are more than 30 breweries left in Akita Prefecture, but the situation is that newcomers have a disadvantage.
The most precious value is to continue with the same production methods established in the past without changing them.
If this situation continues, the number of breweries will decrease and the number of breweries will decline, so we need to change the balance of power so that those with novelty have an advantage.
We will continue to carry on the production methods of the past, but I also want to convey the value of new technologies that I have discovered to the industry.
We are creating new products with free thinking, such as soy sauce with oranges in it, which Japanese people thought could not become a royal road because they were caught up in existing values.
I believe that this industry is also extremely vulnerable in terms of the lack of new entrants, so we want to develop our business with a sense of mission to create new ways of using miso soy sauce from Japan.
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-Thank you very much. Finally, could you give a message to the managers and decision-makers who are watching Professional Online?
I myself believe in human creativity, and I believe that humanity has been able to move forward through creativity, even in difficult circumstances.
I want to implement an industry based on creativity, and my philosophy is to ‘rebuild traditional industries with creativity and aesthetics’. We want to extend this philosophy to all fields.
After careful consultations due to the rising costs of raw materials, crude oil and logistics, it has been decided to raise prices by approximately 10% from 1 May 2022 for orders placed on 1 May 2022. In addition, due to this price revision, product shipments are being crowded. Please note that you may have to wait for your products to arrive.
We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause to our regular customers, but we will strive to further improve our quality and service. We thank you for your understanding.
How can we move forward with the ancient technology of fermentation? Since I took over the family business, I have been working to find the answer to that question. If we can add the essence of new discoveries to the accumulation of long years, it will lead to evolution. The existence of Viamver®︎ yeast, which we discovered from the brewer’s yeast that has coexisted in our brewery for a long time, may be able to provide an answer to that question.
Our attempt to find a way to express the efficacy of this new fungus, Viamver®︎ yeast, is first demonstrated in cooking. The umami taste of succinic acid can underpin almost any dish, giving it a taste like the addition of seafood broth. For example, it can be added to soy sauce to make it taste like dashi soy sauce, or to milk to make it taste like cheese. We compose our menus using Viamver®︎ yeast in all of our dishes.
YAMAMO GARDEN CAFE’s dinner course is featured in the January issue of Kappo, “Fermentation in Tohoku”. The cover and the six pages of the article are a testament to the enthusiasm of the editorial staff. We hope you will enjoy the article._mediainfo._magazine
江戸末期創業、皆瀬川の伏流水を源に味噌・醬油の醸造を続ける老舗蔵元『ヤマモ味噌醤油醸造元』。地元の人々に愛され続ける伝統の味噌や醤油、だし醤油などを作り続けるとともに、世界の食文化と和の調味料との融合・進化を目指して “Life is Voyage”という理念を掲げ、海外展開とともに新たな価値創造を行なっている。老舗の急激な変革は、7代目当主である高橋泰さんの人物像を色濃く映すもの。と、いうより、高橋さんの思想、思考、哲学が、老舗に新たな未来をもたらしたと言っても過言ではない。
Fermentation, a daily journey into its wide and deep interior.
Innovation of a long-established company by the 7th generation
After 154 years of history, everything that exists at Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewery has a certain meaning.
Founded in the late Edo period, Yamamo Miso and Soy Sauce Brewing Company is a long-established brewery that has been brewing miso and shoyu using subterranean water from the Minase River as its source. While continuing to produce traditional miso, soy sauce, dashi soy sauce, and other products that are loved by local people, the company is also creating new value as it expands overseas under the concept of “Life is Voyage,” which aims to fuse and evolve Japanese seasonings with the world’s food culture. The rapid transformation of long-established companies has been a major factor. The rapid transformation of this long-established company is a reflection of the personality of Mr. Yasushi Takahashi, the seventh generation head of the company. Rather, it is no exaggeration to say that Mr. Takahashi’s thoughts, ideas, and philosophy have brought about a new future for the old store.
He says that he had no intention of taking over the business. At university, he studied design engineering and architecture, and naturally thought of becoming an architect. However, when he questioned his inner self about his vision, he realized that it was not to build new buildings, but to create something that fuses historical culture with new culture. Looking back, I saw the family business that had been in existence for six generations.
創業於江戶時代末期的老字號“Yamamo味噌醬油釀造商”，繼續從禦瀨川的地下水中釀造味噌和醬油。在繼續製作深受當地人喜愛的傳統味噌、醬油和高湯醬油的同時，我們以“Life is Voyage”的理念向海外擴張，旨在通過日本調味料融合和發展世界飲食文化。也在創造新的價值。老字號店的快速轉型，是第七代老闆高橋太的性格的強烈體現。可以毫不誇張地說，高橋先生的思想、思想和哲學為這家歷史悠久的商店帶來了新的未來。
If you want to learn more about the 150 years of the brewery, the innovations Takahashi-san has made, and the future he envisions, don’t hesitate to join the “YAMAMO FACTORY TOUR. It is not just a program to visit the brewery, but you will gain knowledge that crosses the macro and micro levels, such as the current state of the world of fermentation, the position of fermentation and Yamamo in the world, and the future of Yamamo and this place called Iwasaki.
The laboratory, which is equivalent to a sake cellar in a sake brewery, used to be a pickles warehouse. It was here that the revolutionary yeast Viamver®︎ was discovered. The yeast in ordinary miso and soy sauce breweries is halophilic (salt-tolerant), which allows for moderate fermentation and high shelf life, but it performs extremely poorly in the absence of salt. In contrast, the yeast used in wine and sake is suppressed by salt, and many of them are unable to ferment. However, Viamver®︎ is an extraordinary yeast that can grow in a wide range of salt concentrations, from 0% to 18%, and is capable of producing alcohol, despite being a fermentation yeast for miso. Discovering a new yeast is said to be more difficult than discovering a new celestial body in the world of fermentation. The Viamver®︎, which can brew both miso and sake, was greeted with a great deal of surprise.
旨みのもととなる有機酸の中でもコハク酸の生成能力を持ち、アルコールの醸成に長け、果実や吟醸香に似た華やかな芳香その他複数の特長を持つ「Viamver®︎」。この酵母を新たなオールに、高橋さんはさらなる航海を続ける。もろみ蔵の中に設えられた、小さなテーブル。「Gustation is Micro Journey（味覚は主観の旅である）」をテーマに展開されるコース料理のスターターとして位置づけられたこのテーブルでは、「Viamver®︎」によって醸されたワイン「PROSLOGION」とアミューズを、味噌の芳香の中で楽しむことができる。この日は鯛の昆布締めと発酵させた柿とクリームチーズのソフリット。添えられているのは、やはり「Viamver®︎」で香味野菜を調味したベジタブルソルトだ。鼻から入る香り、鼻へと抜ける香り、同じ酵母から生まれた複数の味わいが、鮮やかに出合って一体となってゆく官能。このひと皿に続く料理もすべて、「Viamver®︎」の恩恵と高橋さんやシェフたちの実験精神から生まれた。味わうごとに、「Viamver®︎」に翻弄されているような、侵食されてゆくような、不思議な感覚に身震いが起きた。
Viamver®︎ has the ability to produce succinic acid, which is one of the organic acids that give flavor, and is excellent at brewing alcohol. With this yeast as his new oar, Takahashi-san continues his voyage. A small table set up in the moromi storehouse. At this table, which is positioned as a starter for a course based on the theme “Gustation is a Micro Journey,” you can enjoy “PROSLOGION,” a wine brewed with Viamver®︎, and an amuse in the aroma of miso. On this day, we had sea bream with kombu shime. On this day, we had kombujime sea bream with fermented persimmon and cream cheese sofrito. It was accompanied by vegetable salt seasoned with “Viamver®︎”. The aroma that enters through the nose, the aroma that exits through the nose, and the sensation of multiple flavors born from the same yeast vividly meeting and becoming one. All the dishes that followed this one were born from the benefits of Viamver®︎ and the experimental spirit of Takahashi-san and the chefs. As I tasted each dish, I shuddered at the strange sensation of being at the mercy of Viamver®︎, of being invaded by it.
In the majestic storehouse, I found a space, thoughts, and food that I had never experienced before. The future of fermentation, as envisioned by Yamamo, is still full of possibilities, and it has its sights set on the whole world.
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完全不為人知的飲食體驗
在作為鮮味來源的有機酸中，“Viamver®︎”具有產生琥珀酸的能力，善於培養酒精，具有類似於水果和吟釀香的華麗香氣。以這種酵母為新槳，高橋先生將繼續他的航程。莫羅米倉庫裡擺著的一張小桌子。定位為“Gustation is Micro Journey”主題套餐的開胃菜，“Viamver®︎”生產的葡萄酒“PROSLOGION”和amuse搭配味噌，您可以在香氣中享用。這一天，我們吃了海帶緊實的鯛魚和發酵的柿子和奶油芝士索菲托。附上用蔬菜調味的植物鹽，還有“Viamver®︎”。入鼻的香，出入鼻的香，同一種酵母產生的多種風味生動地融合在一起的感性。這道菜之後的所有菜品都是從“Viamver®︎”的好處和高橋先生和廚師們的實驗精神中誕生的。每次品嚐，都會有一種被“Viamver®︎”擺佈，被侵蝕的神秘感覺。
Starter The amuse-bouche, “Sea bream kombu-jime, fermented persimmon and cream cheese sofrito” and “PROSLOGION” are the starters of the course. It is served with vegetable salt seasoned with Viamver®︎. Non-alcoholic champagne from France is served for those who do not drink alcohol.
Salads Seasonal Vegetarian Salad. Tofu mousse and ankimo mousse, vegetable and animal goodness side by side, combined with fresh greens and fermented carrot flakes, nuts and yogurt sauce. Served with fermented butter, fermented kiwi confiture and two kinds of bread.
Hors d’oeuvres Fermented Caviar and Seared Sturgeon. When the decision was made to brew “PROSLOGION”, Takahashi-san already had the idea of this fermented caviar in mind.
Soup Warm Vichyssoise with yeast-soaked potatoes. Porcini flavor and fermented butter are added along the way.
Poisson Fermented menouche rotisserie. Menoukeh marinated in a yeast solution is sautéed and then steamed into a rotisserie. It is served with a sauce of fermented tomatoes, basil and herb oil. The fibrous flesh with its concentrated flavor unravels quickly and pleasantly. This is a non-alcoholic natural white wine brewed with oranges as the main ingredient. After alcoholic fermentation, only the alcohol content was extracted.
Viand Fermented lamb leg grill with fermented berry sauce. The lamb meat, made extra tender by the yeast, has a rounded and polished lamb-like flavor. Non-alcoholic natural wine red made from grapes and cherries in Yuzawa City. The astringency and bitterness of the wine are delicately brought out to give a satisfying sensation as if you were drunk, even though it has 0% alcohol.
Risotto Fermented risotto with minor grains. This risotto is cooked with vegetables and fermented mushroom bouillon. The richness and thickness are achieved without using dairy products, and the succinic acid of Viamver®︎ is utilized.
Dessert 1 Crème Brûlée”: Brûlée made with miso aged for 20 years, served with a brightly acidic raspberry sauce. It can be enjoyed alone or as a set with a drink.
Dessert 2 YAMAMO Soy Gelade: Four kinds of nuts and pralines are kneaded into a marble with Viamver®︎ fermented liquid and miso-soy sauce. Topped with vegetable salt and olive oil. This item can be ordered separately or as part of a drink set.
○About “Kappo” Kappo was first published in August 2002 as a “premium magazine for adults. Targeting the intellectually curious and relaxed adult generation, Kappo introduces history, culture, art, gourmet food, hot springs, travel, and entertainment. The magazine features in-depth articles and bold visuals that present carefully selected information about Sendai, Miyagi and Tohoku. Based on the information obtained by the staff of the editorial department, we try to convey the information with a sense of realism by including various things that we felt on the spot. It is our hope that through this magazine, you will learn about the activities of the diverse and unique people associated with the local area and rediscover the charm of the land.
