amanoto(heaven's door) history

The Making Of 'Ama no To' (Heaven's Door)

■Brewing Ama no To Sake
　Out of the forty two original breweries within Akita Prefecture, 'Ama no To' is one of the smallest. The brewing of 'Ama no To' relies heavily on the hands of many people. Using instruments made out of aged wood, we put great emphasis on using our senses of smell and touch when brewing.
　I, sake master Moriya Koichi, will introduce to you the way 'Ama no To' is made. For those of you looking at this website it will make me very happy if you to develop an interest towards 'Ama no To' sake.

■Sake Master's Personal History.
　I was born in the town of Hiraka in 1957. I graduated from Yamagata University majoring in agriculture, and at the same time I helped my father with his home agriculture business. After graduating I invited my former Junior High classmate and friend, Kakizaki Hidemori to join my family's business. Currently he is now the company president. At the time he joined we had no idea we would be brewing sake in the future.

We also have a book entitled "NatsutaFuyuzo"(Summer, In The Fields, Winter, In the Brewery written by Moriya Koichi) . It tells the story about our struggles in making sake, and it is full of many trials and tribulations of how brewing 'Ama no To' came to be.

The Basis of Brewing 'Ama no To'.

The highest quality, locally harvested, especially grown sake rice is boiled and gently fermented. From this process sake is born out of the love of many people… This harmony between people is everything.

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100% sake rice (rice ideally suited for brewing sake) is used for 'Ama no To'. The types of rice used are "MiyamaNishiki,Gin no Sei,Kame no O, MisatoNishiki,HoshiAkari,and Akita Sake Komachi" When talking about rice one can not forget about the village farmers who cultivate it; The JA (Japan Association) Akita, Furusato, Hiraka Town, Sake Rice Research Society. The rice used in 'Ama no To' is carefully selected from the highest quality competition grade rice. This rice is produced in full by the research society. This same society was inaugurated in 1988, but its present relationship was not established until 1992.

Due to severe cold damage it was a difficult year to obtain a sufficient quantity of rice for making sake. I was preoccupied with worry about this problem, but right under my nose was the solution. Again, this is the rice developed by the Research Society, which I came to realize later. From this realization my hearts number one desire came to be; the desire for a superior quality rice to brew sake. The proof of this is the rice developed by the research society. Because of their role in helping make 'Ama no To', and in thanks to them, printed on the back of our brewery's brand name product is the picture and the names of all their employees. Within our brewery there are people who are also members of the Research Society. Including me, we all have a passion for making sake. From the commencement of planting, till the end of harvesting, each and every member of the research society work together in harmony looking after the rice fields. Checking and rechecking them, and when autumn comes the fruit of our labor goes into the brewery. When I look at the names on the collected rice bags, I am able to remember the faces of the people who grew that particular rice. "This years fine rice was grown by Mr. ___", or "This bottle of sake is by Mr. ___". This occurs naturally because of the intimate connection all of us share.

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The water gathered for 'Ama no To' is spring water. No mater how dry our sake is, it is said to have a very mild after taste. The reason for this is because we use very soft spring water. The source of this water is located close to our brewery, in the surrounding area. In the past and even up till now residents take a large bucket and remove its bottom. This bucket is then buried in the ground. It gradually fills with pale looking clear spring water. The water then flows off into and collects in Biwa Pond. Hiraka Town since long ago has been dotted with springs of fresh water. In the Asamai district center (in Hiraka Town) is Biwa pond. This pond is the source for many fountains of spring water, which are used at our brewery.

　"In Dewaji's Snow" Sugai Masumi writes about this famous water. In that period it is said to have had only clean, beautiful water. Inhabiting this water also is the endangered fish species 'Togeuo". It is also known by many different names such as 'Ibara Tomiyo' or 'Tomiyo', most likely named after the man who first found it and gave it his own name. Locally the fish is known as 'Harizacco'.

　Earlier I mentioned about how we use locally produced rice, and also how the water for making sake is taken from the natural spring located near our brewery. So by now you have probably realized …

　Yes! The water used for growing rice, and making sake is one and the same. In our way of thinking, the way we make sake is in actuality returning the rice to its original form. Water.

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　"wajyoryoushu" is Japanese. In English it means a brewery where everyone is in harmony. Thus they are able to produce delicious sake. It is said that without good co-operation and team work making delicious sake is not possible. In the brewery, nearing the end of winter, we work around the clock, eating together, and living together, without the worry of bad relations. After all this is the rigorous standard expected in our work environment. So despite small disagreements while making sake, when we drink sake together we are able to rise above the disagreement and deepen our harmony.

'　Ama no To' is a small brewery. There are no barriers standing between the position of a regular employee or a brewer. We have a saying at our brewery. "In winter everyone is a brewer." These words are used to describe everyone at 'Ama no To'. Whether an employee or a brewer, we are all the same. Sometimes I think that if we lose even one of our valuable members, maybe we will not be able to make the special sake which is 'Ama no To'. No one wants the feeling that we are the type of company where anyone can be easily replaced, but the sake is still the same.
　Not a large powerful business, nor a publicity power house. Those are the words which can describe this brewery. Even now, aside from our company president, there is no one person in charge of everything.
　Now that I have gradually come to know the names of everyone in our brewery I am in deep gratitude to their support. I am also grateful that all the brewers were able to gather together this winter as well. So as long as all of you can enjoy the sake we make, that is the highest honor we can receive.

The Encounter with the Photographer Nachi Kenji.

When talking about 'Ama no To', I can't leave out the encounter between our company president and the photographer Nachi Kenji. Kenji is unrivaled in his love of sake, and it is his life work to visit all of the breweries in Japan. His experience and knowledge have won him acclaim world wide for his taste in sake. In the world of sake brewing there is not a single person who does not know Kenji. Ever since our first meeting Kenji has been very good to us, and we have continued a good relationship with him. However the first encounter with Kenji is quite an amusing story. In a hotel in Shinbashi, where a sake tasting assembly was being held, we had a corner booth. In the words of our company president "a grilled chicken restaurant owner appeared 'like the wind'". He tasted our sake and while drinking said, "It's not as good as I expected". And when we recommended our book "Natsuta Fuyuzo" He just looked at it and in one word said "Discount"."A person would not normally ask for a discount on a book, now would they?" our company president commented. In the middle of their exchange on whether to make the book cheaper or not, our company president realized that this man was no grilled chicken restaurant owner but a photographer. From this realization he took a magazine out from his bag to show to the photographer. It just happened to be the magazine he bought the other day entitled "jyuyondai" , which is about the Takagi style of brewing sake. The company president with heartfelt emotion commented on how beautiful the photos in the magazine are, and if he were a photographer, how he would love to be able to capture the same level of photography in pictures he would take. Well, it just so happens that the grilled chicken restaurant… no, the famous photographer Nachi Kenji, who was standing right before my eyes was the person who took those pictures. Because of this incident Mr. Nachi, and the company president hit it off right away, and from that point on good relations have continued.

You could say that for 'Ama no To' this was a very big turning point. However, if it wasn't for our company president buying the magazine, and for displaying our book, maybe this chance encounter would have never happened. From this incident I could feel the mysterious bonds that tie people together.

A hot cauldron. This years brewing is done,
and tranquility visits our brewery once more.

Photographer：Nachi Kenji