In this undated photo, Tom Wilson, left, pours sake into a glass at the bar of the Kanpai London Craft Sake brewery in London as his wife, Lucy, looks on. The couple started the brewing business in 2017 (PHOTO / THE JAPAN NEWS)

TOKYO - Sake brewing is not limited to Japan. Driven mainly by the increasing popularity overseas of washoku (Japanese cuisine), it is currently spreading to various parts of the world involving locals who have brewing expertise.

One such example is the Kanpai London Craft Sake brewery in the British capital. Tom Wilson and his wife, Lucy, started the sake brewing business in 2017.

The couple had originally brewed beer as a hobby, but became interested in sake during a trip to Japan. They learned sake brewing techniques at various places in Japan, including Gekkeikan Sake Co, a leading manufacturer in Fushimi Ward, Kyoto.

Kanpai London Craft Sake imports rice from Japan, as well as koji, which is made by sprinkling mold on steamed rice to ferment it. Its three core products are cloudy nigori, sparkling and junmai, which is made without adding distilled alcohol and is priced at £16 (about US$20) for a 375-milliliter bottle. Many of the brewery’s products have a clean and refreshing taste.

Through the export of our sake to Japan, we hope to let Japanese consumers know that non-Japanese overseas are also strongly interested in the sake brewing tradition.

David Joll, Head brewer at New Zealand Sake Brewers Ltd

The brewery also has a bar at which visitors can enjoy sampling products or having mainly Japanese dishes that are served to match the sake types. Many visitors are young and there are many repeat visitors, according to Tom Wilson.

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Kanpai’s aim is to produce products that could be selected by consumers in Japan, too, he added.

According to Jun Koike, editor-in-chief of the Saketimes website, there are about 40 breweries outside Japan, mainly in other parts of Asia and the United States. In the 1980s and ’90s, overseas sake breweries were launched by major domestic manufacturers who set up subsidiaries in target countries. Since the 2010s, more microbreweries have been opened by locals.

“It’s easier for these smaller breweries to change course,” Koike said. “They’re improving their standard year after year.”

Today, some breweries abroad even export their products to Japan.

One such example is a New Zealand brand called Zenkuro, which translates into “All Blacks.” It has been produced since 2015 by New Zealand Sake Brewers Ltd, which is led by David Joll, who used to live in Japan.

The brewery employs authentic techniques, such as the traditional cloth bag-hanging method using gravity to separate liquids from the moromi fermented mash. The brewery’s efforts have seen it awarded at international sake competitions.

Zenkuro products have been exported to Japan since the end of 2018. They are currently served at restaurants in Tokyo and elsewhere, and available through online shopping sites.

“Through the export of our sake to Japan, we hope to let Japanese consumers know that non-Japanese overseas are also strongly interested in the sake brewing tradition,” Joll said in Japanese.

To promote sake produced overseas in Japan, a Sake World Cup event was inaugurated in 2018. The 2019 edition was held in Tokyo and Kyoto, featuring products from about 20 breweries and companies, including Kanpai London Craft Sake and Zenkuro. Visitors who sampled the featured sake were surprised to find how much overseas breweries have improved their products.

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While the price range of sake is not as wide as that of wine, one overseas brewery is challenging this norm by producing luxury sake.

Dojima Sake Brewery started full-fledged operations in 2018 in Fordham, near Cambridge, England. It was launched by an Osaka-based company that provides consulting on craft beer production, among other services. British brewer Tony Mitchell is preparing to serve as a toji chief brewer in the near future, but currently the brewery flies in a toji from Japan during the production period for new sake.

The two products are Dojima, which has a crisp mouthfeel and gentle aroma, and Cambridge, a kijoshu type that uses sake in place of water at some points of the brewing process. Both are priced at £1,000 for a 720-milliliter bottle, which is astonishingly expensive for those familiar with regular sake prices.

“We hope that wealthy people will appreciate the authentic flavor of sake in the first place to expand the fan base,” said Kiyomi Hashimoto, president of Dojima Sake Brewery. “Our products have high qualities well worth their price.”

Hashimoto also said that her Fordham brewery will also teach brewing techniques and related expertise to those interested in sake.

Sake exports from Japan amounted to about ¥22.2 billion (about US$201 million) in 2018, nearly three times that of 2008. As more sake is produced overseas and its quality improves, products made at home and overseas could be competing with each other in the future.