The History of Sake

The history of sake in Japan can traced back to over two thousand years ago, to the time of the Nihon Shoki, one of Japan’s oldest extant chronicles. With the introduction of rice cultivation to Japan, sake came to be made as an offering to the gods. The Harima Fudoki, a written record of the Harima region (present day Hyogo Prefecture) dating to the Nara Period, mentions the word seishu, or “refined sake.” Likewise, the Nara Imperial Court began the first systematic attempt at sake production, promoting a method of brewing using koji (malted rice). This is said to be the origin of the sake we see today. Later, temples across Japan started brewing their own high-quality sake. Interestingly, in other parts of the world, too, alcoholic beverages spread in the same way.
Following this, sake also began to gain popularity among common people, and during the Edo period, was made widely available by merchants. In other words, while various theories exist as to the origin of sake brewing in Japan, the theory suggesting the Kansai region as the birthplace of refined sake is very persuasive. This is because early written records show how sake was being produced in areas of Kansai such as Nara and Harima (Hyogo), where it was offered to the gods in the region’s many temples and at the Imperial Court, which at that time was located in this region.