You can learn how to make vinegar in the Edo period
"Daichi no Kura"

First, go to the "Daichi no Kura" zone.

Here, you can feel the spirit of craftsmanship that has been handed down from generation to generation by observing vinegar making in the Edo period and the current state of brewing.

The Chita Peninsula, where Handa City is located, has been one of Japan's leading sake brewing areas since the Edo period. In addition to sake, brewed products such as miso, soy sauce, and vinegar are also popular. The Nakano family, the founding family of the Mizkan Group, was originally a sake brewer. We started making vinegar as an effective use of leftover sake lees from the sake brewing process.

Let's take a look at the process of making vinegar. Some parts of the ceiling, beams, pillars, tubs, etc. are said to have been actually used.

Vinegar production at that time was divided into nine processes, all of which were done by hand. It starts with “lees aging”, where sake lees, which is the raw material of vinegar, is placed in a large barrel and left to mature for a long time.

Transfer the matured sake lees to a bucket, add water and stir. After that, the moromi (unrefined sake) will be ready in about a week.

Put the moromi in a vinegar bag and squeeze it with a bucket. The liquid squeezed out of the moromi is “sumoto (sake)”.

Heat half of the vinegar in a large iron pot. The resulting product was called "wakashi soup".

Transfer the wakashi soup and the remaining half of the vinegar to the preparation tub on the second floor. Half of the previously fermented vinegar remains in the mashing vat as “seed vinegar,” and the fermenting bacteria in the seed vinegar work to transform the original vinegar into vinegar over a period of about a month.

Half of the finished vinegar is transferred to a storage vat on the first floor, where it is aged for two to three months. The other half will be used for the next preparation.

The filtered vinegar is then put into a bucket. Tie the barrel with a rope to complete the product. It's amazing that all these steps were done by hand.

Looking into the barrels in the center of the floor, we could see how vinegar is made today. Vinegar is actually being made at the "Mizkan Museum. The equipment and tools used in the factory have changed dramatically, but the principles of production remain the same.

In the corridor, there was an exhibition of tools used for making vinegar and a fermentation room.

In the fermentation room, Mizkan's first brand "Mitsuban Yamabuki" sake lees vinegar is actually fermented.

In the next area, you can experience the work of vinegar craftsmen.

First, I tried our hand at carrying the vinegar! The barrels on either side weigh a total of 15 kg and are quite heavy. It is surprising to learn that actual craftsmen used to carry barrels three times as heavy.

The next step is to weigh the sake lee using a "sao-bakari" (pole). We put the weight on one side and the sake lee on the other side and weigh them. It was quite difficult to put them on the pole so that they are in contact with each other.

The final step was to determine the amount of vinegar in the barrels, the contents of which were not visible. The amount of vinegar in the barrel was determined by the sound made when the top of the barrel was tapped with a wooden mallet. If the amount of vinegar was small, the sound was a high pitched clang. Those that were full of vinegar made a low thumping sound.

In one corner of the room, there is a corner where visitors can experience the aroma of vinegar called "Aroma Drawing". Vinegar may be a single word, but the aroma of different ingredients can be quite different.

This zone is the only zone you can visit on the Daichi no Kura course (30 minutes).