A rice paddy of Arrow Warm Oita (2015)
Centennial Shochu Project
The Yazaki Centennial “Shochu” Project, a commemoration of Yazaki’s 75th Anniversary
Yazaki employees took on the challenge of growing rice and producing rice shochu in Saiki City, Oita Prefecture.
HOME Centennial Shochu Project REPORT
December 19, 2015
Yazaki Centennial Shochu Project session 5: Bottling 1
Finished at last! Yazaki’s Centennial Shochu
On December 19, roughly one month after preparations were completed in November, eight volunteers gathered at the shochu-maker Bungomeijyo in Saiki City, Oita Prefecture. There they bottled and boxed the rice shochu to be sold this year.
Though sometimes perplexed by their unfamiliar assignments, they did their best to set the sterilized bottles, make visual checks for impurities, cap the bottles, and then box them. When the very first bottle came down the conveyor, it was met with gleeful cheers. Before long the volunteers were accustomed to the process and set about completing their tasks intently as a team.
And then, finally, Yazaki Centennial Shochu—a rice shochu produced by all who participated in the project, beginning with careful planting of the rice seedlings—was ready for enjoyment!
The project’s last session was held in March. At that time, volunteers bottled and boxed rice shochu to be stored for 25 years and opened in celebration of Yazaki’s 100th anniversary.
Setting sterilized bottles on the conveyor belt
Visual checking for impurities and capping
The labeling process
The very first bottle
Efficient boxing with mastered techniques
The Centennial Shochu is finished at last! We can’t wait to try it!
A talk entitled "Dreaming of a bright future in 25 years!" by the ninth-generation master of Kojiya Honten, a long-established business with a 326-year history.
REPORT
June 13, 2015
The Yazaki Centennial “Shochu” Project gets underway!
October 10, 2015
Yazaki Centennial “Shochu” Project session 2: Rice harvesting
October 17, 2015
Yazaki Centennial “Shochu” Project session 3: Rice harvesting
November 21, 2015
Yazaki Centennial “Shochu” Project session 4: Secondary preparation
December 19, 2015
Yazaki Centennial “Shochu” Project session 5: Bottling
March 19, 2016
Yazaki Centennial “Shochu” Project session 6: Bottling