Founded in 1892, Shiga's Mizuguchi-based Laughing Shiki Brewery is celebrating its 130th anniversary this year. Mr. Mitsuhisa Takeshima, the fifth generation of the brewery, has been brewing sake for about 15 years since he came to Shiga from Niigata. All sake rice is grown locally in Shiga Prefecture under contract, and the brewing water is from the brewery's own wells and Iwama-yama (Mt. Iwama) deep water in Otsu City. The brewing water is from the company's own wells and Iwamayama Iwafuka water in Otsu City. The sake is made using the "sake yeast" method, which does not use brewing alcohol, brewing lactic acid, or any fermentation accelerators.

While researching the sake brewing process by cutting out such unnecessary things, he also does not hesitate to try new experiments such as the "Laughing Four Seasons Theater," a general term for one-time guerrilla shipments. Nowadays, sake enthusiasts from all over the country are asking, "What kind of sake is next? But when he first came to Shiga, he did not know when the brewery would close down.

I came to Shiga at the age of 28 when I got married, and the first five years were difficult. Things gradually improved because we continued to not only make and sell sake, but also sell our philosophy. At first, people treated us as if we were strangers who had started something unusual, but after 10 years, more and more people recognized us, more and more people introduced us, and liquor stores began to approach us," he said.

To look at the essence of sake is to focus on the rice. Mr. Takeshima began by improving the quality of sake rice grown in Shiga.

Many of the farmers in Shiga were dual-income earners, and their awareness of sake rice was not high. We started by wooing farmers who said that as long as they could grow rice, that was all that mattered. Of course, there are those who are highly aware of the importance of sake, but the value of Shiga's sake will not increase unless the overall average is raised. There are those who want to add value with the rice they grow themselves, but we think that if the rice in Shiga improves, the sake in Shiga will improve, and by extension, the environment in which we work will improve as well.

Sake harvested in the fall, brewed in the winter, and just finished is all delicious. The difference between good sake and not-so-good sake becomes apparent after the summer. There are many sake that have a wide range of tastes after they are placed on the shelves of stores. The absolute prerequisite for good sake is that the sake maker has control over the sake so that it does not change in ways that are not expected. It is natural to pay attention to the characteristics of rice, which are related to changes in taste.

Mr. Takeshima also basically goes into the rice paddies on days other than sake-making days and practices a series of tasks from scattering seed rice by hand to harvesting and threshing by hand when autumn comes. He supplies the seed rice he secures to the farmers for the following year's sake rice to promote quality stability.

［All of the sake produced by the Laughing Season Sake Brewery is sweet. In order to create a sake that will make you smile and a sake with a beautiful sweetness, we are focusing on a variety of sake rice called Shiga Watabune No. 2.

Although it has "Shiga" in its name, it is a variety that has been neglected in the shadow of other famous varieties. Shiga Watabune No. 2 can reduce protein as much as possible. I thought that if we reexamined the characteristics of this variety, we could make a very high-quality sweet sake, which is why we started working on the seed rice itself. Japanese rice is one of the best in the world, but for various reasons it is difficult to export it outside of Japan. However, when the time comes to export, the way for agriculture and sake breweries to survive is to have a system in place to convey the appeal of Shiga Prefecture's pride in rice. I want to change the future steadily, without getting caught up in the immediate future.

To young craftsmen who want to learn from him, he tells them about his experiences, including his failures, without concealment.

We use a process of making sake using lactobacillus acidophilus in order to make sake that can withstand exports. We were able to develop a technique to stabilize quality because we made a mountain of mistakes. Many times we ended up with a product that we were not confident of selling, so we applied to the tax office to have it destroyed. We have widely publicized the mechanism of lactobacilli we discovered, so we thought young craftsmen could prevent failures. I tell the younger craftsmen, "Don't do this! I think it has become my mission to pass on my experiences of failure to younger workers, saying, "Don't do this!

Mr. Takeshima's sake works as if it were nestled in the natural world and does not try to make itself look big. With a deep flavor that is like water soaking into dry land, it will soon bring smiles to the faces of people around the world.

■ Shiga Prefecture
［Hashimotoya] 0749-62-3170/847 Kamiteru-cho, Nagahama City, Shiga Prefecture
［0749-22-0575 / 5-10 Funamachi, Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture
［0749-27-6137 / Vivacity Hikone, 43-2 Takegahana-cho, Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture, Japan
［Kosuge Sake Shop] 0749-22-8257/383-12 Nishi-Imamachi, Hikone City, Shiga Prefecture
［0748-27-0014/447 Yamagami-cho, Higashiomi-shi, Shiga
［0748-33-3311 / 5 Tameshinmachi, Omihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture
［Ricker's Cinq] 0748-52-0221/486-5 Uchiike, Hino-cho, Gamo-gun, Shiga Prefecture
［077-581-0322 / 2-11-18 Imajuku, Moriyama City, Shiga Prefecture
［077-552-8070 / 3 Kitanakakoji, Ritto City, Shiga Prefecture
［Nakano Sake Shop] 077-562-0244/6-17, Oji 1-chome, Kusatsu City, Shiga Prefecture
［077-562-0007 / 700-24 Oiwake, Kusatsu City, Shiga Prefecture
［Takatsu Sake Shop] 077-563-0650/1-18-2 Nomura, Kusatsu City, Shiga Prefecture
［Marufuku Sake Shop] 0748-86-2116 / 2200 Fukagawa, Konan-cho, Koka City, Shiga Prefecture
［Tokuchi Sake Shop] 0748-76-3392/370 Yoshinaga, Konan City, Shiga Prefecture
［Ogawa Sake Shop] 077-524-2203/1-31, Hamaotsu 2-chome, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture
［077-522-4546 / 13-1 Kinoshita-cho, Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture
［Yoshino] 077-537-1901 / 18-19 Matsubara-cho, Otsu-shi, Shiga

■ Kyoto Prefecture
［Takimoto] 075-341-9111 / 60 Masuya-cho, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
［NISHIMURA SAKE STORE] 075-781-3049/3 Kubota-cho, Kita-Shirakawa, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
［Nishimoto Sake Shop] 075-221-0452/480 Miyaki-cho, Nishinotoin Nishiiru, Anekoji-dori, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
［075-641-5556/291, Fukakusa Naojibashi 6-chome, Fushimi-ku, Kyoto-shi, Kyoto
［Kikuya] 075-981-0553 / 2-1 Otokoyama Takezono, Yawata City, Kyoto, Japan