Sake is fermented rice in Japan and the Nada Sake
District is one of the biggest producers of the alcoholic
beverage. It has been an area where sake has been
made since around 17th century. Sake makers in the
district created a group to help each other, which is called
Nadagogo (灘五郷). There are some reasons that Nada
became a prime location to make sake. The first point to
note is its location. Cold weather is a favorable condition
when making sake and Nada has cold winds coming
from the nearby Mt. Rokko (六甲山). Also, this place is
good for transportation. When Nada started producing
sake, Nada port made it really easy to ship the alcohol to
Edo (present day Tokyo).
The second point is suitable ingredients for making sake,
which are mineral water called Miyamizu (宮水), and rice
called Yamadanishiki (山田錦). The Miyamizu in Nada
has good properties to assist the fermenting process.
When the Yamadanishiki is excellent and combines with
the Miyamizu it creates a high quality product. Thus
these two ingredients are necessary for Nada to be
famous sake area. The final point is the skill of successful
management. The Nadagogo help each other when one
is one the brink of bankrupting even when they are rivals.
Also, they got many clients in Edo because of their fast
shipping logistics.
