The story of Sasaki Shuzo is a story of resilience, a story of how one takes on hardship and overcomes adversity. It is a story of rebirth. Sasaki Shuzo was founded in 1871, taking on the brand name “Nami no Oto” or “Sound of the Waves.”
On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 struck the Tohoku Region of Japan. Hiroshi Sasaki, the brewery’s 5th generation kuramoto, was attending a meeting a short distance away from the brewery. He returned quickly to the brewery going against the warnings from others to get away from a possible oncoming tsunami. Hiroshi’s grandmother always told him that Yuriage had been hit by a tsunami before, and that he should escape to the 3rd story roof of the brewery. Hiroshi climbed to the roof and witnessed devastating damage and lives being lost to an 8-meter tsunami that decimated the town of Yuriage, suffering wounds to a small fishing port town that will never heal. But it was then and there that Hiroshi and his brother, Junpei, decided it was essential for Sasaki Shuzo to rebuild in the same town of Yuriage that was in ruins with 90% of the buildings destroyed.
It was impossible to rebuild immediately, so in 2012, Hiroshi agreed to utilize a temporary warehouse at the Natori City Reconstruction Industrial Park with the assistance of various breweries from all regions of Japan that contributed manpower and equipment. The temporary facilities used tap water, had one sink, no drains and had thin walls which made it difficult to control temperature. The situation made Hiroshi think about his values and the way he does things, and how he could do things differently to make sake better every year, every batch, starting from scratch, climbing back up. Don’t waste time on things that can’t be helped. Thinking how creative you can be is what enriches your life. When Hiroshi first took over the business, he was not one to innovate. He valued stability so that he could keep doing what he did yesterday tomorrow. That is, until the earthquake hit.
In 2017, Yuriage’s plans progressed to allow rebuilding of the town. Hiroshi thought his brand, Nami no Oto, would be worthless unless the new brewery was built in a place where you can hear the sound of the waves. So, he initiated plans to rebuild the brewery at its original location. In the summer of 2019, Hiroshi and Junpei moved out of the temporary warehouse and started brewing at its new facility in October 2019 – eight and a half years after the earthquake. Sasaki Shuzo will be seen as the spiritual support and a symbol of the town of Yuriage. “Our role is to tell the story of recovery.”
