Yukichi Fukuzawa and Traditional Industries: Focusing on His Views on the Sake Brewing Industry

2024/07/26

I am Ioku, who has just been introduced. I am not originally an expert in Fukuzawa studies, but having served as the Director of the Keio University Fukuzawa Memorial Center for Modern Japanese Studies, I am often asked to give lectures related to Yukichi Fukuzawa in various places. Each time, I feel truly presumptuous to speak on such matters given my own lack of learning and talent, but I have continued to accept these requests as I believe it also serves as a learning experience for myself.

Now, as I am being looked down upon by Yukichi Fukuzawa from behind, it is quite difficult to speak; I feel as if I can hear a voice asking, "Are you studying hard?" but I hope you will bear with me. Today, while I would dearly love to call him "Fukuzawa-sensei," this is an academic lecture, so I will refer to him as "Yukichi Fukuzawa."

Today's talk is about Yukichi Fukuzawa and traditional industries. Among traditional industries, I will focus particularly on his views regarding the sake brewing industry. To put it simply, traditional industries are those that existed in Japan since before the Meiji Restoration and the modern era. Specifically, these include sake brewing, soy sauce brewing, weaving, and ceramics. Regarding the raw silk industry, according to Professor Takeshi Abe's classification, hand-reeling is classified as a traditional industry, while machine-reeling is classified as a modern industry. Among these traditional industries, sake brewing was the industry with the largest production value at the time.

It is no exaggeration to say that Japan led the world then, and still does now, in brewing industries such as sake and soy sauce. For example, the Iwakura Mission, which toured a beer factory in England, recorded very detailed observations in the "Kume Bankoku Jikki" (Compiled by Kunitake Kume), stating, "Brewing techniques belong to Japan's great skills." It continues, "Processing agricultural products into brewed goods for export can be said to have grasped the essence of doubling and increasing domestic production." The gist is that creating brewed products from agricultural goods and exporting them was highly promising for expanding national production.

It also states, "Japanese sake... its brewing method belongs to a quite sophisticated level." This means the production method relies on very advanced technology. It continues, "It is only that Europeans have not yet developed a taste for it; as beverages evolve with civilization and it is a common human desire to prefer different flavors, if we refine the brewing method from now on and find trade routes, it will surely become a major export item." This suggests that while Europeans did not yet like Japanese sake at the time, tastes change with the era, and it would eventually become a powerful export product.

This was certainly true. In recent years, it could be said that a sake boom is occurring abroad. Until a while ago, foreigners rarely drank sake, but recently, one can see them drinking it as a matter of course. It is true that preferences change with the times, so the idea that it is effective as an export item is reasonable. However, it feels as though that era arrived a bit too early back then.

Furthermore, the same book mentions soy sauce. "Soy sauce is transported by the Dutch, appreciated in the German regions, and the English also like it." Even during the Edo period, under national isolation, soy sauce was exported to Europe from Nagasaki through trade with the Dutch, and stories remain that King Louis XIV of France praised it. Even in the early Meiji era, soy sauce was transported from Japan by the Dutch and enjoyed in Germany, and the British also seemed to like it. The Iwakura Mission was composed of very talented individuals, and those who saw foreign brewing industries at the time held this kind of recognition toward the brewing industry in which Japan excelled.

Also, in the records left by Masanari Takano and Ryuken Tsuchiya, sons of sake brewers from Yamanashi who went to France in 1877 accompanied by Masana Maeda to learn wine brewing, it is written that "The matter of wine brewing is most easy." From the perspective of the sons of sake brewers like Takano and Tsuchiya, making wine seemed extremely simple. "Just crush the grapes, put them in a vat, and after fermentation, when the heat has cooled, squeeze them and it becomes wine." They noted that if you crush grapes and leave them in a vat, bubbles appear as they ferment. They called this "boiling." They also noted that heat is generated during fermentation, and if you squeeze it when it cools, it is already wine. I believe they had the impression it was simple compared to the method of making Japanese sake.

Incidentally, around that time, the Meiji government was quite active in wine production under government leadership. Toshimichi Okubo, a central figure, went to Europe with the Iwakura Mission and toured wine and beer factories there. Seishu (refined sake) is an alcoholic beverage made from rice. In an era when rice was Japan's staple grain and the center of what people ate, the Meiji government thought that diverting rice to the sake industry might lead to food shortages during famines. Therefore, they actively tried to promote wine making, wondering if alcohol could be made from alternative materials.

However, partly because the grape varieties imported from Europe did not suit Japan's climate and soil, and because demand for wine was still low in Japan—just as demand for sake was low in Europe at the time—this plan does not seem to have gone very well.

As for the current state of the brewing industry, it could be said that soy sauce has now become a global seasoning. Major Japanese soy sauce companies have factories overseas. Kikkoman, the largest, has eight factories abroad, and its overseas soy sauce production is nearly double its domestic production.

Regarding sake, a boom has occurred overseas, major sake companies have factories abroad, and exports are active. I am often invited to give intensive university lectures in Halle, a regional city in the former East Germany with a population of about 200,000. There are several sushi restaurants there, and one called "Sakura," run by a Vietnamese owner, carries about eight types of sake. Halle is not a place Japanese people visit for tourism, so the customers are almost all Germans, but the shop is full of customers eating sushi and everyone is drinking sake.

Also, there is a sake called "Dassai" that has become popular recently; it has a factory in the United States and is playing a role in the sake boom abroad. You can see that the brewing industry is an area where Japan excels, both now and in the past.

Now, Yukichi Fukuzawa lived from the end of the early modern period to the late Meiji period, living exactly half his life in the early modern and half in the modern era. Let's look at the sake industry of his time through numbers. In the Meiji period, statistics began to be compiled, starting with the "Prefectural Products Table" of 1874. The figure below is a graph of the production value of Japan's major industrial products from then until the end of the Meiji era. Major industrial products of this era were mostly brewed goods or textile products. In this era, heavy and chemical industries had production values that did not reach these levels at all.

Looking at the graph for sake production within this, you can see that throughout the Meiji period, it remained almost consistently the number one industrial product in terms of production value. It was occasionally overtaken by raw silk, but in the Meiji period, the sake brewing industry was the most major industry among Japan's industries. As I mentioned earlier, sake brewing was a traditional industry and a handicraft. Toward the end of the Meiji period, production incorporating machinery was partially carried out in some breweries, but it was almost entirely handicraft production. Yukichi Fukuzawa lived in an era when sake, produced by hand, was at the top of Japan's industrial products.

This is a bit of a digression, but since it may serve as a premise for looking at Yukichi Fukuzawa's views on the sake industry, I will briefly trace his relationship with alcohol.

First, regarding his childhood, this is recorded in "The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa" (quoted from the Iwanami Bunko version), so many of you may know it, but there is the following description: "In the first place, my habit of drinking was not something I learned or got used to as I grew up; I was naturally fond of it from the moment I gained consciousness at birth. ...When I was a child and had my head shaved, I disliked having the hollow of the nape shaved because it hurt. Then my mother, who was shaving me, would say, 'I'll let you have some sake, so let me shave here,' and just because I wanted to drink that sake, I would endure the pain and let her shave without crying. I faintly remember this. A natural vice... after that, ...until I reached young adulthood, I did not commit any other outrageous acts and intended my conduct to be correct, but I was a boy who, as they say, had a weakness for drink." It is unthinkable today, but he liked alcohol since he was a boy (laughs). And as you know, Yukichi Fukuzawa had overseas experience, so he went abroad and drank local alcohol as well.

In a very thin book called "Western Clothing, Food, and Housing," he writes about beer: "There is a drink called 'Beer.' This is barley wine, and although its taste is extremely bitter, it is wonderful for opening the chest (kyokaku). Also, depending on people's nature, many people appreciate and drink that bitter taste" (quoted from "The Collected Works of Yukichi Fukuzawa," Vol. 2). "Opening the chest" means that beer is good for opening one's heart and having frank discussions; even now, for example at academic conferences, it is common for the real discussions to take place at social gatherings or drinking parties after the presentations. Yukichi Fukuzawa seems to have thought of beer as a drink with such benefits.

In "Western Clothing, Food, and Housing," he introduces other Western liquors as well. "For daily meals, red wine or 'Sherry' and others like 'Port Wine' are used, but on ceremonial days or when entertaining guests, 'Champagne' and other various fine wines are used. Sweet liquor (liqueur) or drinks called 'Brandy' are used in a small 'cup' for just one drink after a meal. ...Drinks called 'Whiskey' or 'Brandy' are extremely strong and are not used during meals."

Then, in his mid-30s, he strove to reduce his drinking for health reasons and declared, "I have finally conquered my desire for alcohol and gained victory," but even so, it is said that beer bottles and sake decanters never disappeared from the table when guests visited.

Although Yukichi Fukuzawa drank well throughout his life, he seems to have disliked getting rowdy and drunk. He wrote in "The Autobiography of Yukichi Fukuzawa" that "Despite being a heavy drinker, I am never a bad drunk. When drunk, I only talk loudly; I have never said spiteful things that would bother or annoy people to start a fight, nor have I ever become serious and argued in my cups, so I am not a nuisance to others." And it is well known that in his later years, he abstained from alcohol out of concern for his health.

In this way, except for his final years, he always kept alcohol by his side throughout his life and at times used it to have unreserved discussions. Yukichi Fukuzawa placed great importance on alcohol.

From here, I will finally enter the main topic and introduce what kind of thoughts Yukichi Fukuzawa had toward the sake industry. As I mentioned earlier, the sake industry in Yukichi Fukuzawa's time had the largest production value among industries. Therefore, first, Yukichi Fukuzawa considered the sake industry to be promising as a national source of revenue. Yukichi Fukuzawa wrote an article titled "The Situation of Sake Brewers" in the editorials of the "Jiji Shinpo" dated July 9 and 11, 1883. He states, "The key to increasing national wealth... that increase is most wonderful and easiest when relying exclusively on the sake tax." He is saying that relying on the sake tax is the best and simplest way to increase national income.

Following that, in the "Jiji Shinpo" dated July 12 and 13 of the same year, 1883, he wrote an editorial titled "The Sake Brewing Industry Should Be Protected." "Looking at the state of sake brewing, it is already an excellent (kukkyo) source of tax today, and the tax amount obtained from it not only accounts for the largest part of the Japanese government's revenue excluding the land tax... but it is also something with the prospect of competing with or even surpassing the land tax in its amount." "Kukkyo" means "most excellent," and he is stating the same meaning as what was written in "The Situation of Sake Brewers." He says that the tax amount already accounted for the largest part of the Japanese government's revenue at that time, excluding the land tax. At that time, the proportion of land tax in national taxes was still large, but the sake brewing tax was the next highest. Moreover, he says it is to the extent that it might compete with or exceed the land tax. He is saying it is promising as a source of revenue in the future as well. In fact, a bit later, in 1899, the sake brewing tax surpassed the land tax to become the top amount among national taxes. It frequently took the top spot after that as well. What he wrote in the "Jiji Shinpo" turned out to be correct.

There is a book called "Jiji Shogen" written just before the Political Crisis of 1881. It was written while Shigenobu Okuma and Yukichi Fukuzawa's disciples were still in the Meiji government, and it has the character of a book of recommendations to the Meiji government, but within it, there is also a part that mentions the sake industry.

It is a bit long, so I will summarize, but in 1838, a person named Kyuzaemon Morita from what is now Kosugaya, Tokoname City, Aichi Prefecture, carried out a sake brewing reform. This is the family from which Akio Morita of Sony later came, and the company Morita still exists today as a large company in the industry, producing sake, soy sauce, and miso. Yukichi Fukuzawa praised Kyuzaemon Morita's sake brewing reform. He wrote that if one were to assume sake was brewed nationwide using the old methods prior to this reform, it would result in a loss of 34 million yen. Conversely, 34 million yen worth of profit was made through the new brewing method devised by Kyuzaemon Morita. This was more than half of the government revenue at the time, and he stated that the new brewing method created by the reform was of great benefit to the country.

To explain specifically what this sake brewing reform was, simply put, it involved increasing the amount of water during the mashing process to create a sake with a clean and refined taste. With the brewing methods of the era before that, the sake became very thick and sweet. Furthermore, as a result of Kyuzaemon Morita's sake brewing reform, the amount of sake produced relative to the rice used for mashing doubled. Yukichi Fukuzawa evaluated it as having done a very good thing because it could produce a lot and, moreover, it had a clean, refined taste.

It is quite difficult to convert this amount of 34 million yen in losses into today's money, but for example, if converted via rice, 1 yen of this era would correspond to about 30,000 yen today. Therefore, in today's money, it is a story of a loss of about 1 trillion yen. Since this is more than half of the government revenue, it means the government revenue at the time was about 2 trillion yen. Compared to the current national budget revenue, which exceeds 100 trillion yen, it is small, but in any case, you can see that the position of the sake industry in Japanese society at the time was very high.

Let's look again at the "Jiji Shinpo" editorials of July 9 and 11, 1883. In these, he introduces the following story as something said by sake brewers: "The sake brewers as a whole certainly do not like the increase in sake tax, but if the government becomes well-versed in the circumstances of the sake brewers and implements regulations adapted to the actual situation, even if the tax amount is increased, they would rather find it convenient; the main points are to revise the dimensions of the sake vat mouth (first), to perform inspections after removing the dregs (second), and to postpone the collection of the sake tax (third)... they are not complaining about the tax amount but desire revisions regarding inspection procedures and so on."

I think this might be a bit difficult to understand, so I will explain. The sake brewers naturally do not like having taxes taken, but they say that if the method of taking taxes is done in a way they can agree with, they will certainly not dislike paying the tax. Conversely, the method of taking taxes at the time was one that sake brewers were dissatisfied with.

So, regarding what should be done, Yukichi Fukuzawa lists about three things, the first being "revising the dimensions of the sake vat mouth." What this means is that when a new mashing vat is made, the tax office comes to inspect it. There, they check the diameter of the very top part of the vat. Then they check it at the middle of the vat, check it at the bottom of the vat, and then check the depth of the vat, and from that they calculate and perform an inspection to determine how many 'koku' of sake this vat can produce.

At that time, the tax office apparently calculated the capacity of the vat assuming that sake would be mashed up to 1 'sun' from the top of the vat, but he states that this is not realistic, that they do not mash that far up, and in reality it is at most about 3 'sun' from the top. In other words, he is saying it should be calculated assuming the sake is mashed up to 3 'sun' from the top.

Next is "performing inspections after removing the dregs." Dregs (ori) are impurities produced during the brewing of sake. Since those impurities are created while making the sake, they are removed to finally make the product, but the tax office comes to inspect before the dregs are removed, so they end up inspecting the sake in a state containing impurities. It was a rule that impurities must not be removed until the inspection was finished, but he notes that sake spoils easily when dregs are mixed in, and there were cases where the sake spoiled while waiting for the inspection, so he states that inspections should be done after removing the dregs.

The third is "postponing the collection of the sake tax." The sake tax at that time was to be paid in installments at the end of April, July, and September. However, according to the brewing process, mashing began around the end of the previous year, it was made by March, and it began to be sold gradually from April. Therefore, April was a time when not much sake had been sold yet and income had not come in, and moreover, it was the time for settling the costs of raw materials. He states that being taxed during such a period of high expenditure is very painful for sake brewers.

Therefore, Yukichi Fukuzawa proposes paying the tax at the end of June, August, and October. He argues that by June, since the sake would have been selling gradually since April, paying the tax would not be so painful.

As many of you may know, the Meiji government frequently increased taxes on sake brewing. In 1880, under the Sake Brewing Tax Regulations, the sake brewing tax, which had previously been 1 yen per 1 'koku' of sake produced, was doubled to 2 yen. This was not a tax on the profit from sales, but on the external form. In other words, it was a harsh method for sake brewers where, once produced, they had to pay a certain tax according to the volume, whether it sold or not.

For example, if a small brewer produced 100 'koku,' they previously paid 100 yen in tax if they produced 100 'koku.' They would have been paying about 3 million yen in tax in today's value. That doubled in this year, and by calculation, they would pay about 6 million yen in tax. It feels quite harsh, but after this, the sake brewing tax rose even further.

Because of this situation, sake brewers held a gathering called the Sake Brewers' Conference in Osaka in May 1882 to oppose the increase in the sake brewing tax. This was suppressed by the government, and in what seemed like a form of retaliation, the government subsequently doubled the sake brewing tax again to 4 yen per 1 'koku.' After this, the sake brewing tax continued to be increased frequently.

Yukichi Fukuzawa was saying that the increase in the sake brewing tax was good for national finances, but he seems to have had considerable dissatisfaction with the country's methods, believing that the way the tax was taken had to be in a form that was acceptable. Yukichi Fukuzawa had expectations for the sake industry as a national source of revenue. However, he was asserting to the country that the method of taking the tax should be reformed.

Next, there was an aspect where Yukichi Fukuzawa had expectations for the people who made the sake. Typical examples of people making sake at the time were those of the wealthy farmer class. Yukichi Fukuzawa regarded these wealthy farmers as the "middle class" and held the idea of expecting Japan's modernization from these people. He believed that the economic power, intellect, and education of these people should be utilized in Japanese politics.

Regarding this, Professor Samon Kimbara emphasizes it in his book "Fine Sake of Sagami and Yukichi Fukuzawa," so I will leave the details to that, but quite a few of the sons of sake brewers, who were wealthy farmers, came to Keio University. Yukichi Fukuzawa visited wealthy farmers across the country, drinking sake with them and preaching his teachings.

Furthermore, in the "Jiji Shinpo" editorial of July 12 and 13, 1883, "The Sake Brewing Industry Should Be Protected," he states, "Protect good sake brewers from evils such as counterfeiting, imitation, illicit sales, and tax evasion." "Why is it that there have never been those who attempted counterfeiting or imitation... it is because they received the protection of the law... sake brewing in Itami was protected by the Konoe family of Kyoto, and the rule was to display sake brands such as Kenbishi or Shirayuki on the outer wrapping of the sake barrels, namely the surface of the straw mats, and to brand the two characters (Konoe) above them... after the Restoration, these old systems were once abolished..." The lord of Itami in Hyogo Prefecture was the Konoe family. This means that the Konoe family protected the sake brewing of Itami during the era of the old lords, namely the early modern period. That is why there was no counterfeiting or imitation before the Meiji Restoration. After the Restoration, guilds such as the kabunakama were disbanded and business became free, but conversely, the negative effects of those changes also emerged.

Specific brands like "Kenbishi" and "Shirayuki" appear. "Kenbishi" is now a sake of Nada, but that happened after the Showa period; originally it was a sake of Itami. Konishi Brewing, which makes "Shirayuki," is still active in Itami today. Every February, they hold an event called the Brewery Festival and serve sake to the local people. At the lecture there this February, I spoke about the history of the Japanese brewing industry. Konishi Brewing seems to have mainly sold to Edo during the Edo period, but now it is a company that is clearly loved by the local community and has strong ties with it.

Now, in this way, Yukichi Fukuzawa says that while the policies of the Restoration government and the freedom of business are good, conversely, confusion has arisen because of them, and good sake brewers are in trouble. And he asserts that "Following the system of trademark regulations for exclusive licenses practiced in various European and American countries, appropriate laws should be established to protect the good," and that trademark regulations like those in Europe and America should be created.

From there, it continues to the previously introduced "Looking at the state of sake brewing, it is already an excellent source of tax today," and finally he says: "Therefore, the protection of said business truly cannot be delayed for even a single day." The protection of the business cannot wait. Later, in 1884, the enactment of trademark regulations was realized.

Furthermore, as a view of Yukichi Fukuzawa toward the sake industry, it can be mentioned that he sought the fusion of Japanese experience and Western science for the sake industry. The Japanese sake industry had always operated based on experience. However, he argued that that alone was not enough. He preached that this industry also had to incorporate Western scientific knowledge and ways of thinking.

Again, in the case of Kyuzaemon Morita, a sake brewer from Chita District in Bishu, in "Jiji Shogen," he evaluates that "The sake brewing method in Chita District, Bishu, has progressed greatly in recent years, and the quality of its sake is the first-rate in the world, excluding the brewing of Nada and Itami." In contrast, he states that "Until fifty or sixty years ago, it was purely the style of country brewing." This "country brewing" refers to the thick and heavy sake making I mentioned earlier, but that progressed through the sake brewing method and became a clean and refined sake. This was due to Kyuzaemon Morita's sake brewing reform.

From there, it leads to the story I introduced earlier about how brewing sake with the old methods was a loss from the perspective of government revenue, but the problem is the next part. "The fact that this reform of the formula benefited the nation is truly clear, but at the time of implementing that reform, not a single word of logic was used, and not a single principle was known. If one asks why rice is polished for the sake of reforming brewing, or what properties in the bran promote spoilage... etc., they are unable to answer except vaguely. It is clear that it was a lucky hit," he states.

This part is where he is making strict demands regarding the state of the Japanese sake industry at the time. It is clear that the reform of this method benefited the nation, but logic was not used for that reform. He is saying it was not done with knowledge of the principles.

Yukichi Fukuzawa asked for what purpose rice is polished and what properties in the bran cause spoilage. Polishing removes the bran, so without bran, it is less likely to spoil. However, as to why that is the case, he says they are "unable to answer except vaguely." Sake brewers do not know such things through logic; he is saying they merely happened to produce something good.

Therefore, he continues, "One must surely utilize the principles of learning here... and only be satisfied by illuminating it with the principles of chemistry and, as it were, binding the matter of sake brewing within those rules." He states that one must utilize the principles of learning, illuminate sake brewing with the principles of chemistry, and only be satisfied when it fits within the rules, principles, and laws of chemistry.

Furthermore, in the "Jiji Shinpo" editorial of December 15, 1885, "Sake Brewing Improvement in Chita District, Bishu," he introduces a story that around the spring of 1883, over a hundred sake brewers in Chita District petitioned the Ministry of Public Works and invited Saburo Utsunomiya, the Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Public Works, to learn the "principles of chemical engineering." You might think that over a hundred sake brewers in Chita District is a very large number, but Chita District was a place where sake brewing was very active. It is still active today. The sake of the brand "Nenohi" by Morita is circulated even in Tokyo, and Nakano Sake Brewery in Handa is famous as a sake brewer in that region. To talk a bit more about Morita, the sake of Nada, "Chuyu," is now under the umbrella of Morita, and the soy sauce brand "Marukin," which is often used in the Kansai region, is also under the umbrella of Morita. Morita has grown large by performing mergers and acquisitions in that way.

There are many other sake brewers in the Chita region, but there were even more at this time. Incidentally, as for how many sake brewers there were in the whole of Japan in 1883, the number exceeds 10,000. Among these were large-scale and small-scale ones, but soy sauce brewers also numbered no less than 10,000 in this era, and there were truly many brewers making sake and soy sauce in every corner of Japan. Currently, there are over a thousand sake manufacturers. That is still quite a lot. Soy sauce manufacturers are also about the same number.

Returning to the story. Around the spring of 1883, over a hundred sake brewers in Chita District petitioned the Ministry of Public Works, invited Saburo Utsunomiya, the Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Public Works, and learned the "principles of chemical engineering." Saburo Utsunomiya was a person who was very close to Yukichi Fukuzawa. He was a chemist, but Yukichi Fukuzawa respected Utsunomiya very much, and a legend remains that he built a room for Saburo Utsunomiya inside Yukichi Fukuzawa's house.

In this editorial, Yukichi Fukuzawa writes, "Originally, the art of brewing is purely a matter of learning and the principle that it must be researched from the standpoint of chemistry is what Mr. Utsunomiya earnestly advised." Brewing is purely a science, and the principle that it must be studied from chemistry was what Saburo Utsunomiya earnestly advised. In response to that, in the autumn of 1883, in Kamezaki of what is now Handa City, Magozayemon Ito and others, who were large sake brewers at the time, took the lead in establishing the Seishu Research Institute.

Utsunomiya taught the sake brewers of this region preservation methods to prevent sake from spoiling, and Yukichi Fukuzawa says in the editorial, "That Mr. Utsunomiya's preservation method allowed them to avoid this loss not only benefited the sake brewers of Chita District but also saved the losses of the nation of Japan." He is saying that Saburo Utsunomiya's method for preventing the spoilage of sake was not only for the sake brewers of the Chita District in this region but also saved the losses of the nation of Japan.

Specifically, what kind of method was this preservation method of Utsunomiya? To summarize, it involved digging a hole in the sunless slope of a hill and storing it inside. Since sake is weak against heat and light, here, mainly to overcome the property of being weak against heat, they dug a cool cellar and stored the sake inside. Then, this article introduces that the sake actually did not spoil even after the summer period had passed. Utsunomiya conveyed such things to the sake brewers of Chita District.

And in "Jiji Shogen," he writes, "The purpose of physical jitsugaku (science) is only to know these principles and utilize them in the way of production," and "One should know that the wealth or poverty of a nation depends on whether or not this matter of production is viewed as a science."

As described above, Yukichi Fukuzawa had expectations for the sake industry in various senses, and I think three points can be raised. The first is that since it was Japan's largest industry in the industrial sector at the time, he had expectations for it in terms of finance. In 1899, the sake brewing tax surpassed the land tax to become the number one source of national tax revenue. Having solid finances is related to the independence of a nation. From Yukichi Fukuzawa's perspective, this is positioned as being very important in the sense of a nation's independence. This is because if the financial base is not solid, the independence of the country cannot be maintained.

Secondly, he had expectations for the wealthy farmers who were the bearers of the sake industry, namely the "middle class," as the bearers of modern Japan. At the same time, since many of Yukichi Fukuzawa's students were from such families, he asserted fair methods of tax collection to protect them. For that reason, he wrote editorials such as "The sake brewing industry should be protected." His assertions would be realized in the form of the trademark regulations of 1884.

Thirdly, he expected the fusion of Japanese experience and Western science. Brewing must be done based on scientific evidence. You could call it the fusion of tradition and modernity. However, what I note here is that Yukichi Fukuzawa does not say, for example, to use machinery to do sake brewing or that handmade is no good. He says that scientific ways of thinking and theoretical ways of thinking must be applied to the sake industry. He is speaking of the modernization of the sake industry on the software side, so to speak, and is by no means saying to modernize on the hardware side.

Among traditional industries, there are those that became modern industries, such as machine-reeling in the silk industry, but Yukichi Fukuzawa did not seek that for the sake industry. This is speculation, but I think Yukichi Fukuzawa might have emphasized the goodness that comes precisely from being handmade. Currently, mechanization has progressed considerably in the sake and soy sauce brewing industries. In particular, "Dassai" is often said to have progressed in mechanization or dataization, but according to the stories of people who have actually entered the factory and experienced the manufacturing process, they say that "Dassai" is also actually made by sharpening the five senses, such as the sense of touch, the feeling of having touched it, sight, and smell.

Even now, there is an aspect of the sake industry making sake in that way. That part feels like the exact opposite of scientific theory. However, a person like Yukichi Fukuzawa does not just unilaterally push for modernization, but also has the aspect of valuing Japan's old and good things. While scientific theories must of course be utilized within the sake industry, he might have thought that at the same time, sensory things that have existed in Japan since ancient times should not be discarded. Therefore, in terms of the fusion of Japanese "experience" and Western science, he was not saying to discard experience, but rather I think he expected the sake industry to become an industry that links Western theory in addition to that.

Currently, soy sauce brewing, which is the same brewing industry as sake brewing, is in a situation where its products are widely spread throughout the world. It feels as though industries that are unique to Japan, nurtured within Japan, and which other countries cannot easily imitate, are surviving. Since the modern era, there are many industries that achieved modernization by incorporating Western technology and knowledge and building factories on a large scale. However, among those industries, quite a few have declined now even if they were dominant for a time. In that respect, I believe the brewing industry conveys Japan's old and good things, albeit steadily, and is widely accepted in the world. I think Yukichi Fukuzawa also sensed the goodness of such Japanese brewing industries and wished to make them even more robust industries by linking Western theory in the sense of further strengthening them.

That concludes my talk for today. Thank you very much for your kind attention.

(This is based on a lecture given at the "Yukichi Fukuzawa Wayland Economics Lecture Commemorative Lecture" on May 15, 2024)

*Affiliations and job titles are those at the time of publication of this magazine.