The Secret Story of the Maker

The Earthenware Pots Used to Make Our Shochu Are "Almost the same" as When Fukano Shuzo Distillery was founded.

These glazed earthenware pots are in an old cellar that has been used since the end of the Edo period. The pots are used for fermenting moromi and aging the shochu. It's hard to tell how tall the pots are because they're buried underneath the cellar floor with just the pots' necks coming through holes in the floor - but their "depth is about the height of an adult," explains Mr. Satoshi Yui with a wry smile, who has been a toji for 20 years, "they cannot be replaced because I actually broke one and was quite scolded for it." The trace of the pot is still there.
 

Becoming a Chief Distiller of Kuma Shochu after Getting Hooked on Fishing Yamame

Mr. Yui has an unusual background. He was transferred to Hitoyoshi by an apparel company, and started fishing yamame (landlocked salmon) since there was nothing else to do and "got hooked." He was so into fishing that he decided to take root in Hitoyoshi. “I might as well work for a job that is unique to this area.”, and that’s what brought him to Fukano distillery.And Mr. Yui is from Shizuoka. Come to think of it, the 700-year history of the Sagara clan also began when people were sent to Hitoyoshi from Totomi (now present-day Shizuoka Prefecture) on the orders of the Kamakura shogunate, which is also a curious turn of fate.