First foreign student enters sake brewing school near Tokyo

A school designed to train sake professionals near Tokyo has accepted its first foreign student since opening two decades ago.

The Saitama Sake Makers Association established the vocational school in Kumagaya City, Saitama Prefecture, in 2005 to nurture future leaders of the industry. Students learn techniques and knowledge on sake brewing.

The prefecture is the fourth largest sake production center in the country.

A total of 10 students, mainly young employees of local sake brewers and manufacturers, attended the entrance ceremony on Wednesday. Among them was a Texas native who became the first foreign student at the school.

Matsuoka Ryoji, who heads the sake producers’ association, encouraged students at the ceremony, saying he wants them to make use of what they will learn from teachers to cope with rapidly changing market trends.

After the ceremony, the US student, who is employed at a sake producer in Hanyu City in the prefecture, said he would like to talk a lot with his teachers and other students and learn the details of sake production and the industry.

The students will spend two years learning the process of sake making, such as how to make koji mold, an ingredient to produce sake, and the history of the beverage.