<p>As the New Year brings a sake drinking season to us all, Andy and Jim take a moment to think about the people who make it and the system that keeps the brewery pumping. From toji to kurabito, the roles in a sake brewery all play an important part in keeping our tokkuri filled. Listen in for the inside story. Kanpai!</p><p><em>Vocab for this episode</em></p><p>Kanzukuri 寒造り - The system of sake brewing during the cold seasons imposed by government edict in the Edo period.</p><p>Kashira 頭 - Literally “head,” the second highest rank in a traditional organization, such as a sake brewery.</p><p>Kōhai 後輩 - A relative rank referring to any member of a group junior to the speaker.</p><p>Kurabito 蔵人 - The general term for the workers in a sake brewery without specific title. Ranked sometimes into Jō (upper) Chuu (middle) and Shita (lower) levels.</p><p>Motoya 酛屋 - The person in charge of making the moto fermentation starter.</p><p>Muroya　室屋 - The person in charge of making kōji in the kōjimuro.</p><p>Oya or Oyabun 親・親分 - Literally “parent/father,” used as a term of address for people high up in a traditional organization, like a sake brewery.</p><p>Sanyaku 三役 - The three major ranks/roles of a traditional organization, most commonly used these days in reference to the Sumo ranks of Ozeki, Sekiwaki, and Komusubi. In sake brewing, these are the Kashira, Muroya, and Motoya.</p><p>Sendō 船頭 - The person in charge of pressing (traditionally a fune press). </p><p>Senpai 先輩 - A relative rank referring to any member of a group senior to the speaker.</p><p>Shain 社員 - The general word for a full time, permanent employee of a company. Replacing the traditional brewery structure of the tōji system.</p><p>Sōtōji 総杜氏 - Overall tōji. In sake companies with more than one brewery, and so more than one tōji, the top of them all who coordinates all the sake production.</p><p><em>Recommendations:</em></p><p>Andy - Ozasaya Taketsuru Kimoto Junmai Genshu</p><p>Jim - <a href="https://www.kenbishi.co.jp/product/sake2/"><u>Kenbishi Kuromatsu</u></a> </p><p>Don’t forget to support us on Patreon at <a href="https://www.patreon.com/SakeDeepDive"><u>https://www.patreon.com/SakeDeepDive</u></a> </p><p>Also, check out Andy’s websites at: <a href="https://www.originsaketours.com/"><u>https://www.originsake.com/</u></a> and <a href="https://www.originsaketours.com"><u>https://www.originsaketours.com</u></a></p><p>And buy Jim’s book, Discovering Yamaguchi Sake wherever you order your books (print and ebook available)!</p><p>Our theme music is from </p><p>Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions</p><p>Under a  Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0</p><p>Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane</p><p>Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg </p><p><br></p>