Sake Volunteer Project 2011: Urakasumi Brewery

One of the final stops on our tohoku sake volunteer project for 2011 was the well known Urakasumi Brewery. I first visited Urakasumi in 2009 so I did get a chance to see the place before the disaster struck. I was encouraged to see that construction was well underway to fix the buildings that had been damaged by the tsunami.

We were given a short presentation by Urakasumi employee Ms. Funyu. Funyu-san showed us a slideshow of photos from the disaster and an overview of the steps they are taking for full recovery. After that, we got a tour of the brewery from the Urakasumi Toji. we needed to put on hard hats as the brewery buildings were active construction sites.

After the tour, we got a tasting and wonderful Q&A session. It was a wonderful day spent with Urakasumi. Seeing their recovery up close made me realize they are already well on the way to a full recovery. Before lunch, the group stopped by the gift shop and tasting bar. I was shocked to find the Japanese flag I had signed earlier in the year, sending our best wishes to Urakasumi (see gallery below!), was on proud display! This made me feel good that our well wishes reached them.

I feel grateful to be here on this day and bear witness to disaster, recovery and how sake brings us all together. Kanpai!