A Beautiful Film That Shows the Hard Work Involved in the Traditional Saké Brewing Process

“The Birth of Saké” by Eric Shirai is a beautiful short film that documents the hard work involved with the traditional process of brewing saké at the Yoshida Brewery and the sacrifices that a group of skilled men must make in order to keep the business running and successful.

The workers at Yoshida Brewery are an eclectic cast of characters, ranging from 20 to 70 years old. As a vital part of this cast that must live and work for a six-month period through the brutal winter, charismatic veteran brewmaster Yamamoto (65) and the brewery’s sixth-generation heir, Yasuyuki Yoshida (27), are keepers of this tradition, and are the main characters who bring the narrative forward. As craftsmen who must dedicate their whole lives to the making of this world-class saké, their private sacrifices are often sizable and unseen.

via The Journal