Cody Brailsford is a rather rare breed.

Now fuku-toji (assistant head

brewer) as of this recording, at Watanabe Sake Brewery, makers of Hourai brand

sake in the small countryside town of Hida

Furukawa in Gifu Prefecture, Cody has been toiling away in the brewery for well

over a decade.

As more sake breweries open across the

globe, and as breweries in Japan gradually open their doors (and minds) to the

prospect of greater diversity in the brewery, the number of non-Japanese people

working stints in Japanese sake breweries has grown significantly in recent

years.

However very few have dug in for the

long haul in the way that Cody has at Hourai. And his time and hard work have

clearly been recognized and appreciated, as he was just offered the position of

fuku-toji a matter of days before he sat down with us here at Sake On Air.

In addition to Cody’s “origin story”

and life as a brewer, we also discuss the challenges of taking a brewery from

hyper-local to international, the shift from brewing to communicating, the

transition from one toji guild to another, and much more.

Christopher Hughes and Justin

Potts are your navigators for this session.

Pour yourself a beverage (or several) and settle in for fascinating glimpse

into the world of sake brewing in Japan with a gentleman whose experience and

perspective are truly one-of-a-kind.

You can learn more about, as well as

follow the adventures of Cody and Hourai Sake at any of the outlets below.

Watanabe

Sake Brewery Official Website:

Cody on Instagram

Hourai on Instagram

Be sure to let us know what you think

by leaving us a review on Apple

Podcasts, or wherever you get your regular serving of Sake On Air.

You can follow the show on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter via @sakeonair. Feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] as well.

Until next week – kampai!

Sake

On Air is made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association and is broadcast from the Japan Sake

& Shochu Information Center in Tokyo. The show is a co-production between Export Japan and Potts.K Productions, with audio

production by Frank Walter.

Our

theme, “Younger Today Than Tomorrow” is composed by forSomethingNew for Sake On Air.