Summary
Kuchikamizake (口噛み酒, mouth-chewed sake) or kuchikami no sake (口噛みの酒) is a type of sake, rice-based brewed alcohol, produced by a process as a fermentation starter. Kuchikamizake was one of the earliest types of Japanese alcoholic drinks. Kuchi means "mouth", kami means "to chew" and zake is the rendaku form of "sake" found in compound words.
Description edit
Kuchikamizake is white in colour and has a sour taste. After two weeks of fermentation, it can achieve up to 7% ABV. It is made from chewed rice; the mixture of the enzymes from saliva and rice result in the fermentation process. Some islands in Okinawa Prefecture still held shinto ceremonies involving chewed sake until the 1930s.[1][2]
In popular culture edit
Kuchikamizake is featured as a plot point in Makoto Shinkai's animated film Your Name.[3][4]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ http://depts.nanzan-u.ac.jp/ugrad/JINBUN/Jinruibunka/depinfo/item/FWReport_2011_Yoshida.pdf Archived 2016-11-01 at the Wayback Machine 2011年度南山大学人文学部人類文化学科フィールドワーク（文化人類学）I1・II2調査報告書 Nanzan University, 2011, p47
- ^ "ばあは口噛酒を造った～新垣カナさん（90歳）～（昭和55年2月26日）".
- ^ Esquivel, Sarah (November 11, 2020). "'Your Name' Puts a Beautiful Twist on a Worn-Out Tradition". Study Breaks. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
- ^ Leonard, Peter (October 21, 2017). "Your Name: The Details You Might Have Missed in "Kimi no Na Wa"". Taiken Japan. Retrieved February 23, 2021.