In Topics, we will deliver not only the taste of sake but also the story and thoughts behind it through interviews with the sake producers handled by the sake select shop Mirai Nihonshuten .
This time, which is the first update in 2016, we asked Mr. Fujii of Fujii Sake Brewery. Last time , we talked about the sake of Fujii Sake Brewery, so this time we will talk about Mr. Fujii himself.

My rival is myself from last year To aim to be the only one

-Next, do you have rivals in terms of people and alcohol?

Speaking of rivals, to be honest, no one considers us as rivals. I haven't been in the sake industry long enough to be considered a rival, so right now I want to listen to various people and absorb the good points.
Well, in the sense that I want to do as much as I can with breweries of the same sex, breweries of the same generation may be rivals. So, in terms of alcohol quality, there is no more.

-Does it mean that you are a solitary existence?

If we were to aim for the same quality of sake as our rivals, we would end up losing our individuality, so the sake we made last year is our rival . That's why I have a strong desire to be the only one in our house.
However, when it comes to management, branding, and marketing, the breweries that everyone knows are Dassai, Shinsei, Juyondai, and Kokuryu. I am very conscious of the management and marketing methods of sake breweries that have become so well-known in the last ten years, rather than the old-fashioned ones.

-I see. It's more about individuality and storytelling as a way to penetrate rather than taste.

I don't want to make something similar, but as Mr. Abe said, I always think that wine branding is amazing. Every brewery is aiming for the top when it comes to taste. I don't really have a place to focus on from there, I think I'm doing it up to packaging. It's not like it's a story from that point onwards, or if it's made to become an irreplaceable memory in the life of a person who drinks alcohol.
Ultimately, if someone who was very helpful to me invited me to dinner and the wine they served me was Romanée-Conti, I would never forget it. Whether it's delicious or not. That's all I've been building branding to the extent that wine can be talked about as one life experience.
On the other hand, if you give a business partner 100,000 bottles of sake and it tastes really good, it's difficult to remember the brand name. If I drink a different sake the next day, I think I'll be confused.

-I see. As a future PR direction, do you have any weights to strengthen the exposure of this kind of place?

In other words, the highest priority is the part that has never been done before .
I'm very grateful to be allowed to do something I've never done before, and I'm learning for better or worse. So I want to actively try new things.

-Is there anything about the customer base, such as age and generation?

Well, from a business point of view, we want women to drink, and women in their 30s who aren't too young.

Sake with the feelings of the family

-This may be slightly overlapping with earlier, but what does a father mean to you, Mr. Fujii?

Lately, I've been thinking that I'm a good partner, like a mirror that reflects myself, for better or for worse . It's said that we look a lot alike, not just in terms of faces, but in terms of lightness (laughs).

-No, no (laughs).

I was told this by a liquor store that I have had a long relationship with. That's why, when I see something that's amazing, I imitate it, and I see it myself, huh? I may be doing the place I think, so I'll fix it. In that sense, it may be like a signpost.
In the past, I didn't have a conversation, but now I have the most conversation in my life. I didn't have a father when I was a child, and puberty was a very rebellious period. For the first time, we are now in an environment where we can face each other and talk.

-That's right. Mr. Fujii, what kind of family structure did you have after you came to your senses?

Well, there are three households, including my grandpa and grandma, and I also have a sake brewery, so my two uncles live nearby, so it felt like a big family. My mother was the one I talked to the most in my family. That's why we often discuss things like whether there's something that we have the most similar sensibilities to, or packaging.

-Your cousin Yuka Iwahara did the design, right?
What was the impetus for this?

I wanted to do design, but I didn't have any connections, so I talked to Iwahara about wanting to try something like this. I thought We have been working together since then. Miracle Deluxe is now my advisor designer.
Miracle Deluxe :: Design team run by cousin Yuka Iwahara

-i like it. Even if a family has something in common, it's a family, but it's new to say that people who are active separately gather and do it.

Well, it's a family thing, but I've gotten to know Miracle Deluxe's ​​Baba-san and others through Miracle Deluxe , so there's a sense of closeness between the families in a good way, but we're also able to draw a line .

-It's a family relationship that is crisp and crisp, in that sense it's okay to be a family. It would be nice if it was a family run business, with each person having their own role to play.

Well, if you have a solid management system, even if it's a family, I think you can separate your public and private lives.

Next time will be the final interview with Mr. Fujii, but I would like to ask you about your impressions of the winery visit and the future of the sake industry.