Perspectives
Hiraku
A Deep Understanding of Plums, Yet a Barrier to Brewing For decades, the artisans at Kishu Honjo Umeyoshi possessed a profound understanding of plums, yet the path to crafting spirits remained closed. Situated in Minabe, Wakayama Prefecture—a region celebrated as one of Japan’s premier plum-growing areas and recognized in 2015 as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System by the FAO—the estate has been cultivating and processing pickled plums since 1971. Over fifty years, they cultivated deep agricultural expertise, mastering the preservation of umeboshi. However, transitioning to plum liqueur presented a distinct challenge. Under Japan’s Liquor Tax Act, spirit production requires stringent licensing, a framework that historically offered no avenue for plum farmers to participate.
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