Overview
Sake is an alcoholic beverage made from grains and water that is deeply rooted in Japanese culture. Craftspeople use koji mould to convert the starch in the ingredients into sugar. They oversee the process to make sure the mould grows in optimal conditions, adjusting the temperature and humidity as needed. Their work determines the quality of the sake. Viewed as a sacred gift from deities, sake is indispensable in festivals, weddings, rites of passage and other socio-cultural occasions. Although it is mass-produced today, craftspeople continue to make sake the traditional way. Chief sake makers, called ‘toji’, lead sake brewery workers, called ‘kurabito’, in the practice and transmission. Originally, sake was made only by women. As demand increased, men became involved in the process. Today, people of all genders can master the knowledge and skills. Sake-making is transmitted through...
This record is imported from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage public dataset as discovery metadata. ARED has not independently verified community authority, access protocols or local naming beyond the source record.
Community and Authority
- Communities
- Japan
- Languages
- Not specified in UNESCO dataset
- Cultural territories
- Japan
- Countries
- Japan
How the System Works
Sake is an alcoholic beverage made from grains and water that is deeply rooted in Japanese culture. Craftspeople use koji mould to convert the starch in the ingredients into sugar. They oversee the process to make sure the mould grows in optimal conditions, adjusting the temperature and humidity as needed. Their work determines the...
Sources and Evidence
Imported from UNESCO DataHub dataset ich001. Field-level provenance is retained in the record metadata.
Field-Level Provenance
- title
- UNESCO DataHub field title_en
- preferredTitle
- UNESCO DataHub field title_fr
- summary
- UNESCO DataHub field description_en
- type
- UNESCO DataHub fields type_of_element_en and type_acronym
- countries
- UNESCO DataHub field countries, ISO codes resolved with ISO-3166 regional metadata
- categories
- ARED category inference from UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names and title
- relationships
- UNESCO concepts_primary_names, concepts_secondary_names, type fields and World Heritage links
- sourceUrl
- UNESCO DataHub field http_url_en
- rights
- UNESCO DataHub dataset metadata license and license_url
Original Source Metadata
Why This Record Is Credible
This public record is connected to 1 source and has been labelled Source Supported. ARED separates evidence sources from cultural authority so users can see both provenance and review limits.
Cultural Access
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Relationships
Review and Corrections
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