Tatsuuma Kichizaemon XIII

Hello! How is everyone doing in the lingering summer heat? September is the month for “Hiyaoroshi” sake. We hope you can survive the hot days while enjoying sake. In this post, in conjunction with the Sake Reference Room Summer Exhibition “Great Sake Brewers in Nishinomiya and Imazu”, which will resume on September 11, 2024, we will introduce the name succession party of Tatsuuma Kichizaemon, the 13th generation head of the Tatsuuma family, the brewer of Hakushika sake, at a ceremony held in Tokyo in 1897.

It was in 1897 that Tatsuma Kichizaemon, the 13th generation, inherited the Tatsuuma family. Later, in 1901, he held a party for sake wholesalers in Tokyo, who were his main customers at the time, to announce that he had assumed the name of Kichizaemon. The venue was Yaomatsu-ro Restaurant facing the Sumida River, now in Azumabashi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo. This restaurant was famous that ranked in the top ten in four categories in a magazine about famous restaurants published in 1885: building size, scenery, entertainment, and price. He rented this restaurant out for four days from June 4 to 7, and it was a great success, with over 400 participants, including clients and related parties, enjoying the sumptuous food, geiko (female entertainers), and entertainment.

The clients who participated at this time later presented various congratulatory gifts for Kichizaemon. For example, from Mitsuhashi Jinshirō and Matsuda Otojirō, who were sake wholesalers in Tokyo, presented ornaments of white deer made by silver. Kichizaemon was very pleased and he wrote a letter of thanks for them. This ornaments themselvs are now in the collection of the Sake Museum.

This name succession party also served as a presentation of the brand name Hakushika. The invitation to the party stated, “From this year, we will select raw materials more carefully and all of the products in the brewery will bear the Hakushika trademark.” In fact, this was his sales strategy, and it was a statement of intent to concentrate on the Hakushika brand from now on, whereas in the past the trademark had been divided among the sake wholesalers with whom the company had business dealings. So, he was very pleased because he felt his clients accept the new brand and they sent the ornaments of deer for him.

In this issue, we introduced about the name succession party of Tatsuuma Kichizaemon XIII. After this, not only did he grow the company through the sake brewing business, he also diversified his business to include a steamboat company. In the Sake Reference Room Exhibition, we introduce about his other achievements, so please come to see the exhibition that being held until November 18th!