Manuscript notebook on paper, entitled on upper wrapper “Ansei San tatsu doshi / Sake zukuri...
51 leaves (including one blank). 8vo (245 x 172 mm.), orig. self-wrappers, orig. stitching. [Japan]: 1856.
A fascinating record book, containing notes from 1838 to 1867 (in spite of the cover date of 1856), concerning the business of making sake and the brewers’ relations with the government.
Sake brewing in Japan has long been a highly regulated industry and an important source of tax revenue. The bakufu instituted the licensing system called “Sakekabu” in 1657 in order to regulate the number of manufacturers and the amount of rice used. The “Sakekabu” itself is a wooden license tag, carrying on the... More