THE QUESTION
How does one earn the right to inherit a tradition?
In a family business, becoming a successor is not a right promised to you simply because you were born into the family. That right is cultivated through patience, humility, and the determination to inherit something greater than yourself and carry it forward into the future.
HIS RESPONSE
Tradition is not something you inherit the moment you are born.
I am the fifth generation, but it was never decided from childhood that I would take over the family business.
In fact, my father raised me by telling me, “Follow the path that you choose for yourself.”
After graduating from university, I worked at a sake brewery in Nara Prefecture, where I spent my days facing fermentation and learning from it.
Through that experience, I came to realize once again that the reason our brewery has continued for 114 years was not simply because of soy sauce.
We have been supported by the people of our community, by our customers, and even by the microorganisms that have quietly taken up residence within the brewery; unseen, yet always present.
That is why what I inherit is not merely the technique of making soy sauce.
I am inheriting the character of the land, the connections between people, and the very accumulation of more than 100 years of time.
I believe that the qualification to inherit a tradition does not come from being born into a particular family.
It comes from truly wanting to leave something greater than yourself for the future.
And from having the determination to carry that responsibility forward, day after day.
Today, I am also participating in the Kioke Craftsperson Revival Project, together with fellow brewers and craftsmen from across Japan.
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Tradition does not survive simply by being protected.
I believe it is also our responsibility to nurture it into a form that can be passed on to the next generation.
And so, even today, as I prepare each drop of soy sauce, I am doing work that I hope will be carried forward 100 years into the future.