Uri: Experiential content!
A craft gin distillery for a new era of regional vitality.
<Part 2>

Tateyama City, Chiba Prefecture, where unique cafés and hotels are being created one after another as part of the Renovation Town Development that started in 2018.This section features the unique efforts of TATEYAMA BREWING, which aims to revitalise the region with craft gin from Tateyama.

writer：Ryoko Kuraishi　撮影：Midori Yamashita

Small distillery behind the bar.

TATEYAMA BREWING is a craft gin distillery in Tateyama City.

Micro-distilleries are springing up all over the country, but this one is a little different.It is a facility that sells 'experience'.

Founder Satoshi Ota's day job is as an architect.

Mr Ota, who has nothing to do with the liquor industry, began to think about opening a distillery when he moved to Tateyama.

I moved here from Tokyo as a member of the Regional Development Cooperation Volunteers after meeting a key person in the revitalisation of this area who runs a micro-hotel and guesthouse called tu.ne hostel," he says.

Tateyama is an interesting place, and although it is only about two hours away from Tokyo, I feel that it is an independent cultural area with a completely unique culture.

The industry is declining, but when you go inside you are surprised to find that there are still interesting events, things and things to do."

At the bar, start with a tasting of the gin you are interested in.

Use of local materials.

Tateyama is said to be a place where it is difficult for large chain business models to be established, and even now there are many small-scale manufacturers, makers and shops that are indivisual.

For example, the only shaper in Japan who makes wooden surfboards, a woodworking shop that combines digital and handcraft, a dyeing studio and an artistic metalworking shop. ......

'The local community is very well connected, and when we want to make something, we are introduced to someone who says, "Well, you should talk to that person".Everything can be solved locally.

I thought it was the perfect city for making things.

Also, although I am not a sake brewer, I have always been interested in distilling, and craft gin can make use of local wild plants and botanicals.

That's when I began to think that I wanted to create a micro-distillery that would be close to Tateyama."

Juniper berries used in TATEYAMA GIN.

TATEYAMA BREWING is located in the TAIL complex, which was launched with the aim of becoming the hub of Tateyama.

CAFE & BAR TAIL and TATEYAMA BREWING are located on the ground floor of the building, which used to be a warehouse and office for a corrugated cardboard company, with a guesthouse on the second floor and a shared office on the third floor.

Mr Ota gave us a tour of the facilities.

The shop (café and bar) space, the distillery and the shared office on the third floor have been renovated little by little by Mr Ota himself with his own hands.

The shop space, which reuses scrap wood, is used as a café run by local women during the day and as a bar where you can taste TATEYAMA GIN at night (currently closed due to a declared state of emergency).

The bar's recommended menu item is the Gin Cola, which combines the original craft cola with Juniper from the Element Series.

In addition, various gin menus can be made from the 'Element Series' of your choice.

There are also cocktails made in collaboration with local producers.

The Craft Gin Shake, available for a limited time only, is a cocktail made with thick vanilla ice cream from Sudo Farm in Tateyama.

White labels are for the 'Element Series' and red labels are for the 'Blend Series'.Element Series ¥1,980-¥2,090, Blend Series ¥2,200.

A small distillery is set up behind the café and bar.

The interior of the distillery, which can be seen through a glass window from the shop space, is also a DIY project using temporary fencing and scrap wood from the construction site.

The distilling facility consists of two distillers, one of 30 litres and the other of 3 litres for test batches.

Yuichiro Suzuki of Tokyo-based craft beer and liqueur producer Haneda Beer has been invited as a partner to assist in the distillation process, and it was actually Suzuki's idea to distil the botanicals individually and then blend each one.The company has gradually gained a number of local repeat customers.

The emergency was declared just as the number of local repeat customers was gradually increasing.

The bar has been open for less than two months in total, but plans are in place to finally launch experiential content once it reopens.

OEMs and want to appeal to bartenders.

'What we are planning is an all-you-can-try plan for the "Elements Series".

You can try 21 varieties as you like and blend your favourite brand at the bar counter.

The idea is to enjoy an original gin.

The second is a small group distillation experience.

You can distil single botanicals and experience the distillation process and the difference in taste between the head and tail."


In addition, the distillery is releasing the second in the 'Blended Series'.The second release in the distillery's Blended Series, 002, is currently in preparation.

The idea is to create a gin with lots of juniper, mint and lemon flavours, and a mojito-like cocktail with just a splash of soda and syrup.

'Of course we can make original blends, but we can also distill your favourite botanicals, and we can even do OEM in small quantities,' he says.

We hope that bartenders will make use of this distillery, born out of Tateyama's DIY culture!"