{"podcast":{"title":"Sake Deep Dive","slug":"sake-deep-dive-4351284","podcast_index_feed_id":4351284,"rss_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/6ae05d20/podcast/rss","website_url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sake-deep-dive","image_url":"https://d3t3ozftmdmh3i.cloudfront.net/production/podcast_uploaded_nologo/17830888/17830888-1632780188956-badedad5169bc.jpg","author":"Sake Deep Dive","episode_count":50,"summary":"A sake podcast for the beyond beginner! Sake brewer Andrew Russell and sake writer/translator Jim Rion dive deep into the history and culture around Japan's national drink to bring context and insight, for when an introduction just won't cut it. Join us every month for a tokkuri full of unfiltered sake knowledge! Our theme song is from: Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-n... Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg","last_synced_at":null,"page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sake-deep-dive-4351284"},"episode":{"title":"Brewery Hierarchy - Sake Making Structure","slug":"brewery-hierarchy-sake-making-structure","published_at":"2025-12-31T23:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sake-deep-dive-4351284/brewery-hierarchy-sake-making-structure","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sake-deep-dive-4351284","url":"https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/sake-deep-dive/episodes/Brewery-Hierarchy---Sake-Making-Structure-e3d0t82","audio_url":"https://anchor.fm/s/6ae05d20/podcast/play/113324738/https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-11-31%2Ffc73c97b-8eda-5cc4-fff0-0dba82fcc29c.m4a","summary":"As the New Year brings a sake drinking season to us all, Andy and Jim take a moment to think about the people who make it and the system that keeps the brewery pumping. From toji to kurabito, the roles in a sake brewery all play an important part in keeping our tokkuri filled. Listen in for the inside story. Kanpai! Vocab for this episode Kanzukuri 寒造り - The system of sake brewing during the cold seasons imposed by government edict in the Edo period. Kashira 頭 - Literally “head,” the second highest rank in a traditional organization, such as a sake brewery. Kōhai 後輩 - A relative rank referring to any member of a group junior to the speaker. Kurabito 蔵人 - The general term for the workers in a sake brewery without specific title. Ranked sometimes into Jō (upper) Chuu (middle) and Shita (lower) levels. Motoya 酛屋 - The person in charge of making the moto fermentation starter. Muroya 室屋 - The person in charge of making kōji in the kōjimuro. Oya or Oyabun 親・親分 - Literally “parent/father,” used as a term of address for people high up in a traditional organization, like a sake brewery. Sanyaku 三役 - The three major ranks/roles of a traditional organization, most commonly used these days in reference to the Sumo ranks of Ozeki, Sekiwaki, and Komusubi. In sake brewing, these are the Kashira, Muroya, and Motoya. Sendō 船頭 - The person in charge of pressing (traditionally a fune press). Senpai 先輩 - A relative rank referring to any member of a group senior to the speaker. Shain 社員 - The general word for a full time, permanent employee of a company. Replacing the traditional brewery structure of the tōji system. Sōtōji 総杜氏 - Overall tōji. In sake companies with more than one brewery, and so more than one tōji, the top of them all who coordinates all the sake production. Recommendation…","meta_description":"As the New Year brings a sake drinking season to us all, Andy and Jim take a moment to think about the people who make it and the system that keeps the br…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":3166,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/sake-deep-dive-4351284/episodes/brewery-hierarchy-sake-making-structure/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/sake-deep-dive-4351284/brewery-hierarchy-sake-making-structure.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}