98 AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY. 



In Sak6 distilleries Koji is prepared in precisely the same way, 

 only that the chambers are smaller and not sunk so deep in the 

 ground. Tane-koji is made only in spring. The spreading of 

 fungus is allowed to go on one or two days longer than in the 

 preparation of Koji, but it is finally covered over. The spores 

 thus obtained are kept all the summer in a sealed, air-tight pot, in a 

 dry, cool place, until needed in autumn. In winter the Koji itself 

 is used instead of it. 



b. Preparation of the Moto, or mash. This is a turbid fluid, 

 which Hoffmann has called Mutterwiirze, although neither this 

 word nor " mash " is a proper translation of " Moto." It is a pro- 

 duct of the fermentation caused in Koji by heat, — a fermentation 

 whereby a considerable part of the rice-starch is converted into 

 dextrine, starch-sugar, and finally alcohol. Its production takes 

 about fourteen days and is accomplished when the development of 

 carbonic acid in the ferment has grown considerably less and the 

 liquid has lost its former sweet taste and become sour and bitter, 

 with a pronounced flavour of alcohol. 



In Sake distilleries a fresh supply of rice is steamed on the third 

 or fourth day, the preparation of Koji having begun at the com- 

 mencement of November, and is spread out on mats till the follow- 

 ing morning. Then it is made into a thick porridge, with Koji and 

 water. The proportion of these ingredients, which does not vary 

 much, is quantitatively: rice lo, Koji 36, water ii'i ; and, accord- 

 ing to weight, rice 10, Koji 4, water 12. The rice thus steamed, 

 as well as that used for making Koji, is dried and hulled. In the 

 celebrated distilleries at Itami and Nishinomiya, 0'5 Koku of 

 steamed rice are mixed with 02 Koku of Koji and 06 Koku of 

 water, and this compound is called a Moto. This Moto is divided 

 into six equal parts, and put into six flat, cylindrical wooden tubs, 

 called Han-kiri, each holding 100 liters. The tubs are filled to only 

 about one-fifth of their capacity. The mass is now kneaded and 

 mixed by hand into a stiff, thick paste for two hours, after which 

 it is left to itself twenty-fou-r hours, in which time it completely 

 loses its stiffness, becoming thinner and more easily worked. Now 

 a sort of oar or ladle called Kai (oar), is dipped in and for several 

 days the mixture is frequently stirred thoroughly with it. The 

 milky liquor which is increasingly produced indicates starch-sugar 

 by its sweetness, for a large proportion of starch has been mean- 

 while thus converted. But near the end of this process carbonic 

 acid becomes more and more perceptible, indicating that alcoholic 

 fermentation has already set in, despite the low temperature. For 

 all this time the temperature has been that of the outer air, vary- 

 ing from 0° to 10° C Korschelt calls attention to the fact that this 

 coolness of the atmosphere is probably necessary and that, under 

 the given conditions, Sake-making is for this reason confined to 

 the coldest four months, since spores of the fungus {Eurotium 

 Oryzce Ahlb.) would otherwise appear in the Koji. 



