AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES. loi 



crosswise one above another in a strong square box, and covered 

 with a plate, smaller than the bottom of the box, or with several 

 one over another, decreasing successively in size. Upon this lid 

 there presses a one-armed lever, in the shape of a long beam, one 

 end of which is hinged in a stout post, while the other is weighted 

 with a load of 600-900 kg. On the front side of the box, near the 

 ground, is the spout arrangement, through which the turbid Sake is 

 conducted into a vessel that stands below. For clarification it 

 is put into a standing cask, having two bungholes close together 

 and one above the other, near its lower head. The Sake stands 

 here quiet for two weeks, in which time all solid impurities sink 

 to the bottom. Then, when the upper stop-cock is opened, the 

 Sake flows off clear from the underlying sediment. It is poured 

 into barrels or closed tubs, and now only needs to be heated on the 

 approach of warm weather, to become cured, as pointed out at 

 beginning. 



2. Shochu (Shochiu). Sake contains, as the following 

 Table of analyses shows, 11-14 per cent, of alcohol. By a simple 

 arrangement, a liquor is distilled from the dregs in the press, con- 

 sisting principally of starch and cellulose, and containing 6 per 

 cent of alcohol. It bears the name of Shochu, and presents 20- 

 50 per cent of alcohol, corresponding, therefore, more to gin than 

 to spirits of wine, although the word is usually translated into 

 "alcohol." Shochu is principally made into Mirin. One kind of 

 Shochu, made in Kiushiu, and particularly in Satsuma, bears the 

 name of Awamori. 



3. Shiro-Sake, white Sake, is a white, sweet drink, with the 

 appearance of milk, which is manufactured by converting glutinous 

 rice {Oryza gluthwsa) into meal, mixing this with water, and 

 adding a little Sake. On Hina-matsuri or Sangatsu-no-sekku, 

 the festival of dolls/ it is placed before the dolls and their 

 friends. 



4. Mirin is a sweet liqueur, ranging from yellow to brown in 

 colour, and of the consistency of oil. It contains as much or more 

 alcohol than Sake, and has an aroma peculiar to itself, though 

 produced by the addition of foreign substances. It lasts for 

 many years. When old it is called Komirin, old Mirin, and is 

 then darker, sweet, and more highly prized. 



Great quantities of Mirin, under the name of Toso-shu, or Toso, 

 are drunk in every house after the first congratulations at New 

 Year, not only by every member of the family, from youngest 

 to oldest, but also when the mutual New Year's calls are made. 



Its manufacture is usually connected with that of Sake. One 

 large distillery, celebrated for its Mirin, is that at Nagare-yama, 

 on the Yedo-gawa, about twenty-three English miles north of 

 T6kio. Steamed Mochi-gome or glutinous rice, K6ji, and Shochu 



^ See Rein, "Japan," i. p. 439. 



