“Touken Ranbu” Game Fans Save Quake-Hit Kumamoto Brewery

Yamato, Kumamoto Pref., Aug. 25 (Jiji Press)–Fans of the popular Japanese video game “Touken Ranbu” have helped save a centuries-old sake brewery in Kumamoto Prefecture after a major earthquake in the southwestern Japan prefecture late last month prompted cancellations of orders and reservations. Established in 1770, Tsujun Shuzo, a sake brewery in the town of Yamato in Kumamoto, was not directly damaged by the July 28 quake, which measured the maximum seismic intensity level of 7 on the Japanese scale in some areas. But orders from wholesalers stopped as travel plans were canceled and people refrained from drinking. Sales of its mainstay “junmai ginjo” sake, “Semi” (Cicada), fell to 120 bottles as of mid-August, although monthly sales of the product typically average 1,000 bottles. Also, reservations for about 500 people were canceled at a cafe attached to the brewery. Yasuo Yamashita, the 63-year-old, 12th-generation owner of the brewery, said in an X post that Semi is “crying in the storehouse.” The post quickly went viral as the brewery is well known among avid Touken Ranbu fans for its Hotarumaru junmai ginjo sake, which shares its name with a character in the video game. According to Yamashita, fans who saw the post rushed to buy Hotarumaru, and the brewery received orders for 500 to 600 bottles. Hotarumaru temporarily sold out on the brewery’s online sales site. All employees worked on the shipment, and each bottle was accompanied by a letter of gratitude that read, “Thanks to you, sake with nowhere to go was able to depart.” “After the earthquake, I felt that there were quite a few people who wanted to support sake breweries working hard in local communities,” Yamashita said, expressing his determination to continue the business with the help of supporters. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]