Translator’s Corner

Thank you for reading volume 9 of Holmes of Kyoto! This time, there were several Japanese terms that couldn’t be gracefully explained in-text.

First, chapter 1 has Aoi helping out at an event for Setsubun, a festival unique to Japan. Setsubun is held in early February and represents the day before the start of spring according to the lunar calendar. Common rituals for this festival are throwing roasted soybeans to drive away evil spirits, eating the number of soybeans corresponding to your age, and eating eho-maki (uncut sushi rolls) while facing the lucky direction of the year.

On Holmes’s side of chapter 1, there’s a scene where Kota explains the order that sake should be drunk in:

“It’s generally said that it’s best to start with light flavors and gradually raise the intensity. You should start with daiginjo or sparkling sake, then move on to ginjo or honjozo. After that comes junmai ginjo, junmai, and yamahai or kimoto. Aged sake comes last.”

Types of premium sake are distinguished by the rice polishing ratio (how much of the grain remains after a percentage of the surface has been polished away) and the presence of added distilled alcohol.

Daiginjo: 50% or less; has distilled alcohol

Ginjo: 60% or less; has distilled alcohol

Honjozo: 70% or less; has distilled alcohol

Junmai ginjo: 60% or less; no additional alcohol

Junmai: no specified ratio; no additional alcohol

Yamahai and kimoto aren’t grades, but rather methods of creating sake. Most sake is made by introducing a small amount of industrially produced pure lactic acid to the yeast starter to clean the fermenting environment, but yamahai and kimoto instead use the existing lactic bacteria in the air, resulting in wilder taste and texture. The kimoto method has existed for hundreds of years and involves a lot of labor, with brewery staff having to use poles to mash the rice into a paste. Yamahai is a simplified version of kimoto that makes use of moisture and temperature variations to skip the hard labor.