Ecosystem services of coastal sand dunes saw from the aspect of Sake breweries in Chiba Prefecture, Japan: A comparison of coastal and inland areas

Abstract

<p align="justify"> <span style="font-family:;font-size:12px;">In this report, we reviewed the differences in the ecosystem services of coastal and inland areas surrounding 39 Sake breweries in Chiba Prefecture by investigating environmental variables (e.g., location, altitude, soil, and hardness of preparation water). The Sake breweries were located in three distinct environments: the coastal vicinity, the river plains region, and the plateau/ mountainous region. The hardness of the preparation water and the soil types in the coastal vicinity were compared with those of the river plains and the plateau/mountainous region. Strong hard and hard water sources were observed in 70% or more of the breweries in the coastal vicinity, and sand dune regosol, coarse particle brown lowland soil, and coarse particle grey soil were more prevalent along the coast than inland. Most of the Sake brewery wells in the coastal vicinity were approximately 5 - 10 munderground, and there were no great differences in the number of Sake breweries in each well depth class in the river plains and the plateau/mountains region. We analysed environmental factors (distance from the sea, soil type, water hardness and preparation water collection depth) using a principal component analysis. This analysis revealed the existence of three main environments: the coastal vicinity, the river plains and the plateau/mountainous region. We conclude that the decrease in altitude between the inland Sake breweries and those along the coast is accompanied by a corresponding increase in the hardness of preparation water (from soft water to strong hard or hard water) and shifts in soil composition from gley soil, grey lowland soil, brown forest soil, and andosol to sand dune regosol, coarse particle brown lowland soil, and coarse particle grey soil</span><span style="font-family:;font-size:12px;">.</span> </p

Coastal sand dune ecosystem services in metropolitan suburbs: effects on the sake brewery environment induced by changing social conditions

“…Most of the sake brewery wells on the coast in Chiba Prefecture were approximately 5-10 m underground, providing a mineral-rich, hard water, high in calcium and magnesium (Kaneko et al 2012(Kaneko et al , 2013. Much of the sake brewed in the study area used water from a freshwater layer formed by the coastal dune system.…”

“…For information regarding historical and current sake breweries, we relied on Suzuki (1997) and Kaneko et al (2012Kaneko et al ( , 2013. In our research, we investigated the environment, including soil, topography, groundwater, and land use around sake breweries recorded in 1925.…”

“…Sake brewed using soft water tends to be mellower and slightly sweet (Inoue 2009). According to Kaneko et al (2012Kaneko et al ( , 2013, sake breweries that were on the sand dunes used groundwater depths of 5-10 m, which placed it deep within a freshwater layer in the sand dunes. Therefore, we believe that the Japanese sake brewed in the study area made use of this freshwater layer that was formed due to the coastal dune system.…”

“…These nutrients actively promote the proliferation of Aspergillus oryzae and yeast, the predominant microorganisms used in sake brewing. The taste of Japanese sake from such coastal areas is dry and full-bodied (Kaneko et al 2012(Kaneko et al , 2013.…”

Traditional Food Culture (Local Cuisines, Japanese Sake) That Has Been Nurtured by the Rich Nature of the Prefecture, Japan

“…In particular, there are many towns where the function of the port was developed [3]; the coastal sand dune zone near the port formed a layer of fresh water approximately 10 m underground originating from rain filtered through the sand stratum and the land area. The fresh water layer is hard water, in which the concentrations of minerals such as calcium and magnesium are high; hard water activates rice-malt and yeast, making the fresh water suitable for sake brewing [4,5]. We suggested that the demand of Japanese sake, which is luxury grocery item, was high.…”