to seriously embark on sake brewing

Ready to start brewing sake

I thought I could start brewing sake as soon as I got my license, but preparing after getting the license has been surprisingly tough.

Sake brewing involves steaming rice, mixing it with koji and water, and adding yeast, but there are countless other tasks and responsibilities.

Things that can only be done after getting the license

• Reporting the recipe to the tax office.
• Label design application
• Registering facility equipment
• Ordering reagents for analysis during brewing
• Ordering yeast
• etc

For a new sake brewery like ours, we have zero approved recipes, so we have to apply for everything. Also, there are things like yeast that cannot be purchased without a license.

Preparing all of that took two months.

Can only use Windows

For applications and declarations related to sake brewing and sales, e-Tax, an online registration system, is essential, and paper applications are frowned upon.

With paper applications, the application form is mailed to a dedicated counter, where it's digitized into a PDF and then delivered to the sake department, which reportedly takes about a week. However, with e-Tax, applications can be viewed immediately, so the sake official recommended e-Tax, or rather, requested it.

So, I decided to try e-Tax. Upon investigation, I found that while there are online options, applications for sake-related matters can only be done by installing software.

Furthermore, it's a system where you verify your identity by reading your My Number Card with a card reader, but I don't have a My Number Card, so I wondered what to do. I found out that it's possible to proceed by preparing documents containing the company's registration information.

However, this also costs about 8,000 yen for 27 months.

Creating a My Number Card would take time, and I couldn't do anything during that period, so I gave up, paid the fee, and applied for the documents with the company's information.

I thought this would allow me to apply, but there was another pitfall... My computer is a Mac, so that was out.

Reluctantly, I borrowed my wife's computer, installed e-Tax, created an account, and completed only the minimum necessary applications.

Sake brewing not only requires applications but also monthly declarations of sales performance.

Borrowing my wife's computer every time would be difficult, so I gave up and looked into buying a used Windows laptop, but models from about five years ago were selling for tens of thousands of yen.

Apparently, WIN11 is installed, but will it run properly? I'm also worried it might break down quickly.

On the other hand, new ones cost over 100,000 yen, and those with low specs are too slow to be usable.

Found a MINI-PC

It's a desktop computer without a monitor, keyboard, or mouse, but if I can use it remotely from my Mac, I don't need a monitor, keyboard, or mouse to operate it from my Mac. This perfectly matches my needs.

Moreover, the price is incredibly cheap at around 30,000 yen. The specs are also perfectly adequate, and it runs smoothly.

Normally, I use my Mac, but when I need to use e-Tax, I just boot up this MINI-PC and make the applications.

A monitor and keyboard are only needed during setup, but I used the TV as a monitor and the keyboard I used before switching to Mac.

Now I can finally start as a brewer

Two months passed in a flash.

I was so excited about getting the license and had so many things to do that some tasks were left incomplete or inadvertently overlooked, causing time to slip by.

Anyway, Sugimoto Sake Brewing is starting.