Handa
Handa City is the "fermentation city." Handa is on Chita Peninsula in Aichi Prefecture. Population is about 118,000. Handa has over 300 years of brewing history. Sake, vinegar, soy sauce. Handa residents have lived with "fermentation." Handa has Mizkan Holdings headquarters. Global vinegar manufacturer. Handa has two sake breweries. Nakano Sake Brewery. Kinshachi Brewery. Along Handa Canal, black-board warehouses line up. Warehouses continuing from Edo period. For Handa residents, "fermentation" is culture. Handa residents "slowly" ferment. For months. For years. Handa residents value "time." Good things are made over time. This is Handa residents' philosophy.
Fermentation has no "speed." Fermentation is "waiting." Sake ferments for months. Vinegar ages for years. Handa residents watch fermentation in warehouses every day. Manage temperature. Manage humidity. Handa residents follow "nature's rhythm." Fermentation can't be controlled by humans. Fermentation is done by microorganisms. Handa residents "respect" microorganisms. Handa residents wait for microorganisms' "time." For Handa residents, time flows "slowly." One day is long. One year is long. Handa residents live "slowly."
From Handa to Suzuka Circuit is about 1 hour by car. From Handa to Nagoya is about 30 minutes by train. Handa is geographically close to motorsport. But most Handa residents aren't interested in motorsport. Why? Because for Handa residents, motorsport is "too fast." F1 finishes in 90 minutes. Time for Handa residents to ferment one batch of sake is 90 days. One F1 race is 1.5 hours. Handa residents' vinegar aging time is 1.5 years. For Handa residents, F1 is an "instant." Handa residents live in "long time." For Handa residents, motorsport time is "incomprehensible."
Handa has "Handa Canal." During Edo period, Handa's sake and vinegar were shipped to Edo by boat. Handa Canal was Handa's "lifeline." Even now, warehouses line Handa Canal. Tourists visit. Take photos. But Handa residents don't look at Handa Canal. For Handa residents, Handa Canal is "daily life." Handa residents pass Handa Canal every day. Walk in front of warehouses. But Handa residents don't stop. For Handa residents, warehouses are "workplace." Not tourist sites.
Handa has temporal contradiction with motorsport. Motorsport competes in "seconds." 0.001 second difference. F1 drivers fight for thousandths of seconds. Handa residents count in "years." 2024 sake. 2023 vinegar. For Handa residents, one year is "minimum unit." For Handa residents, "seconds" don't exist. Handa residents don't look at clocks. Handa residents look at seasons. When spring comes, brew sake. When autumn comes, age vinegar. Handa residents live in "nature's time." For Handa residents, motorsport's "artificial time" is incomprehensible.
Handa has "Handa Open Factory." 2024 event drew about 3000 visitors. Event opening Handa's factories to public. Breweries. Factories. Handa residents show their work. But Handa residents don't show "speed." Handa residents show "slowness." "This sake was fermented over 3 months." "This vinegar was aged over 1 year." Handa residents take pride in "time." For Handa residents, time is "value." Things made in short time have "no value." Things made over long time have "value." This is Handa residents' values. So Handa residents can't understand motorsport. What value is in F1 that finishes in 90 minutes?
Handa residents are "craftsmen." Handa residents protect tradition. 300 years of brewing tradition. Handa residents make sake with techniques inherited from grandfathers. Make vinegar. Handa residents aren't interested in "new things." Handa residents value "old things." For Handa residents, "innovation" is unnecessary. "Tradition" is value. So Handa residents aren't interested in motorsport. Motorsport "innovates" every year. New technology. New rules. Handa residents can't understand. Handa residents make sake today with the same method as 300 years ago.
But Handa has contradiction. Handa residents live "slowly." But Handa is close to Nagoya. 30 minutes by train. Handa's youth work in Nagoya. Experience Nagoya's "fast life." Handa's youth return home. And think: "Handa is too slow." Handa's youth look at fermentation. "Why does this take so much time?" Handa's youth refuse to work in warehouses. Handa's warehouses lack successors. Handa's tradition is in crisis. Handa residents take pride in living "slowly." But the world moves "fast." Handa is being left behind. This is Handa's contradiction. Handa residents continue slowly fermenting sake today. As if not knowing the world spins "fast."