ASMSA graduate pursues sake brewing internship in Japan

Hot Springs could soon have a little taste of its sister city of Hanamaki, Japan, brewed right here at home.

Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts graduate Ben Bell is taking on an internship with one of Hanamaki's top sake breweries, which Mary Neilson, executive director of the Hot Springs Sister City Program, said he hopes to bring back to the Spa City.

"Last October after our 20th anniversary celebration, Ben contacted me -- having been a student in Hot Springs and being familiar with the program -- in hopes that we could help get him an internship with one of the breweries in Hanamaki," Neilson said.

In 2011, a business delegation was sent to Hanamaki on a grant received by The Leading Asia: Renewing the U.S. and Japan Sister Cities Network funded by The Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnerships, which was awarded to five cities that year. The funds were awarded to launch programming in the areas of business development, sustainability, creative economies, and young professional development with the purpose of expanding existing relationships between the U.S. and Japan.

During that visit, the delegation toured many businesses, including an area sake brewery, which developed an interest among the group to bring this traditional practice back to Hot Springs to begin brewing the liquor locally.

"Having toured the breweries before on our visits, we've always wanted to find someone interested, but it's been difficult to find the right person," Neilson said. "Finding someone who was eager to learn Japanese, who wanted to learn how to brew sake, who was willing to spend a decent amount of time living there and wanted to bring their knowledge back and brew here in Hot Springs was very hard to do."

When Bell approached the organization, Neilson said he had the idea to brew the beverage -- a wine made from fermented rice with a brewing process very similar to beer -- was a goal of his.

"He told us this was basically his 'old man dream,'" she said. "With our thermal waters in Hot Springs and our rice production in the state, Ben said that he wants Hot Springs to be the 'Napa Valley of the U.S. sake industry.'"

Bell, she said, had already been to Japan where he received his advanced sake certification. In the short time he worked in a brewery, his interest grew toward pursuing a longer term internship.

On a recent trip with students, Neilson and Bell visited with Hanamaki International Exchange Association President Fumiaki Sasaki, who introduced them to officials at the Nanbu Bijin brewery located just north of Hanamaki in the Iwate Prefecture.

According to Neilson, Bell is learning to speak Japanese, bringing him one step closer to his internship.

"The next step really is for him to live near the brewery through the course of his internship," she said. "The brewery is helping him find a place to live nearby. They provide him with three meals a day and he will be brewing alongside the best in the industry. Then, we hope he will bring his skills back to Hot Springs, further connecting us with our sister city."

Local on 07/25/2014

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