To Prostitute or Not to Prostitute - that is the question.

Almost ten years ago I worked for the Nagano Olympic Committee in preparation for the 19th Winter Games, here in Japan. I worked in Public Relations where, for better or worse, I got a crash course on some of the "Do's and Dont's" of putting a Big spin on mundane, everyday operations, all made in anticipation of "world class sports."

Everyday I was phoned by reporters who were hoping to catch a scoop - usually of the scandalous or shocking sort - because, let's face it: that's what sells magazines and newspapers. Most of the journalists were interested in our preparedness for the possibility of terrorism (even before 9/11- hard to believe), whether our computers (sponsored by IBM) were on the verge of crashing or not, or just how many egregious sums of Yen had been spent under the table to convince the International Olympic Committee to bring the games to Nagano.

The reporters were pretty obnoxious, but, fortunately for my then-more-innocent outlook on life, they never forced me to deal with questions about prostitutes. Why? For one thing, in contrast to Germany, prostitution has (for better or for worse - I'll leave that debate aside for now) been illegal in Japan since the American Occupation. Germany on the other hand, apparently legalized prostitution in 2002. Based on the passing of this watershed legislation, it seems the planners of the 2006 World Cup Games have had to add an unprecedented division to its organizing committee: a working group on the construction of temporary brothels. Probably not once considered a fleeting possibility for Nagano, an estimated 40,000 prostitutes from around the world are anticipated to join the 400,000 prostitutes who already ply their trade in Germany.

From a PR standpoint, the decision to legalize prostitution in Germany has certainly encouraged a lot of discourse regarding the relationship between human trafficking and the World Cup. Is this good for publicizing the World Cup? Well, the cynical side of me says, Yeah, of course! However, I also believe that the issue is making the Cup's publicists work harder for their money. Not surprisingly a number of feminists and human rights groups are calling on Germany to change its stance on prostitution. I learned about this problem, through an editorial in the International Herald Tribune, which was written by the president of Equality Now, an international women's rights organization. Even countries and trasnational organizations have gotten involved in the issue. The chairman of the global human rights subcommittee in the US Congress, for instance, recently condemned German planners as serious violators of international trafficking laws. Meanwhile the minister of justice in Sweden, Thomas Bodstroem, warns that the enormous payload of legalized prostitution naturally attracts "dishonest people willing exploit to young women and children."

For me the verdict is not so easy. Of course legalized prostitution makes it easier for your more "unsavory" types to conduct their commerce in Germany. But at least, I'm thinking, as long as it is legal, the women (and men - let's not forget about them) selling their bodies for a living are no longer the primary targets of prosecutors. At least with its legalization, law enforcers can spend their time more efficiently tracking down illegal trafficking rings and slavery syndicates. Moreover, in some articles I've read, prostitutes claim to feel safer and better protected in Germany. So I guess, in sum, for now, I'm all for the temporary stalls. I wish the division for temporary brothel construction the best of luck. And may their PR advocates suffer less at the hands of the media than those before them.

Memoirs of a Sake Breweryお酒屋さんについての思いで

Back in March, I visited a fantastic sake brewery in Yamanouchi Town of Nagano Prefecture. The company, called Tamamura-Honten & Co., operates at the bottom of Shiga Heights, home to the world's largest network of ski resorts and the venue for women's downhill and the super giant slolam in the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Founded in 1805 (Bunka 2), the company boasts two hundred years of experience and has brewed a local brand of sake called "engi" (縁喜) for the past century. The brewery was recently renovated and reopened by SATO Kisoji VII, the seventh generation descendant of the company's original founder, SATO Kisoji I.

Of course visitng any brewery is bound to be fun. As with about any desirable visit to a brewery, my friends, Yuriko and Matt, took the opportunity to try lots of of homemade sake and beer. After shootin back a couple shots and getting a quick little buzz, we mozied on up to the second floor of the brewery, which contains a collection of modern Japanese art and local artifacts. These apparently belong to the Sato family, who - we found out later - live just across the street from the brewery. Before leaving, Matt and I stocked up on some sake and beer to take back to friends in Kanagawa, we took lots of pictures of antiques in and around the brewery, and indulged in accepting some free sake cups from one of the owners. Incidentally, we found the coolest antique, an old, Japanese fire truck, sitting conveniently between the entrance to the brewery and a modern-day, Japanese vending machine full of Kirin beer.

The highlight of the visit, however, was yet to come: an unexpected invitation from the owner of Tamamura Honten (whom I assume is Sato VI since Sato VII, pictured on the company web page, looks about 20 years younger) into the family's private residence. The invitation was totally unexpected and an amazing and rare treat. Mr. Sato - I'm just going to keep calling him that until I find out otherwise - was clearly the descendant of a prosperous line of rural aristocrats (read gohno). His house was the largest, most traditional, and opulent country dwelling I have ever seen in Japan.

Truly and deeply inspired by this trip to the brewer's kingdom, I have decided to jot down just a few notes here on the history and process of sake brewing (oi la la): Apparently Japanese people have been brewing sake in some shape or form for the past 2000 years - that is, ten times as long as the Sato family has been doing it! The alcohol is brewed using a microorganism called koji, yeast, and a special type of rice. Japanese rice is generally divided into two types: table rice that is eaten, and sake rice (sakamai) that is used exclusively for sake brewing. This variety of rice is large-grained, soft, and has a low protein content. Requiring more complicated methods for cultivating, this type of rice is much more expensive than table rice.

The ingredient called koji converts the starch in the rice into sugar. Thus, compared to the fermentation of wine, that of sake is more complicated, involving a second step. With wine, yeast is added directly to pressed grapes in order to created alcohol. However, with sake, the fundamental ingredient, rice, cannot begin fermenting until it has been converted to sugar through the use of koji. After the sugar has been produced, yeast is then added, (of course, fermentation takes place) which in turn produces alcohol. Because these two processes (Saccharification and fermentation) occur in the same container, the process is apparently called "multiple parallel fermentation."

Sake has an alcohol content of 13-16% (oh la la). As with most brews, the quality of water used is extremely important. With this in mind, the Tamamura Honten's position at the base of Shiga Heights seems especially strategic as the natural waters trickling down from the mountains are apparently the most essential ingredient for producing high quality sake.