Hayao Miyazaki’s first directorial work adds flavour to a special Japanese sake

Centuries-old sake brewery shines a spotlight on an oft-overlooked anime series.

Back in 1984, an animator called Hayao Miyazaki slipped into the director’s chair for a new anime series called Mirai Shonen Konan. The series became known overseas as Future Boy Conan, or Conan, The Boy in Future, and the director went on to become one of the most famous in the world.

The series is an important milestone in Miyazaki’s career, as it marked his debut as a solo director. Previously, Miyazaki had worked as an animator, often in movies directed by Isao Takahata, with whom he would later co-direct and then go on to found Studio Ghibli with, alongside producer Toshio Suzuki.

▼ Future Boy Conan

As a pre-Ghibli work, Future Boy Conan tends to be overlooked when looking at Miyazaki’s repertoire, but now it’s getting its time in the spotlight once again, thanks to a new sake from Okuhida brewery in Gifu Prefecture. 

▼ Founded in 1720, Okuhida has been brewing sake for 304 years.

The new product is called “Umasou”, (literally “looks delicious”), which is a fun nod to Umasou, the pet piglet belonging to Jimsy in the series.

▼ うまそう (“Umasou”) is a junmai ginjo sake.

While the piglet appears on the label design, the sake itself doesn’t contain any porcine ingredients, instead using local Hidahomare rice grown with solar energy.

The new tipple was created with Lana’s home island of High Harbour in mind. According to the brewery, if there was a souvenir shop on nature-filled High Harbour, this is the type of drink you’d find there.

It’s a rare chance to get a taste of an anime island born from the mind of Miyazaki, and it can be purchased online in 720-millilitre (24-ounce) bottles for 5,500 yen (US$35.37).

Source, images: PR Times
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