Taru-zume sagyo

【English】

Casking

【Japanese】

樽詰作業

The process of filling a taru of Japanese cedar wood, then wrapping in it a woven straw komo mat printed with a brand name, before binding the whole with cords to complete the cask.

It comprises the following tasks.

1. There is a wooden plug in the opening for sake towards the bottom of the cask. The logo or brand name is branded or stamped on its upper side.
2. Half-fill the cask with cold or hot water, and leave for a while to check for leaks. Use the water to wash thoroughly, then put it upside down on a stand to drain completely.
3. Pour in the necessary quantity of sake through the hole in the top lid (called kagami (鏡)), check again for leaks, then seal the hole with a label bearing the brand name.
4. Carefully wrap a komo mat printed with brand name and logo around the cask, and bind it with cords. At this point, it is considered to be a completely prepared komo-kamuri daru (komo-wrapped cask) . This process of preparation is also called hon-ni-zukuri (本荷造り, “full preparation for shipping”).

A cask which has had a label applied directly (without having the decorative/protective komo wrapping) is called kari-maki  (仮巻き, “provisionally wrapped”) or simply hadaka ( 裸, “bare”).