The BSA Committee is excited to once again invite Members to our ever-popular Study Group. Our theme for this meeting will be bodaimoto!
As an extension of our discussion on the history of sake from the last study group, this time we will be focusing specifically on bodaimoto as a method of sake production.
Bodaimoto, directly translated as “Enlightened Starter”, was a fermentation starter (shubo) preparation method that dates back to the Muromachi Period (1336-1573). Buddhist temples, most notably Shoryaku Temple in Nara Prefecture, were the centres of sake production. By relying on ambient lactic acid bacteria to produce lactic acid for acidifying the starter, the monks prepared bodaimoto to safely kick-start fermentation in the summer. However, due to societal changes, this production method lost favour to other fermentation starter preparation methods, and became extinct!
Fortunately, sake breweries in Nara and Okayama have now revived bodaimoto by studying ancient sake recipes. The first attempt was by Tsuji Honten in Okayama Prefecture in 1984. In 1996, Bodai-ken (Nara Sake Research Group for Producing Sake using Bodaimoto) also successful recreated bodaimoto from ancient recipes.
Each year, Bodai-ken holds the Bodaimoto festival at Shoryaku Temple, famously known as the ‘birthplace of sake’, in Nara Prefecture. Brewers prepare the fermentation starter from scratch on the temple grounds. Once the bodaimoto starter is completed (around two weeks), the brewers will take a portion back to their brewery and produce a bodaimoto sake with their own take. Currently, there are only seven breweries left in Bodai-ken, and we will be tasting six of the seven bodaimoto sakes from those breweries!
This will be a truly unmissable opportunity to taste different approaches to bodaimoto side by side!
*As the BSA will be providing the bottles, for this time, don’t worry about finding a bottle for the study group!
The sakes that we will be tasting on the night:
Gozenshu 1859 Junmai Bodaimoto (Tsuji Honten)
御前酒 1859 純米菩提酛 (辻本店)
Kicho Bodaimoto Junmai-shu (Ueda Shuzo)
嬉長 菩提酛純米酒 (上田酒造)
Kikutsukasa Bodaimoto Junmai (Kikutsukasa Jozo)
菊司 菩提酛純米 (菊司醸造)
Yatagarasu Bodaimoto Junmai (Kitaoka Honten)
八咫烏 菩提酛純米 (北岡本店)
Tsuge no Himuro Bodaimoto (Kuramoto Shuzo)
つげのひむろ 菩提酛 (倉本酒造)
Takacho Bodaimoto Junmai-shu (Yucho Shuzo)
鷹長 菩提酛 純米酒 (油長酒造)
Hyakurakumon Bodaimoto Shikomi Junmai Bodaimoto (Katsuragi Shuzo)
百楽門 菩提もと仕込み 純米菩提もと (葛城酒造)
Hyakurakumon Bodaimoto Junmai Daikoshu “Gyoryu Henka” (Katsuragi Shuzo)
百楽門 菩提酛 純米大古酒「魚龍変化」 (葛城酒造)
Kanpai MIRU (Bodaimoto) Junmai Ginjo Sake
No prior knowledge on bodaimoto is needed! Just be prepared to be enlightened like the monks in medieval Japan!
Join us at UKIYO Handroll Bar (so not our usual meeting spot at Vagabond Monument!!) – where we will indulge ourselves with amazing sushi and handrolls prepared by the UKIYO team.
Date: Monday, 1 June 2026
Time: 7pm to 9pm
Address: 8 Slingsby Place, WC2E 9AB
(nearest stations: Leicester Square, Covent Garden)
Tickets: £35 for BSA Members ONLY
Our Masterclasses and Study groups are open to current members only.
Tickets are strictly limited, to ensure proper attention is paid to each sake kindly shared by Members.
*** If you have to cancel your booking after purchasing a ticket, we can offer a full refunded minus transaction fees up to 72 hours before the event start time, provided that we are able to resell your space to another member. Thank you for your understanding.
British Sake Association 英国日本酒協会 