Hitogokochi (ひとごこち) is one of the varieties of “sake rice (sakamai, 酒米)”, rice suited to making sake. Its main producing areas are Nagano and Yamanashi Prefectures. Sake rice as a whole is explained on the Types of sake rice page.
How it came about
Hitogokochi is a variety developed in 1987 at the Nagano Prefecture agricultural experiment station by crossing “Shinko Sake No. 437 (信交酒437号, Shirotae Nishiki (白妙錦))” and “Shinko No. 444 (信交444号)”. Nagano Prefecture adopted it as a recommended variety, replacing the earlier “Shirotae Nishiki” and part of Miyama Nishiki.
Features of Hitogokochi
Trials in Nagano Prefecture that compared it with Miyama Nishiki gave the following results.
- The grains are larger than those of Miyama Nishiki and even in size, and many of them have a shinpaku (心白)
- The rice plants are shorter than those of Miyama Nishiki and fall over less easily
- The yield is larger than that of Miyama Nishiki
- Sake made from rice with 41% of the outer part polished away (a rice polishing ratio of 59%) was rated better than sake made from Miyama Nishiki
However, the taste of sake is not decided by the rice alone. The koji, the yeast, the fermentation, the pressing, the heating and the storage each affect the taste.
Main producing areas
The prefectures with the largest production in the 2024 crop are Nagano, Yamanashi and Tochigi.
“Shinano Omachi”, a geographical indication that names Hitogokochi as an ingredient
The geographical indication (GI) for sake “Shinano Omachi (信濃大町)” (Nagano Prefecture) requires that only “Miyama Nishiki (美山錦)”, “Hitogokochi”, “Kinmon Nishiki (金紋錦)” and “Sankei Nishiki (山恵錦)” be used for the rice and the rice koji. The rice is limited to rice harvested in designated rice fields in Omachi City (大町市) and Matsukawa Village (松川村) in Kitaazumi District (北安曇郡), Nagano Prefecture.