Nara Era

Sake is a valuable article in supplying nutrients. The Nara period marked the beginning of full-scale alcohol production. During this era, the Imperial court established a Department of Sake in its Office of Alcohol Production. Around this time, instead of chewing the rice, people started to use koji that was brought from China for brewing sake.

In those times, food with high caloric content were a rarity and were reserved only for the nobility. People would drink sake with rice grains remaining inside.