Mikawa Mirin: Aichi's Historic Sweet Brewing Tradition

Aichi's Chita Peninsula, particularly the area around Handa, developed into one of Japan's major centers for mirin (sweet cooking rice wine) and vinegar production starting in the Edo period, helped by access to good water, local rice, and a coastal position that made shipping fermented goods to Edo (old Tokyo) by boat relatively easy. Old canal-side warehouse buildings from that era still stand in parts of Handa and give a physical sense of how large-scale this trade once was, even though most of it isn't visible from the water today.

Mirin isn't drunk on its own the way sake is — it's a lower-alcohol, sweetened rice wine used almost exclusively as a cooking seasoning, giving dishes like teriyaki, simmered fish, and glazed vegetables their characteristic sheen and rounded sweetness. Traditionally brewed 'hon mirin' (true mirin), aged for months, tastes noticeably different from the cheaper, lightly sweetened 'mirin-style' seasoning sold in most supermarkets, so it's worth reading labels if you want authentic mirin rather than a diluted substitute.