Docs show WWII Japan's oil-starved military forced sake brewers to make alcohol fuel

Documents found at a sake museum in Hyogo Prefecture reveal that Japan's military forces, desperate for fuel as oil supplies dwindled, ordered sake breweries to produce alcohol late in the Pacific War. The Hakushika Memorial Museum of Sake, located in Nishinomiya, Hyogo, houses previously unconfirmed wartime documents that shed light on this unusual arrangement.

In April 1945, the Army's Kinki branch office and the Navy's Osaka naval district munitions department each sent documents to sake breweries, urging them to increase alcohol production. The Army wanted Tatsuuma-Honke Brewing to produce 30% crude alcohol, similar to shochu spirits, while the Navy intended to use it as fuel for aircraft and ground vehicles.

Despite rivalries, both the Army and Navy sought to control sake breweries for their alcohol production needs. Tatsuuma-Honke Brewing was eventually assigned to produce 900 koku (about 160 kiloliters) of alcohol monthly. The company, known for its Hakushika brand, had already introduced a distiller for shochu in 1941 and was producing shochu from sake lees and other materials.

The shortage of oil, which had plummeted from 48.89 million barrels in 1941 to 4.95 million barrels by the start of 1945, forced Japan to look for alternative fuels. Alcohol was mixed with gasoline to stretch precious fuel supplies. However, the war never allowed Tatsuuma-Honke Brewing to fully achieve full-scale alcohol production. The war also caused significant damage to sake breweries, with some buildings destroyed by U.S. air raids.