J.S.A. SAKE DIPLOMA International EXAMINATION 2021 (Draft) (Fail)

2021年10月16日(土) [日帰り]

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天候

Cloudy with patchy shower.

I dare to write these notes in English for "climbers" (I mean sake-lovers) overseas.
(Caution)
I write the following notes by digging pieces of information out of my vague and poor memory. I write some comments and my own opinion in addition to facts about the esam. So I won't guarantee the accuracy and reliability of them. Please use them just to imagine the overall atmosphere of the exam.

If you are a Japanese and try to take this exam, prepare with Japanese textbook first. English edition is not comprehensively-translated so that it is a bit hard to follow. It is not so bad an idea to prepare for the domestic qualification exam in advance or in parallel. Both are the same. You may obtain at least domestic certification.

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If you reach this report you may know what "SAKE DIPLOMA INTERNATIONAL" is. But for those who dropped in by chance, I put a link to the WEB page of Japan Sommelier Association (J.S.A.).

https://sommelier.jp/topics/view/sake_eng

The following is the outline of the examination held in Japan 2021, which was copied from the website of J.S.A., and slightly edited by myself.
-------------------------------
■ Application Period
Starts　April 26, 2021
Ends August 31, 2021
■ Date of the exam: Saturday, October 16
The exam consists in 2 parts and is conducted on the same day.
Part 1 Written Exam
Part 2 Tasting Exam/ Short Essay Exam
(There was no break between each exam. All parts were conducted consecutively. )
＜Time Schedule＞ 　*Time schedule may change.
10:40-10:55　Arrival＆Registration
10:55-11:00　Orientation
11:00-12:00　Written Exam (60minutes) There were 99 short questions.
12:05-12:25　Short Essay Exam (20minutes) There were 2 questions.
( Beverages were provided during short essay examination. )

12:25-13:05　Tasting Exam of 4 items of Sake and 2 items of Shochu or Awamori (40 minutes)
13:10　　　　End of the exam
Questions for the exam are mainly taken out of the English version of newly revised J.S.A. SAKE DIPLOMA Textbook＜Second Edition＞ published in May 2021.
Questions and answers are all in English.
As a measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus, spittoon may not be provided in view of preventing droplet infection.
( But thanks to the reduction of the infection,unlike year 2020,a spittoon was actually provided this year. )
■　Venue
Tokyo (and Osaka)
The venue will be shown on the admit card delivered to your home address 2-3 weeks before the day of the exam.

(What should I bring to the exam?)
The admit card mailed to the examinee, pens/pencils and erasers. I heard that short answer questions should be written in pen. However I far as I remember, there was no such a request during the instruction before the exam started, neither was such a note instruction sheets and the cover letter. Just in case I used a ballpoint pen for short answer.

I used a pencil for the short essay exam. For both, I wrote in cursive style. Although I wonder if my scribbling would be recognized by examiners. I would run short of time if I used block characters. Thus I took a risk of using cursive style.

(I could't check my watch)
Mobile communication devices and watch of any kinds must be kept inside your bag. The remaining time will be announced every 10 minutes (15 minutes in short answer exam) and 5 minutes before the end. There was no clock in the room.

As I could not see any watch or clock, I needed time management, or in other words, responding quickly without thinking deeply. In short answer question, I first answered questions I can immediately respond. Still I had only a few minutes left before reaching the 99th question.

For the tasting examination, I made several patterns of comments before exam, and I categorized each beverage into the pattern I made. Thus I didn't spend much time for selecting comment expressions from the list.

コース状況／危険箇所等

The venue of the examination I went was Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa (and, I learned later, there was another venue in Osaka). It was about 5 minutes walk from Shinagawa station. But I took more than half an hour to get there.
(Caution!) There are "some" Prince Hotels with similar names there. Make sure you are heading the right one. I advise you to plan your travel so that you will arrive the venue at least half an hour before admission. I had arrived "Grand Prince Hotel Takanawa" by mistake and was panicked.

その他周辺情報

*******Details of Exams with my comments*******
- - - Written exam short answers - - -
There were 99 questions in the short answer exam. The time for examination was 60 minutes, so examinees had to answer each question very quickly.

The format of the examination was as follows. In each page, the left side was the questions and the right side (about quarter) was for the answers with corresponding question numbers.

The questions were like this.
--------------------------------
Q1 Read the following notes (1) – (4) and choose one that describes Aomori prefecture. ( There were similar questions asking Aichi, Toyama, Okayama)
(1) .....
(2) .....
(3) .....
(4) .....

Q2 (With an illustration or photograph in the textbook displayed) what is this?

Q3 (Showing Tohoku map with Akita prefecture hatched) Write the name the prefecture.

Q4 (Showing a map of Hyogo divided into several areas), write the typical varieties of each area.
(As above, there were a lot of nasty questions about Yamada Nishiki in Hyogo prefecture, including history geography, village rice system etc. )

Q5 Write the variety of sweet potato described below. (followed by notes on a variety of sweet potato used in Imo Shochu).


--------------------------------
I will extend the question list as soon as I recall.

From my present experience, I think the topics and data to be memorized involve:
1. Outline of each prefectures including so-called 'minor' prefectures as well
2. Yamada Nishiki
3. Figures (numbers), including year, temperature, pH etc.
4. Illustrations and photographs.
Those are all shown on the textbook, English version of newly revised J.S.A. SAKE DIPLOMA Textbook＜Second Edition＞. We don't have to memorize information that is not provided in the textbook.

However, I studied with a quiz book sold by a wine school that is composed for the preparation of domestic exam (in Japanese). The quiz reports me by points how much I remember, and it motivated me like a game. I tried to solve the same quiz book (with 6 parts, each with 100 quizzes) many times until I could automatically answer them. Of course in the beginning, I failed many of them, and so each round I referred to the relevant page in the textbook to read correct notes. It helped me a lot, because I was not able to concentrate on reading or even by hand-copying the textbook.

- - - Written exam short essays- - -
The answer sheet was separated into two pages and folded before the exam started. Lines were printed on each page, and a question is printed on top of each page. There was no limitation in the number or words.

The questions for short essays were as follows:
--------
Q1. Characterize the three varieties of brewing rice in Kochi and write the representative one.

Q2. Write the purposes of vacuum distillation with moromi temperature, and write the characteristics of vacuum distilled shochu.
--------
I was stunned by Q1. I may have misinterpreted Q1. I didn't even grasp what the examiner was asking. I feel from the exam this year, examiners (or J.S.A.) want to support minor prefectures. (Note that the questions for the short essay exam in the domestic qualification in year 2020 were about Q1. Nara prefecture, and Q2 paring of Kuma Shochu).

In contrast, Q2 is rather "normal" and I believe a good question. Q2 (and its answer) helps us understanding and explaining the aroma and flavor of vacuum-distilled shochu

- - - Tasting exam- - -
There were five pages for the question and answer sheets of the tasting exam. The 1st to the 4th page were tasting sheets about sake, and the 5th page was questions and answer sheet for the beverages.

It should be noted that you should read the questions first and start tasting, which will help you to analyze the beverages.

The items of the nature to be commented printed in the comment sheets of sake were as follows. The bracketed number for each item is the number of expressions to be chosen.
-- Appearance
1. Transparency (1)
2.Intensity of color (1)
3.Hue (2)

-- Aroma
1. First impressions (1)
2. Expressions or components of aroma (8)

-- Palate or flavor
1. First impression (1)
2. Sweetness (1)
3. Acidity (1)
4. Bitterness or umami (1)
5. Length of after-flavor (1)
6. Balance or conclusion (1)

-- Category of sake (specially designated or 'futsu-shu') (1)

After each item, there was a list of expressions to choose. Each expression has a number, and examinees ticked the number for choosing appropriate expressions. If the expressions chosen exceeds this specified number, the answer for that item becomes invalid.

The expressions were almost the same as those found in Chapter 4 of the textbook.

5th page was the questions and answers on the beverages supplied.
The questions about sake were as follows. After each question, there was list of numbers for the beverages and examinees choose the right one(s).

Answer the following questions about 1st to 4th beverages.
1. Choose the item(s) made from Gohyakumangoku.
2. Choose the item(s) using a cerulenin-resistant yeast.
3. Choose the item(s) made with Yamahai or Kimoto starting culture.
4. Choose the item(s) with alcohol added.

I believe if the chosen items exceeds the correct answer, it will be invalid, while if the chosen item is correct but less than the number correct answer, some points will be given. I have no idea how much point will be given if the number of selected items and the correct number is the same but the selected items were only partly correct.

Answer the following questions about 5th and 6th beverages.
In the question about spirits, there was a blank for each items in each question and examinees had to fill in the number of appropriate answer.
1.Choose the type of beverage from the following options.
Options:
1. Imo (Sweet potato) Shochu,
2. Mugi (Barley) Shochu
3. Kome (Rice) Shochu
4. Awamori
5. Kokuto (Brown sugar) Shochu
6. Soba (Buckwheat) Shochu

2. Choose the pressure in the distillation.
Options:
1. Atmospheric
2. Vacuum




- - - - The item list announced on the website of J.S.A. - - - -
(Lists are different with venues. Following list is for tasting exam. in Japan.)

Sake
No, Category/Special Designation, Rice Variety
----------------------------------------
１ Honjozoshu Sasanishiki, etc.
２ Junmaishu Gohyakumangoku
３ Junmai Ginjoshu Yumesansui
４ Junmai Ginjoshu Gohyakumangoku
----------------------------------------
Note: When I browsed the website, nos 3 and 4 were "Junmaishu Ginjoshu". But there is no category called "Junmaishu Ginjoshu". So I rewrote the category of nos 3 and 4 as above.

Shochu, Awamori
No,Type, Distillation Method
----------------------------------------
５ Imo Atmospheric
６ Kome Vacuum
----------------------------------------

写真

10/9 10:36

I went to a satelite shrine of 'Matsuo Taisha', which is regarded as 'Japan's first shrine for sake-brewing'. Refer to p140 of the textbook. It should be noted that the official name of 松尾退社 (Matsuo Taisha) is not "Matsuo" but "Matsunoo", according to the official site of the shrine in Kyoto. But it is also called among the locals there "Matsuo-san", showing their respect and familiarity to the old shrine that worships the rocks and the mountain standing behind. So I think "Matsuo Taisha" is also OK. My only concern is whether "Matsuno-o Taisha" is accepted in the exam or not. It might be better to use the same word as in the textbook.

10/9 10:37

The satelite is located in Oh Kuni Tama shrine in Fuchu city, Tokyo. I visited here for domestic qualification last year, before and after the exam. The shrine is worshipped by local (Tokyo) breweries and Many sake barrels and beer bottles were offered. Note that there is a Musashino (beer) Breweriy of Suntory in Fuchu.

10/9 10:38

I offered my textbook and prayed that I could attend the examination safe and sound. Later on I painfully realized that my prayer was answered.

10/31 11:29

Unlike exam last year when examinees were strictly prohibited to spit the beverages even back into the glass, spittoons were provided. They looked so cute and as I do not spit beverages during tasting of this size (6 items), I brought my spittoon with me after exam, without asking for permission.

10/30 10:20

Next morning, following the announcement of the result, I revisited Matsuo Shrine in Fuchu (located in the O-kunitama Shrine). I thanked that I could at least do my best without any obstacles particularly by the bad toothache. I also apologized that I had to report the result was not a good result and finally promised to go on studying more deeply and carefully.

装備

備考

If you are a Japanese, prepare with Japanese textbook first. It is not so bad an idea to prepare for the domestic qualification exam in advance or in parallel. Both are the same. You may obtain at least domestic certification.

Written exams, short answers and short essays, will be composed based on the textbook, "J.S.A. SAKE DIPLOMA English", which is the literal translation of the Japanese edition of the same title. English edition is not easy to read. There are many Japanese words written in alphabet. You will be able to memorize those terms much easier and faster in Chinese characters and Kana letters by reading Japanese edition.

The biggest and possibly only difference in the international exam is, unlike CBT style in domestic exam, that it is necessary to write correct answers, not to choose right answers from four options or other. You have to memorize correctly. For example, can you write 矢部規矩治, and 中田久保 in alphabet? Can you correctly write laten name of sake yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) ?

感想

takahashisun

I did not find my examinee's number on the website of J.S.A where the result of the exam was posted. About three weeks later, I received a result announcement from J.S.A, which informed me that I was successful on the written exam (short answer), but wasn't on tasting and short essay. The result was similar to the failure of the domestic qualification I had in 2019, where I passed the short answer and failed in tasting/short essay.



***The following notes, lengthy and boring, are for future myself. ***


I have had a bad toothache since a few days after the examination. Since a week ago ( or a week after the exam), because of the inflammation in my dental gum, my left jaw has swollen like a potato. I am taking antibiotics to cure the trouble. If this had happened a week ago (a few days before the exam), it would have been impossible to have examination because of fever, even if I could manage to sense aroma and flavor.

I thank the god in Matsuo Shrine that I was really able to have examination safe and sound, and believed that my prayer was answered.

(References)
(Failure) Domestic (Japanese) examination I had in 2019 (written in Japanese)
https://www.yamareco.com/modules/yamareco/detail-2060571.html
(Qualified) Domestic (Japanese) examination I had in 2020 (written in Japanse)
https://www.yamareco.com/modules/yamareco/detail-2648950.html