[1][2][3][4][5][6] He is the first immigrant to have earned the title tōji (Kanji: 杜氏 Hiragana: とうじ) or master sake brewer.
[1] After completing his two-year contract with the JET Programme, Harper opted to stay in Japan while working days at an English-language conversation school and nights at a local tavern.
[1][3][5][6] In 1991 he was introduced to Ume no Yado, a traditional Japanese sake brewery in a rural town within Nara Prefecture.
[5] During the next ten years, Harper would spend every day during the sake brewing season - October through April - working at Ume no Yado.
[5][6] The owner of the brewery enrolled Harper in sake brewing classes and gave him material to study to improve his sake-making knowledge.
The small book, which by 2008 had sold over 20,000 copies, contains information about various types of sake including nigori, dai-ginjo, ginjo, and hon-jouzo.
This book, much like the one written before it, gives a guide to the many varieties and flavors of traditional Japanese sake but is aimed at a more refined audience than the previous work.