Atkinson, who was a British and came to Japan in the early part of the Meiji period, visited sake breweries in various places in 1881 and observed the practice in which temperature control was conducted very accurately without using thermometer telling that the condition in which "the character "の" can just be written on the surface of sake" shows the appropriate temperature (approximately 130 degrees Centigrade or 55 degrees Fahrenheit) and he recorded this fact showing his astonishment.
明治時代前期に来日したイギリス人アトキンソンは、1881年に各地の酒屋を視察、「酒の表面に“の”の字がやっと書ける」程度が適温（約130°華氏（55℃））であるとして、温度計のない環境で寸分違わぬ温度管理を行っている様子を観察し、驚きをもって記している。