Sake News from Japan
Sake saves the world, or at least the children, allegedly
In case anyone had missed marketing hyperbole, it’s back. Jiji.com carries a press release for a new (tangentially?) sake-related project, DRINK SAKE (酒) OF PEACE, which aims to [cough] save the world with sake. Co-opting the “don’t lose to Corona” slogan and hashtag...
Fukui and why this is a bad time for sake sales to drop
After earlier reports of trouble in Yamagata Prefecture (From Yamagata – coronavirus starts to hit sake producers) the Fukui Shimbun Online reports that sake brewers and retailers in the prefecture are being badly hit by the measures taken to prevent the spread of...
Some sake with your takeout? Now you can in Japan
Hiroaki Wada reports in the Mainichi Shimbun on new, time-limited permits issued by the National Tax Agency (NTA) that allow restaurants to sell alcohol for consumption off the premises. The NTA announced the creation of a new temporary retail permit on their site on...
Sake breweries contribute by increasing alcohol content
Ritsuko Kiyomizu reports for Reuters Japan on long-established sake breweries starting to make high-strength alcohol suitable for use as steriliser. Official advice to use alcohol-based hand steriliser, and increased use of sterilising products in general during the...
A new sake rice from the land of happy
Chizuru Kiyokane reports for the Chunichi Web site on 17 brewers simultaneously releasing freshly brewed shinshu made with the new Fukui Prefecture sake-specific rice Sakahomare (さかほまれ), which went on sale nationwide on 19 April. All are daiginjō made with rice, yeast...
From Yamagata – coronavirus starts to hit sake producers
Reporting for the Mainichi Shimbun, Satoru Matono points out that as COVID-19 continues to spread, Yamagata Prefecture is feeling its effects on one of its speciality products – sake. Labels popular abroad with strong exports are being hit as consumption declines...
A new style of sake low in alcohol but big on taste
The Mainichi Shimbun reports on an announcement on 8 April 2020 by the Koto no Osake de Kanpai shiyō Jikkō Iinkai [古都のお酒で乾杯しよう実行委員会, Committee for the Implementation of Kanpai with Sake from the Old Capital. No, seriously, Japan seems to love organisation names like...
Brewing with the best of the best
The Kobe Shimbun NEXT site reports that Asahi Shuzō (Yamaguchi), makers of Dassai, are brewing a limited edition junmai daiginjō made with 100% Yamada Nishiki harvested in the Fujita area of Katō City in Hyogo Prefecture, to be called Dassai Fujita when it ships this...
Tall tales of ’60s sake sales
Oita Press carries a two-part interview with former president and chairperson of Sanwa Shurui, former head of the prefectural Board of Education, former head of Tourism Oita and winner of the Oita Gōtō Newspaper Cultural Award, Taichirō Nishi (82). Sanwa Shuzō...
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