Sake News from Japan
The etymology of sake
Nikkei Style has another interesting article about sake, this time based on its history and inclusion in the book 30の発明から読む日本史 (Japanese history seen through 30 inventions).It traces the history of sake back to the Yayoi period (which is very useful as I'm about to...
A pair of products made for pairing
The Sankei Biz site features an article by the Hakutsuru brewery PR team, which introduces some new products but also has some interesting information.It first touches on the fall in consumption of sake and the reasons why: an ageing society with fewer children,...
Taste the sake, see the people
The Mainichi newspaper site reports on a tactic to raise the profile and increase consumption of sake made in Hokkaido - showing the faces and telling the stories of the people who made it.The "sake with a face" project comes from a group of sake retailers, producers...
IWC 2018 trophy winners and category breakdown
A quick look back at the 2018 International Wine Challenge (IWC) sake division, this time with a Sankei Biz article that names the trophy winners and gives numbers for entries in each category. The trophies were announced at an awards lunch held on 18 May 2018 in...
Spiced sake, and it’s not just the tasting notes
The Kahoku Online News site covers a spicy sake - not just with hints of spice picked up by an expert taster, but actual spice added during brewing.Fonia Terra is another launch from experimental venture company Wakaze, based in Tsuruoka, Yamagata. This latest entry...
Old traditions and new dishes: Work experience at a Kyoto brewery
The Fushimi Keizai Newspaper reports on a collaboration between the Saitō brewery in Fushimi and the Umedai Garden Internship company, set up in April 2018 to offer work and study programmes for students aged 18 to 28. It is currently placing about 60 students from a...
A sake that costs as much as wholesalers want to pay
The Fukui Newspaper Online site reports on a brewery with an unusual wholesale pricing strategy - bidding.The article claims the Kokuryū (black dragon) brewery is the first ever to set wholesale prices this way, as it prepares to put its cold-store matured...
The kids are all right: Niigata university students take on sake
The Fukushima Minyū site looks at attitudes towards sake among university students in Niigata Prefecture.The article starts off in a place you may already have seen photos or video of - the sake/coin vending paradise that is Ponshukan Niigata Station. You pay your...
Sake, Italian style
Tatsuya Iida reports on the Zakzak site about a sake bar pairing the Japanese drink with Italian food. There are a warren of narrow back streets in the Sangenjaya area of Tokyo, crammed with bars and known as the "golden triangle" or "bar crawl heaven", and that's...
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