Unbelievable how fast the year is coming to an end and although I thought the sake world would be slowing down with the start of the brewing year, things have been as busy as before. Festivals and events are still popping up and it has been great to see more people coming to Japan. So again this Month in Sake will be divided into two parts...
JSS New Shochu Night
I must say, I did not realize that shochu also has its seasonal products, so when I was invited to the “New Shochu Night 2022” at the Japan sake and Shochu Information Center I was very excited to learn more about it. And what a line-up! With 25 shochu, a talk, and a performance by Rua, a food artist (check out what he does here), this has been yet another great event!
If you want to know what the JSS Info Center in Tokyo is up to, why not follow their Instagram, as it is separate from their other accounts here.
Mashiko Autumn Pottery Festival 2022
Sake and pottery, two things that are almost inseparable, so the comeback of the Mashiko Pottery Festival was really exciting news. With many potters and ceramic artists from all over Japan setting up their stalls for the weekend in Mashiko, I prepared myself to leave quite a bit of money with them.
As expected, the festival's return attracted plenty of visitors and it was a real joy to walk around town, discover pottery, and order food from the many street food vendors who also made their way up for the weekend.
Eureka by Marie Chiba
Curious what Marie Chiba’s new restaurant “Eureka” looks like? We popped in for a visit just a few days after its official opening on the 1st of November and what a treat! Fridges were filled to the brim with great sake, including many of my favorites and the compact menu promised plenty of delicious dishes!
I was especially looking forward to trying Marie-sans famous "doburoku ham and blue cheese katsu" and was delighted to see it was paired with Tono-based Nondo’s Kimoto Doburoku (which I love!) - just thinking about it makes me want to go back.
For reservation, message them on their Instagram here and if you want to hear more about how it was tune into Sake Unplugged to find out more.
Aged Sake Fair
Got a chance to visit the “Autumn Vintage Sake Art 2022”, which one of the other visitors quite eloquently described as an aged sake Disneyland. And in fact, it was.
With 11 brewers multiplied by many vintages and the oldest sake yeared 1968, t certainly was a sake event in a league of its own!
Not yet familiar with the subject? Sake On Air got you covered in our Episode #61: Matured Sake, Aged Sake and you can tune into it here.
Gakkogura Alumni Meeting
I cannot believe it has been over a year since I went to Gakkogura on Sado Island to learn how to brew sake and how nice to catch up with everyone and also get to meet other people who share the same experience over the years and make new friends.
This was the first "Gakkogura Alumni Event" in Tokyo, bringing together and furthering the connection between the participants of this amazing initiative! Gakkogura (literally, “Brewery School”) is the work of Obata Shuzo, makers of Manotsuru and they have been offering weekly sake brewing experiences for the past few years, recently renovating and restructuring their program, which has been really exciting to see.
Mac from Kanpai Planet has created a great mini YouTube video series about his experience, and you can watch his amazing day-to-day documentary here.
Podcasting at Sake On Air
Although usually quite comfortable behind the scenes, for this episode I joined the microphone and hosted an episode for Sake on Air talking about one of my favorite topics "Travel and Sake" with my good friend Takashi “Umio” Eguchi as part of Sake on Airs mini-travel series - this time from Kyoto!
I really enjoyed sharing some of my sake travel tips and in case you want to listen to it you can tune in either via your favorite podcast platform, head over to www.sakeonair.com or just click here.
