'Kampai!' raises a glass to sake education
For decades, sake (or nihonshu for the majority of Japanese) didn't really do it for the citizens of this archipelago. Cheap, ubiquitous and made from rice, it seemed too familiar — tacky even. Older people drank it at weddings, or swilled the stuff when ...
Ex-robotics scientist sets sake brewery's star rising
A former robotics scientist who gave up his career at Hitachi Ltd. to work for his family-run sake brewery in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, has used his acquired business skills to turn it into a rising star among makers of the traditional Japanese ...
It is an irresistible headline: People who drink alcohol in moderation actually live longer than those who abstain entirely. Counterintuitive studies that show the purported benefits of a drink or two a day prompt flurries of bright news reports. You can hear the glasses ...
Young guns take aim at declining sake sales
Sake in Japan is undergoing an image makeover. It's desperately trying to become one of the cool kids again. Currently the second-lowest consumed alcoholic beverage in the country — whiskey and brandy being the lowest — sake only has a 6.8 percent market share ...
For the goodness of sake: international sommeliers test their senses
Early one morning in Japan last month, Taipei sake educator Michael Ou took a deep breath as he prepared to deliver a presentation about the stages of fermentation before a panel of experts from the U.K.'s Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET). It was ...
As the Group of Seven summit that Japan will host in May in Mie Prefecture nears, local sake breweries are hoping the government will select their brand to be used for toasts during the banquet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will host at the two-day ...
Don't eat and drive with sake-flavored Kit Kats
Containing 0.8 percent alcohol, the new sake-flavored Kit Kat is a perfect way to spike your mid-day snack.
Sake workshops in Tokyo spotlight Japan's lesser known regional breweries
On a recent chilly evening, I found myself in the heart of Tokyo's touristy Asakusa district for the first time in many years. I came to visit Kurand Sake Market, a popular standing bar that specializes in the offerings of local brewers, where Chris ...
Kobe's Nada brewery district drawing foreign fans of sake
With demand for sake leveling off in Japan, brewers in the Nada area of Kobe are pinning their hopes on growing numbers of Asian tourists. Foreign visitors have been increasing in number at sake museums run by brewers in Naga Gogo, the generic name of ...
Sake industry seeking to boost flagging consumption
Faced with declining consumption of sake, breweries and retailers are coming up with new events and services and promoting pairings of the drink with new foods to attract fresh customers. Kurand Sake Market, a bar that opened in Tokyo's Ikebukuro shopping district in March, enables ...
The art of pairing wild game and sake
My friend Kanako is an ambitious home chef, the kind of person who frequently cooks using clay pots heated over charcoal embers — she would roast a whole pig in a pit if she had the space. On a recent evening, she prepared an ...
