Shōchū: The spirit of the times
All it takes is a whiff and a sip of shōchū to realize it is markedly different from the more common nihonshu (which Westerners call "sake," although in Japanese, sake is a catchall word for all alcoholic drinks). It is, too, a much more recent arrival. ...
How shochu got its groove back
A young woman was seated at the counter, her long hair tumbling down to her shoulders and resting softly on her beige jacket. In a matching skirt and heels, her long slim legs were revealed. Classy and elegant, she looked like she was ready ...
So much to soak up in Yamagata
OK, let me put this out there: Yamagata-ken, just like any sensible prefecture in Japan, loves tourists. But you get the feeling that Yamagata Prefecture Tourist Division tries a little harder to promote its treasures. They even occasionally invite journalists up for a spin ...
There are really two kinds of restaurants. There are those that people go to only in order to eat, and then there are those that people go to for the purpose of drinking and socializing. Regardless of the type of restaurant, however, there's always sakana ...
The fish, my friend, can be dried in the wind
In empty lots close to the piers of small fishing towns, up and down the coast of Japan, stand huge drying racks, hung heavy with the gutted, cleaned and butterflied morning catch. Empty, these racks look like a fantastical gymnastic apparatus. Fully laden, they ...
Before I go, these are a few of my favorite things
After precisely eight years, this is to be the final installment of the Nihonshu column. It has been extremely enjoyable write it over the years. The amount I have learned along the way has been nothing less than phenomenal -- and it only got ...
Sake-shopping picks that really hit the spot
There exists, where you would least expect it, a marvelous oasis for sake shopping. Yoshiike department store, just outside Okachimachi Station and just across from the entrance to Ameyokocho, has a fantastic selection of sake and a plethora of sake utensils to go with ...
From California-style cafes to French bistros, international restaurants in Tokyo possess world-class wine lists. But if consumers' experience of wine is limited to their forays into international gourmet dining, it will remain an exotic, special-occasion beverage. To establish a comfortable home for itself in ...
In a pinch, these will do just fine
More than 50 families of crab, numbering thousands of species, thrive in practically all parts of the globe. Most crab species are marine and live in salt water or the brackish waters of bays, lagoons and river deltas. A relatively small number have adapted ...
High fives for the best kind of Japanese food
There are five sets of five rules one must consider when attempting to make traditional Japanese food: the five colors (goshiki); the five methods (goho); the five flavors (gomi); the five senses (gokan); and finally the five viewpoints/considerations (gokan no mon), a Buddhist treatise ...
Brewing it naturally isn't so easy
In recent years, there has been increased interest in organic sake. To legally specify something as organic or organically produced is difficult, at least in countries that have begun enforcing the standards that are needed to ensure safety and quality, as well as the ...
Uncorking the bubbly, Nihon-style
Happy New Year to all Japan Times readers. May 2002 be a year of health and prosperity for all. And what better way to open the new year in Japan than with a glass of bubbly -- sparkling nihonshu, that is. It really does ...
