That Friday, it snowed in Tokyo. As the dancing snowflakes turned into a relentless downpour of ordinary rain, a few souls braved the elements to spend a cold February afternoon in Ueno Park. Not in the warmth of a cafe or shelter of a museum, but at an open-air festival in Takenodai Plaza.
Justifying such a reckless act likely to result in a nasty cold was the promise of sake.
The first day of Kaku-uchi Fes (held between Feb. 10 and 12) wasn’t blessed with the sunshine that would grace the event the forthcoming weekend, but it nonetheless delivered live music, hearty comfort foods and a dizzying choice of drinks dominated, but by no means monopolized, by nihonshu (Japanese sake).