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April 30, 2024
 

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KANPAI CULTURE

Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Apr 8, 2017
Japanese sake startup finds way to float in sinking industry
Entrepreneur Nao Kohara sits at a table in his favorite neighborhood bar, checking emails on his laptop computer and sipping a glass of sake.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Mar 10, 2017
Hidehiko Ishizuka takes his love of sake on tour in streaming TV series
Gourmandizing television personality Hidehiko Ishizuka has a famously large appetite. Apparently, the portly comedian also has a taste for Japanese sake. On a clear February afternoon in the sake-producing region of Fushimi, just south of Kyoto, a camera crew forms a tight circle around Ishizuka as he samples a glass of sake in the tasting room of Matsumoto Shuzo, a historical brewery and designated heritage site.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Feb 10, 2017
Sake sommelier unlocks the fun of 'nihonshu' for visitors from abroad
Every week, sake sommelier Satoko Utsugi leads groups of overseas visitors past the Fukagawa Fudosan Temple and along a shopping street in Tokyo's downtown neighborhood of Monzen-Nakacho.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jan 13, 2017
Ginza sushi restaurant tests Champagne pairing
Nothing says "festive" like Champagne, that most elegant of elixirs. The drink's life-affirming effervescence makes it a natural choice for New Year's celebrations, but Champagne pairs so well with many of my favorite foods that I drink it far more often than once a year — with everything from raw oysters to fried chicken.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Dec 9, 2016
Tokyo's progressive French restaurants are developing a taste for sake
The first time I drank sake at a non-Japanese restaurant was nearly seven years ago at Coi, a Michelin-starred establishment in San Francisco that serves modern Californian cuisine. I had opted for the beverage-pairing course, and the drink came with a dish of tofu mousseline in a thickened mushroom broth laced with kelp and bonito flakes. The combination made perfect sense: the sake played off the Japanese-inspired ingredients in sensory and conceptual harmony.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Nov 11, 2016
The Kyoto Distillery: home of Japan's first artisanal gin
It's a mild Kyoto evening, and a group of spirits enthusiasts are gathering at a handsomely restored machiya (traditional townhouse) to celebrate the launch of Ki No Bi, a boutique gin produced by The Kyoto Distillery, Japan's first craft gin specialist. Guests spill onto the machiya's moss-covered courtyard, carrying martinis and Moscow Mules mixed by top bartenders from Kyoto's Ritz-Carlton and Hyatt hotels. Inside the townhouse, placards depicting Ki No Bi's main botanicals hang on the walls: juniper, yuzu (Japanese citrus), green tea, ginger, bamboo and sanshō (Japanese pepper). In front of each sign are cups filled with the distillates of those ingredients, which guests are invited to sample. Bamboo and ginger are subtle; green tea displays a gentle insistence; yuzu and sanshō vibrate with a sparkling intensity. Besides the juniper, all are surprising aromas to find in gin.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Oct 7, 2016
Rating, ranking — and ruining? — Japanese sake
On Aug. 31, the Wine Advocate, a publication started by the influential U.S.-based wine critic Robert Parker, released its first "official" ratings guide to sake with reviews written by Chinese critic Liwen Hao. Parker, who gained fame for creating the 100-point scoring system widely used to rate wines, applied the same evaluation standards to sake. Although Parker did not review the sake himself, the popularity of the Wine Advocate led many in the industry to predict that the list would help boost sake's global appeal.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Sep 9, 2016
Japanese wine is no longer a novelty
Five years ago, Japanese wine was still considered a novelty, and finding it in Tokyo required a fair amount of searching. These days, most shops carry at least a few varieties and some have entire shelves dedicated to domestic wine. Popular magazines now run features on local producers and ways to match the wines with food. Japanese wine, it seems, is officially now in vogue.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Aug 12, 2016
Sake Competition sets the standard for new enthusiasts
On July 29, Iwao Niizawa, the fifth-generation president of Niizawa Jozoten in Miyagi Prefecture, was one of six brewers to claim prizes at the 2016 Sake Competition awards ceremony that took place at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Tokyo. His Atago no Matsu Tokubetsu Junmai topped the list in the contest's junmai-shu division, which covers sake made without the addition of distilled alcohol.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jul 8, 2016
In search of 'natsuzake,' Japan's summer sake
Summer is my least favorite season in Japan. Stepping outside, the heat and humidity hits with startling force: the hot air weighs heavy on my limbs, enveloping me in a stifling and unwelcome embrace. The thought of spending the height of summer in Tokyo fills me with existential dread.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jun 10, 2016
Distilling the mysteries of shōchū
From my seat on the second floor of Shochu Zanmai, a bar specializing in Japan's indigenous distilled liquor, I can see directly into the building across the street. The bar is located down a narrow alley a 10-minute walk from Tokyo's Ikebukuro Station, and the close proximity of the surrounding buildings gives me a clear view of the neighbors. Through the window, I make out a group of Japanese men sitting around a low table next door, their arms raised in a toast. This scene of quotidian conviviality mirrors the atmosphere inside Shochu Zanmai, and I imagine that — like us — the men are drinking shōchū.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
May 13, 2016
A toast to the arranged marriage of Champagne and 'kaiseki'
I didn't protest when my friend Katrine suggested — apropos of nothing — that we order a bottle of Champagne one afternoon last week. The marvelously warm and sunny weather, combined with the fact that I had finally begun to recover from a debilitating cold, provided justification for the extravagance. Champagne has a way of transforming mundane occurrences into tiny celebrations.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Apr 8, 2016
Tokyo bartender revives a 19th-century cocktail ingredient
The unsung hero of traditional Japanese cuisine is mirin, a deliciously sweet liquor made from sticky rice. Mirin is an essential cooking ingredient, used to balance the salty sharpness of soy sauce and to add luster to glazes. But prior to becoming a common fixture in the kitchen, the sugary beverage was prized as a luxurious tipple during the Edo Period (1603-1868), when it was imbibed at festivals and drunk as a health tonic. The drink grew in popularity as brewing techniques advanced in the 1800s, but was eventually eclipsed by sake — and later beer — as Japan's alcohol of choice.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Mar 11, 2016
The search for Tokyo's best gimlet leads to Daisuke Ito
I have a particular fondness for the gimlet, that simple but elegant concoction of gin, fresh lime juice and sweetened lime cordial. For many, the drink conjures images of dames and detectives from noir films, but mine is a more nostalgic affection. The gimlet was my cocktail of choice during my early 20s, when I lived in San Francisco and frequented louche watering holes that played rockabilly and swing tunes. What I have always loved about the drink is its poise — if the martini is the king of cocktails, then the gimlet is the queen.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Feb 12, 2016
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 the last day of an elite sake instructors' training program that included a six-day tour of Japan and courses at the National Research Institute of Brewing in Hiroshima. Ou's presentation would determine whether he would be authorized to teach sake courses through the WSET in his native Taiwan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Jan 15, 2016
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 Hughes, a U.K. sake expert who is helping Kurand reach non-Japanese drinkers, led me through an impromptu tasting.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Dec 11, 2015
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 astounding feast that included delicacies such as boar, fresh oysters and sweet prawns shipped directly from Hiroshima Prefecture, and a gorgeously marbled block of tankaku-wagyu (short-horned beef) from Iwate Prefecture. As we settled around her dining room table, our hostess brought out each of the precious ingredients, pausing for a moment before introducing the star of the show: a slab of garnet-hued bear meat from Toyama Prefecture.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Nov 13, 2015
Desserts and paired sake at Tokyo's Tirpse
Last month, I surprised myself by polishing off a six-course lunch consisting entirely of desserts. As anyone who knows me can attest, I was born without a sweet tooth. However, when Naotaka Ohashi, owner of the contemporary French restaurant Tirpse, told me that he had started offering dessert-focused tasting menus paired with five kinds of sake, I was intrigued. The idea that a meal could be based entirely on confection is wild, but the decision to serve sake with each sweet dish is incredibly bold.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Oct 9, 2015
The future for aged Japanese whisky and traditional kaiseki
'This will surprise you," says chef Kenichi Hashimoto as he hands me a glass of what appears to be beer. This serious-faced chef — who leads the kitchen at Kyoto's Ryozanpaku, a two-Michelin-starred kaiseki (Japanese haute cuisine) restaurant — waits for me to take a sip. He then explains that this fizzy drink is, in fact, a "super-highball" made with Suntory Hitomi (a rare single cask whisky from 1991) and soda, poured in alternating layers and capped with a thick head of creamy foam.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / KANPAI CULTURE
Sep 11, 2015
Denmark's Mikkeller hits Tokyo, leaves strange brews
Mikkel Borg Bjergso, co-founder of the Danish microbrewery Mikkeller, is a man who likes a challenge. At the opening of the new Mikkeller bar in Shibuya, Bjergso tells me that his next goal is to finish the Berlin Marathon next September in two hours and 45 minutes.
When will Japan intervene to support the yen?
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki has reiterated the government's readiness to take an appropriate action as the yen continues to slide against the U.S. dollar.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Raising kids in Japan as a single parent? It takes a village.
Making things work as a foreign, single mother in Japan isn't easy, but these tips and tricks can help you through the hardest parts.
Yen rebounds strongly after first slide past ¥160 since 1990
The yen dropped to ¥160.245 per dollar on Monday before heading into the other direction to ¥155.01 amid speculation of an intervention by Japanese currency authorities.
JAL cancels international flight after captain gets drunk at Dallas hotel
A Japan Airlines' flight from Dallas to Tokyo was canceled last week after its captain got drunk at a local hotel.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability
Vol. 34: Tokyo, a vanguard city for sustainability

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