NEWSWORTHY
Know by Moto: Sake finds a chic haven below Shinjuku
So you've rendezvoused beneath the huge video screen at Studio Alta. You've explored Shinjuku, maybe caught a movie or trawled for treats in the gleaming depachika (basement food floor) of the Isetan department store. Now you're ready for sustenance. Somewhere cool, with good food ...
Dive headfirst into the world of nihonshu with a sake education course
Sake has come a long way from the days when it was internationally — and crudely — known as "rice wine." In recent years, sake has been the star of two documentaries, as well as a TV series on Amazon. Sommeliers and chefs around ...
Sakekasu Soft Ice Cream: A divine combination for the summer
Along with the resurgence of sake, it's no surprise that there has also been steady interest in amazake, the sweetened alcoholic beverage made from sakekasu, the lees of sake production, which is known for being nutritious as it contains vitamins, protein, organic acids, fiber ...
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 ...
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. Their destination is Orihara Shoten, a sake shop with a tasting bar, and Utsugi's mission is to provide ...
Gem by Moto: Simple, stylish and seasonal — with sake to match
Whenever you find a place that serves good sake, there is a high chance it has quality food, too. No matter if it's an upscale Japanese restaurant, a down-home izakaya tavern or an obscure bar for sake geeks, this rule of thumb rarely fails. ...
Tokyo serves up some frozen delights
Ice cream and gelato has been the go-to for cooling refreshments for centuries, evolving from the Romans eating fruit-juice flavored snow to the vanilla, chocolate chip and other popular dairy-rich products we see today. But who says we have to stick to the regular ...
'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 ...
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 ...
Dear Alice, You know how when you order nihonshū (Japanese sake) in a bar or restaurant, and your server brings a glass to the table and sets it inside another vessel? And then he or she picks up a bottle of sake and pours until ...
Tasting the many shades of Japan's regional sake
At the risk of sounding like a killjoy, I have to confess that drinks festivals rarely excite me. These events are often promoted as learning opportunities that can help you improve your tasting skills and discover new brands. While the lure of convenience (the ...
