People | 20 QUESTIONS May 25, 2019
Rebekah Wilson-Lye: Raising a glass to the wonders of sake
by Robbie Swinnerton
One of Japan's emerging leaders in the sake world talks about the delight of discovering Japan's renowned beverage.
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Jan 12, 2019
A new year taste for Tokyo's best speciality sake bars
by Melinda Joe
With the start of a new year comes a new set of resolutions. An increasingly popular choice is Dry January, a campaign led by the British charity Alcohol Change UK, in which participants vow to abstain from drinking for 31 days. Millions of people ...
Food & Drink | TOKYO FOOD FILE Mar 31, 2018
Know by Moto: Sake finds a chic haven below Shinjuku
by Robbie Swinnerton
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 ...
Food & Drink Mar 3, 2018
Dive headfirst into the world of nihonshu with a sake education course
by J.J. O'Donoghue
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 ...
Food & Drink | DESSERT WATCH Jul 1, 2017
Sakekasu Soft Ice Cream: A divine combination for the summer
by Asuka Ichikawa
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 ...
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Mar 10, 2017
Hidehiko Ishizuka takes his love of sake on tour in streaming TV series
by Melinda Joe
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 ...
Food & Drink | KANPAI CULTURE Feb 10, 2017
Sake sommelier unlocks the fun of 'nihonshu' for visitors from abroad
by Melinda Joe
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 ...
Food & Drink | TOKYO FOOD FILE Nov 4, 2016
Gem by Moto: Simple, stylish and seasonal — with sake to match
by Robbie Swinnerton
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. ...
Food & Drink Jul 22, 2016
Tokyo serves up some frozen delights
by Megan Green
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 ...
Film Jul 6, 2016
'Kampai!' raises a glass to sake education
by Kaori Shoji
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 ...
Food & Drink Jun 3, 2016
Ex-robotics scientist sets sake brewery's star rising
by Keigo Matsushita
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 ...
Food & Drink Dec 12, 2015
Sake industry seeking to boost flagging consumption
by Shinichi Tokuda
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 ...