By Ryuji TakahashiWhen Japanese sake is introduced overseas, sake is often explained in terms of wine. When I’m requested to organize a sake seminar o...

By Ryuji TakahashiCelebrating the New Year, Tokyo is still in the middle of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. I finished my work for 2020 on January 1, and started my New Years holiday on January 2. However, drinking at home is nothing different from the ordinary, so I attended a live jazz performa...

By Ryuji TakahashiTokyo is facing the end of this year very different from the previous year due to the coronavirus increasingly spreading and restaurants requested to shorten business hours since November. Corporations are prohibited from hosting large banquets, while restaurants close at 22:00 wit...

By Ryuji TakahashiAs nationwide restrictions imposed on events, etc., throughout Japan due to the Coronavirus pandemic relaxed in November, we covered the “Nippon National Products Exhibition 2020,” held over two days inside the Sunshine City Shopping Mall in Ikebukuro district, Tokyo. The event was...

By Ryuji TakahashiI am a Japanese sake expert and owner of a sake shop in Tokyo. However, that doesn’t mean I enjoy only sake. In fact, I’m a fan of I...

By Ryuji TakahashiI write a monthly column for a publication specializing in Japanese sake. One day, I received a phone call from the owner of Shiokawa Sake Brewery Co., Ltd. in Niigata prefecture, who read my column and invited me to their brewery to sample their sake products. Simply put, my colum...

By Ryuji Takahashi　 This report is a continuation of our trip to Niigata prefecture since the issue before last. Our final destination was Hakuro Shuzo Brewery in Nagaoka city, Niigata prefecture. To touch on the history of the sake industry, the four-step preparation of fermentation mash was popula...

By Kosuke KujiTokyo Station that is located in Tokyo which is also the center of Japan.Tokyo Station has been newly born and changed with a large scale renovation construction in recent years and Japanese sake is being offered at different locations so there are more opportunities to try Japanese sa...