On December 5, 2025, I attended JFEX Winter at Makuhari Messe. The first series of booths that I encountered was comprised of companies from Gunma Prefecture, with products ranging from miso to yogurt and beyond. At drinkingjapan.org we have written about Gunma and its output many times. If you would like to see past entries, … Continue reading Oh, Say Can You See How Good This Product Can Be?: Say Inc.’s Hanamamemiso, Part 1 →

Last week we looked at an artisanal vinegar designed for drinking. This week we will turn our attention to the rarefied world of balsamico tradizionale, that’s the slow-aged variety of balsamic vinegar, not the kind that you may run across at your local supermarket. If there were a musical composition best suited to accompany the … Continue reading Traditional Balsamic Vinegar →

The practice of drinking vinegar is fairly well established in certain quarters. This is usually done because it is believed that vinegar is salubrious, rather than because drinking it can be a gratifying experience in and of itself. I used to be in the habit of mixing up my own vinegar-based libation using rather mundane … Continue reading Gaba Berry: Made in Kyushu Cacao Vinegar →

The Vinegar Merchant (17th century) by Abraham Bosse Way back in recent antiquity (how’s that for an oxymoron?), in the early days of rock’n’roll, there was something called a “45.” No, this was not some Saturday-night special: it was a little record that would go around the turntable forty-five times per minute. These records usually … Continue reading Wine: The Flip Side →

This week we deviate substantially from what we normally do. We simply look at a name. The late-Shirley Ellis, a singer who had more than a few hit songs a number of decades ago, including “The Name Game,” would probably agree with the following: naming can be a serious game. Presumably, she made a pretty … Continue reading The Name Game →