In November of 2020 we took a short one-night trip to Matsumoto City, a castle town in Nagano Prefecture. It takes a little less than three hours from Tokyo Station on the Chuo Line Express Train called Azusa to get there. The city is famous for its castle, which is one of the few original … Continue reading A Sake Brewery Like No Other: Yoikana Shuzo (善哉酒造) in Matsumoto City, Nagano
Have an Amazake! Do the bovine blues have you down? Do you feel like a lumbering beast of burden as you make your torpid way through the winter streets? Are you in need of a healthful pick-me-up? Well, the answer may very well be a glass or two of amazake, or…you might want to consume … Continue reading Welcome to the Year of the Ox:
Many people around the world and readers of this blog in particular will be ushering in the New Year with their favorite libation. For one of us here at drinkingjapan.org, it will probably be a very good Cava, our own homage to Catalonia. For many residents of Kumamoto, it will most likely be Akazake, or … Continue reading Akazake
Well, here we are again—we’re at the end of another year. Time to freefall onto the sofa, rewatch that unforgettable Christmas classic Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964), and contemplate the perils of space exploration. Oh, but what to drink? Campbell Early is a North American hybrid—Vitis labrusca x Vitis vinifera—that was created back in … Continue reading Hakodate Wine’s So-Called “Wine that can only be Purchased at a Winery” (ワイナリーでしか買えないワイン) Campbell Early: That Time of Year Again
Daiyame Japan is not a country that one normally associates with lichi. Or is it leechee? Perhaps litchi? Possibly lichee? Oh, what the hell, let’s go with “lychee.” These fleshy orbs encased in pericarps originated in southern China. Over the past 100 years they have found their way into a number of countries, including Jamaica, … Continue reading Hamada Syuzou’s “Daiyame”: A Floral Dance
Gin is not an alcoholic beverage that one normally associates with Japan, but we think that after the drinking public tastes some of the gins being produced here that will change. Gin was thought to be the creation of Dr. Franciscus Sylvius, a.k.a., Franz de le Boe. This Dutch physician was, so the story goes, … Continue reading Suntory’s Sui Japanese Gin (Compared with Kyoto Distillery’s Ki No Bi)
Parliament Oak The Oak and the Reeds A VERY LARGE OAK was uprooted by the wind and thrown across a stream. It fell among some Reeds, which it thus addressed: “I wonder how you, who are so light and weak, are not entirely crushed by these strong winds.” They replied, “You fight and contend with … Continue reading The Mighty Oak: Chivas Regal 12 Years Mizunara Special Edition v. Chivas Regal 12 Years
Drinking Japan 