In last week’s entry we discussed the marketing of sake. We continue with that theme this week, focusing on the importance of the visual. “The consumption of craft products is currently flourishing….This study deals with consumers’ preferences in a context where...globalization is threatening traditional handicrafts. To analyze the attribute preferences of consumers [we examined]...three highly … Continue reading Marketing Sake: The Visual Element
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“No!” Is Yes This Year
No park—no ring—no afternoon gentility— No company—no nobility—No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease, No comfortable feel in any member—No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees,No fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds, November!1 The excerpt above is from “No!,” a poem by the regrettably oft-overlooked English poet Thomas Hood (1799-1845). In this short work the poet … Continue reading “No!” Is Yes This Year
Bee, Grateful We Are
Grateful We Are In this entry we will not, as we customarily do, review/critique a particular beverage, but instead pay homage to the insect that made some of the earliest alcoholic beverages possible—the bee, specifically those that give us honey. May 20 is World Bee Day, so this is an appropriate time to pay our … Continue reading Bee, Grateful We Are
Tokyo Hop Planting @ Sekimae, Musashino!
April 11, 2021 Hiramaki-san, brewer at 26K brewery in Musashisakai, Tokyo, invited us to a unique event - hop growing in Sekimae, Tokyo. We were out there with green thumbs, it is to be hoped, planting the rhizome (rootstock), not seeds, that are expected to bear the hops that will be used in the local … Continue reading Tokyo Hop Planting @ Sekimae, Musashino!
Oku-Izumo Vineyard’s Pinotage 2020 (奥出雲葡萄園 ピノタージュ2020): It’s Real, and It’s Real Good
The Real Deal A few days ago the following Bloomberg headline appeared in The Japan Times: “This Digital Art Collage Sold for a Record $69 Million.” Readers are encouraged to pause for a few minutes to let this sink in. The key word here is “digital.” You see, the work of art in question does … Continue reading Oku-Izumo Vineyard’s Pinotage 2020 (奥出雲葡萄園 ピノタージュ2020): It’s Real, and It’s Real Good
Yoichi Wine Campbell Early
Yoichi is a Hokkaido-based winery, an island to watch with respect to wine production. It may turn out to be the Japanese equivalent of Kent, U.K. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with Campbell Early, the grape is a hybrid—Vitis labrusca + Vitis vinifera—from North America that is now a popular table grape … Continue reading Yoichi Wine Campbell Early
Who we are:
William F. O’Connor, Ed.D., MSSc, M.A., B.A. is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Business Administration at Asia University. He holds Level 3 Certification in Wines and Spirits from Wine & Spirit Education Trust, Ltd. (London), International Kikisake-shi (Sake Sommelier) Certification from SSI International (Sake Service Institute International, Tokyo), and a graduate certificate in Gastronomic … Continue reading Who we are:
Drinking Japan 