Mirror, Mirror on the Wall This entry will not explore the phenomenon of declining domestic sake sales in great depth, nor will it contain the citations and academic references that characterize many of my blog entries. Anecdotal evidence suggests that in Japan the drinking of nihon-shu carries unwanted baggage for some Japanese youth. In short, … Continue reading Insurmountable Image Problem?: Hardly!
Fair Travellers Fording the River Oi, Utagawa & Wakasaya, 1800 This week we start our “Marketing Sake Series.” Even readers who are not remotely involved in the selling of this beverage should find the following blog entries of interest. We can assure you that there is nothing hackneyed here. That’s not our style. From Heraclitus … Continue reading The Dawning of the Age of the National
A recent visit to Northern Thailand brought us to Witheelaab Charoenmuang, which was recognized by Michelin in 2025 and 2026. The restaurant specializes in Northern Thai cuisine, which is significantly different from what one finds in, say, Bangkok. The establishment is located in Chiang Mai. We were especially interested in the raw buffalo dishes. Visitors … Continue reading Oh, Give Me a Home Where the Buffalo Roam and Hopefully Get on My Plate!
These are no slapdash concoctions whipped up “Love Potion No. 9” style. As the subtitle makes clear, they are elegant, and they contain some of our favorite ingredients. The base liquor for both is the seldom-seen kasutori shochu, or sake-kasu shochu (sake-cake shochu). This is rice-based shochu made by refermenting the sake lees. It is … Continue reading Satonowa’s Japanese Herbal Liqueur: Elegant Elixirs from Shiga Prefecture
L’Orient is an award-winning, Yamanashi-based winery that was established in 1938. Good sign, good sign, good sign. To add another good sign, it is family run! And to add just one more good sign, they know what they are doing. I had the good fortune to meet the vintner, Mr. Uchida, at the Gourmet Show, … Continue reading Trumpeting the Spirit: L’Orient’s Grappa from Muscat Bailey A
This week we are talking peppers. No, we have not transmogrified into voluble versions of those slivery red and green things, although our passions are usually hot and comments occasionally acerbic. We are referring to those fruits that are widely considered to be vegetables and eaten as such. If that is a bit confusing, the … Continue reading Talking Peppers
Sake Cup as Boat, Okumura, Masanobu, Edo Period A sultry evening in Tokyo found me at a JSS Media Event, which the organization holds periodically for journalists and sundry. The speaker was Associate Professor Yuki Hata from Meijo University, Nagoya. She was enthusiastically telling those assembled about Edo Period manga containing references to sake and … Continue reading Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association’s Media Event (July 14, 2026): I Left Stirred, Not Shaken
