When Hot Springs, Arkansas native Ben Bell, hoping to launch a sake brewery in his state, told Matt Bell that the area should be the Napa Valley of sake, that vision became a “north star” for the latter native son as well. This was 2016. Had these two very different individuals, who share a last…
Tottori Prefecture, with its wealth of off-the-beaten-path adventures, rarely fails to delight travelers looking to experience rural Japan. As Japan’s least populous prefecture (~538,000 residents), it’s an unheralded escape from the sometimes overwhelming bustle of the country’s sprawling, densely populated cities. Large swaths of nature parks and preserves mixed with vast stretches of farmland occupy…
This warm prefecture that stretches across the southern coast of Shikoku might not seem like the ideal location to brew sake, yet Kochi’s 18 breweries churn out an impressive number of surprisingly light and dry varieties. With a distinctly different vibe from the more in-your-face profiles of most sake from western Japan, the dry and…
The Japanese government, with little fanfare from its side, recently reopened the doors to tourism without the onerous restrictions we mentioned in our introduction last issue. Perhaps they simply wanted as little attention as possible drawn to the decision domestically. It’s still a controversial topic. Many want to revive inbound tourism and return to, or…
Production of Okinawa’s homegrown beverage awamori emerged in an atmosphere of cultural cultivation that was threatened at times by violent conflicts and political struggle. The collection of islands that today make up Okinawa Prefecture has a long history rich in cultural developments and maritime commerce. The island chain was formerly known as the Ryūkyū Kingdom,…
Awamori, a distilled beverage native to Okinawa, is in the dawn of a possible renaissance. This past year, we took an extensive tour of many distilleries located on Japan’s southern islands and the experience was enlightening. As fans of indigenous beverages around the world seek out new things to imbibe, we think awamori may catch…
Japan is a paradise of artisanal products and that of course includes beverages. One of its most overlooked outside of Japan, despite production and popularity nationwide, is shochu. It’s a distilled cousin of sake and–its fans would argue–just as versatile and enjoyable. First, shochu is only made in Japan. In this age of global beverages,…
What can we here at Sake Today write to make you feel good about the present moment? Well, if you’re reading this then perhaps your situation isn’t so bad; you’ve at least found yourself some leisure time for reading. Hopefully there’s access to sake wherever you are, if you aren’t sipping it already. Breweries in…
In this new series for Sake Today, we focus on non-Japanese in Japan who have established themselves in the sake industry. May their stories have the power to inspire! Six or seven years ago, Brian Hutto would have been quite surprised to hear from a time-traveler that he would be running a popular sake bar…
World Sake Day, known as Nihonshu no Hi (simply “Sake Day”) in Japanese, takes place every year on October 1st and has become an international phenomenon. This year’s celebration, in altered form, was proof of that. First, a little about the history. The sake brewing season traditionally starts in October as cooler weather arrives in…