Sake Today (2025)

20/11/2025

If you’re looking for a great place to explore sake in the Asakusa area of Tokyo, WASAKE is the spot. As we introduced in Sake Today 44, they offer educational tasting classes and other ‘experiences’ (in English), or you can simply sip as you like at the bar with some of the snacks available. It’s been a success story since its opening; they recently hired two more sake sommeliers and now run a “Sake Tasting Lesson with Sommelier” at 2:30 and 5:30 every day (except Sunday). There is also an array of sake-themed merchandise available. If you go, you might also consider strolling over to Kamata Knives in Kappabashi (featured in ST39), especially if you’re shopping for nice kitchenware gifts for the holidays.

09/10/2025

Even the most established breweries with long-cherished brands have to reinvent themselves sometimes—or at least reintroduce their appeal to consumers. And so it was for Ishimoto Shuzo, makers of Koshi no Kanbai, a refined sake that has sold well over the decades. As we wrote in Sake Today 44, they introduced a new label, Sai Junmai Ginjo, for a new generation of drinkers in 2016. Then, last year, Amane Junmai Ginjo hit the market, garnering attention once again, especially in overseas markets. Both are contemporary reflections of Koshi no Kanbai’s character, with subtle adjustments to the flavor and aroma that we certainly enjoyed. Try it with scallops and shellfish!

08/10/2025

Doi Shuzo’s Sword of the Sun and Pink Floyd’s album Wish You Were Here for a relaxing evening… what music do you listen to while sipping?

19/09/2025

Ajinomachidaya is a bottle shop in western Tokyo that should be on your sake map. Founded in 1952, they offer a wide range of alcohol products, including shochu, whisky, craft beer, and wine, but excel when it comes to sake, especially local/craft sake. They’re not just retailers, but curators of taste. Of interesting note, they have an extensive selection of one-cup sake. The shop is a relatively easy walk from Higashi-Nakano Station (northwest of Shinjuku). If you’re looking for a bite nearby, check out Tama Sushi, Heihachi (yakitori), or just a few doors down, Spice Bay SUZU (excellent curry).

FB: 味ノマチダヤ Ajinomachidaya

13/08/2025

What was the sake that turned on your love light?

This is a question we often ask sake professionals in our interviews. For me (this is Sake Today publisher Ry writing), it was Kaiun by Doi Shuzojo (featured in ST33). The story goes like this: over 15 years ago, before starting Sake Today, I bought my first guinomi (ceramic sake cup) from Robert Yellin’s Yakimono Gallery in Kyoto, and I asked him for a sake recommendation to enjoy with my new piece of art. Having been a long-time Shizuoka resident, he recommended Kaiun. My local stand bar/liquor store at the time, Motomachi Aichiya in Yokohama (worth visiting if you’re ever in the area!), had a bottle of their junmai ginjo. What struck me about this sake was that it was clean and refreshing, but also had intriguing depth and complexity. I later discovered that it’s wonderful when heated, too. In our previous post, we featured the brewery's other brand line, Takatenjin, which you can easily find in export markets like the U.S., but if you’re in Japan, seek out Kaiun, too.

But back to that first question… what was the sake that turned on your love light?

29/07/2025

Baba ghanoush and sake? Oh yes, it works quite well. We like pairing ours with Sword of the Sun by Takatenjin, a versatile honjozo we find ourselves drinking quite often (one of those we ask our local bottle shop to keep stocked). We featured the Shizuoka-based brewery (Doi Shuzōjō) in ST33. How was the idea for baba ghanoush and sake born? It comes up in our interview with sake doyenne Monica Samuels in our recent issue, Sake Today 44, and we provide a simple recipe in the issue as well. Enjoy your sipping and dipping!

10/07/2025

Our most recent issue of Sake Today showcased Kagoshima and Miyazaki, two prefectures better known for shochu than sake (though there are a handful of breweries). For our travel special we focused on the exotic islands of Yakushima and Amami Oshima, as well as Kagoshima City, capital of the “Shochu Kingdom”. Our brewery features covered Niigata’s Ishimoto Shuzo (Koshi no Kanbai sake) and Shiga’s Kita Shuzo (Kirakucho sake), while we gave attention to two special sake spots as well, Tokyo’s WASAKE and Seattle’s Hannyatou. For this issue, good things came in twos, and we introduced two luminaries of our industry: Sake Samurai and Kome Collective president Monica Samuels, and esteemed Singaporean sommelier Joshua Kalinan. Daimon’s Marcus Consolini pens an article on Japan’s rice crisis, and as usual we have a great recipe for pairing with sake. Single issues, subscriptions, and back issues are available from our website (https://www.saketoday.com/get-the-magazine), while digital issues are available from the Sake Today app via the Apple Store (coming to other platforms soon). Thank you for reading and please spread the word!

09/07/2025

Izumibashi, a brewery just outside Yokohama and an easy day-trip from Tokyo, opened a beautiful new tasting room earlier this year. It’s housed in a refurbished storehouse on their property that retains elements of the traditional architecture with chic modern design. The brewery offers a tour program and tasting session that’s quite an experience. We featured it in Sake Today 43 and the article is on our website: https://www.saketoday.com/izumibashiroom/

Get the issue: https://www.saketoday.com/product/issue-no-43/
Or subscribe: https://www.saketoday.com/get-the-magazine/

30/06/2025

A few weeks ago, at the JFC San Francisco Sake Expo & Food Show, we finally got to try Daishichi’s The Gate, a collaboration with French sommelier and Kura Master founder Xavier Thuizat (whom we featured in ST40). It’s a wonderfully complex but smooth and silky sake that owes its character to assemblage (blending). There are only a few thousand bottles in the wild in America, France, and England. A real treat if you have the opportunity to try some.

Many thanks to JFC International for putting on such a great an event. If you’re an F&B professional working with Japanese food products (and/or sake), then you should definitely consider attending one of their expos if you haven’t already.

Finally, while we were at the Daishichi booth, we couldn’t resist the temptation to get a pour of the Minowamon, one of our favorite high-end brands (and we love GM Yamada’s Minowamon shirt, too!).

FB: Daishichi Sake Brewery
FB: JFC International

13/05/2025

Daishichi is one of our favorite breweries, making sake that is both complex and wonderfully elegant—an achievement attained using older brewing methods and long-term maturation in what almost looks like a sake library. Their newest special release, The Gate, was created in collaboration with Xavier Thuizat, the “Best Sommelier of France” (2022), whom we interviewed for Sake Today 40. The Gate was created through ‘assemblage’, a technique of blending various vintages of sake for special depth and flavor. Several French luminaries of the champagne industry, in fact, have been pursuing this in the sake world in recent years. This particular assemblage features the input of Xavier, Daishichi’s 10th generation owner, Hideharu Ohta, and the recipient of Japan’s “Contemporary Master Craftsman” award, Takakazu Sato.

The Gate is designed to be just that: a gate to a culinary experience where anybody can enjoy the pairing of sake with fine food. It’s flavor and aroma is such that it lends itself to pairing with an array of cuisine, whether that be French, Japanese, Italian, Thai, Chinese, or Peruvian. It can be served chilled, at room temperature, or warm—try it out in various settings to see how it transforms.

The sake was first released in Japan in April, but is coming to France, the U.S. and the U.K. This is a bottle for your collection or immediate enjoyment, for sure!

Daishichi Sake Brewery

07/05/2025

While Sekiya Jôzô offers a sake brewing experience at Sake Lab (see previous posts), in downtown Nagoya the Aichi-based brewery offers authentic Japanese dining experiences in its two restaurants. One is located in a beautifully refurbished storehouse dating back to the 19th century, the other, more recent location, in the scenic Hisaya-odori Park. Both are well worth a visit.

We featured Sekiya in Sake Today 20, and the feature is also hosted on our website: https://www.saketoday.com/sekiya-jozo/

22/04/2025

Continuing with our previous post, if you do visit the Houraisen Sake Lab in Aichi prefecture for a genuine brewing experience, grab a casual lunch in the Michi no Eki Sh*tara facilities, in which the lab is located. The cafeteria serves delicious curry made with sake lees from the brewery, and you can also buy an exclusive bottle of Sh*tara sake made in the lab.

Sake Today