An unofficial guide to Yamaguchi Prefecture and its nihonshu
Yamaguchi City, the prefectural capital, was recently named in 52 Places to Visit in 2024 by the New York Times. The garden at Morishi Garden, the old manor of the former Mori clan leaders in Hofu, Yamaguchi. I would say the whole prefecture is well worth some attention, with its ancient shrines and temples, exquisite... Continue Reading →
The official release date of Discovering Yamaguchi Sake is here!
I could have sworn that I had posted before about the Kikisake Ressha, which runs from Iwakuni Station up into the mountains along the Nishiki River, ending at Nishiki-cho, but I can't find it, so I guess this is my first! As mentioned, the train follows the course of the Nishiki river, which is Yamaguchi's... Continue Reading →
For those wondering about the "out with the old" part, I guess I'd point you toward the latest issue of my newsletter, the Ochoko Times, in which I talk about my Sake of the Year 2022 (Spoiler alert: Ibi Barrel). Here, I want to look forward to 2023. Whether the pandemic has subsided or not,... Continue Reading →
For longtime followers, some of your links or RSS feeds might go through an old domain: EasternSmooth.com or easternsmoothcom.wordpress.com. I'm going to let that expire and focus on the Yamaguchisake.com domain, so now might be a good time to update any of those old links. The internal address is yamaguchisake.wordpress.com as well, for any that... Continue Reading →
There's a sake trend that I first noticed last year but has become increasingly common, and I'm actually quite unhappy about it. I'm not sure what the real name is, but I'm calling it "faux nama." In other words, there is a move toward sake that is actually pasteurized but retains many of the traits... Continue Reading →
Two more quality josen from Yamaguchi's local sake breweries.
Astonishing. It's been eight months since my last post here! Thank M*sk for waking me up to how much time I've been wasting on Twitter and reminding me that I have other places to put my thoughts down. So, here we are back on the Yamaguchi sake futsushu trail, looking for all the single-serving sized... Continue Reading →
Why, yes! I do, still have a blog! I am a documented fan of futsushu, the humble king of Japan's sake industry. This reasonably priced, mass-market sake might not get a lot of headlines, but it still accounts for over 60% of all the sake made and sold in Japan. Many--most--sake breweries make futsushu as... Continue Reading →
Gokyo brewer Sakai Shuzo's Ride? Black was my favorite sake of 2020. This super-limited release is part of the brewery's annual Nomi no Ichi event, which in past years focused on bringing together its contract shops to taste special, rare brews to bid on which shop would carry them. The last two Nomi no Ichi... Continue Reading →
Yamaguchi Sake 