An unofficial guide to Yamaguchi Prefecture and its nihonshu
This junmai ginjo is a special bottling offered through a local sake shop, Nakashimaya, which also uses the business logo Marumi, which is the same character used in Bijin, hence the "Maru" in the name. Toyo "Maru" Bijin 55 Junmai Ginjo This sake is particularly special, as the sake shop has contracted with Sumikawa Shuzo... Continue Reading →
At a recent On-nomi I focused my drinking on a pair of sakes from Hagi city in Yamaguchi. Hagi is a major brewing city in Yamaguchi prefecture, and locals are growing increasingly vocal about their ingredients, including locally grown rice, and Hagi's spring water. Migaki 6 Tokubetsu Junmai, Hagi grown Yamada Nishiki, Seimeibuai 60% The... Continue Reading →
It appears a month has passed since my last post! How time flies. I haven't left sake behind, have no fear, I just seem to have been too busy to blog. But I have my notes, and there are some interesting things to report on. Yamaguchi's "other" famous brand, Toyo Bijin from Sumikawa Shuzo has... Continue Reading →
Rather than do a regular old tasting note, review, or event update, I thought I'd take a look back at what this year was like for me in my sake journey. 2019 was a fairly big sake year for me. I led my first tasting class back in January, and did my first work translating... Continue Reading →
Abu no Tsuru is a little sakagura on the Sea of Japan side of Yamaguchi, and it produces some wonderful sake. This one is a very nice junmai with a seimaibuai of 58%. The King of Visual Pun Labels The new kuramoto and toji, Ryutaro Miyoshi, was formerly a designer and brings those skills to... Continue Reading →
This sake comes from Hagi and is shockingly hard to find. None of the major liquor stores I've been to have had it, and I only got this one because I was taking a different route home from a distance party we go to and stumbled on a nice looking local shop. This was the... Continue Reading →
I picked this special summer junmai from Chomonkyo brewers Okazaki Shuzojo at a roadside plaza in Nagato, not far from the Hagi brewery itself. Usually when I think of summer drinks, I think of light, refreshing things like lemonade or barley tea. So my assumption was that this would be a light, fruity sake as... Continue Reading →
The other evening, at the Toyobijin no Kai, an employee of Nakashima Sake shop mentioned that I should try to put together a sake group for foreign residents. I wasn't so sure about it myself, since there just aren't that many around these parts, I have no idea how popular sake is with the local... Continue Reading →
In my recent pursuit to learn as much as possible about the local sake world, I've tried to join as many events as I can. It's not only a good chance to drink some sake, but also to experience the cultural and social aspects of the drink, as well as meet some great people. This... Continue Reading →
In the cup this time is a limited Junmai Daiginjo from Shunan city's own Yamagata Honten. This bottle is named after and dedicated to Yoshida Shoin, a historical figure from Hagi, Yamaguchi, who was somewhat influential in the Meiji Restoration as a teacher of many of the more famous figures. The man himself died young... Continue Reading →
Yamaguchi Sake 