Shosetsu Daiginjo

Last weekend was the big Shizuoka Sake Tasting Events at the JALT2009 conference at Granship in Shizuoka where over 1,700 language specialists and academics from all over Japan met for a long weekend. Some participants even traveled internationally to join in. To wind down a bit at the end of the long days at the conference, I was asked to organize Shizuoka sake events for participants two evenings at the conference.

The first night was a sake bar run by Goto-san and the staff from his local shop, Tokiwa. There were ten brews in a very casual setup where people just ordered by the glass. The second night was the big tasting where we invited brewers to join in so that the conference participants could have an opportunity to find about the sake they were tasting directly from the makers and even buy some bottles to take home. In addition, we set up a special early viewing of the amazingly beautiful documentary film about Shizuoka sake produced by a very dedicated sake enthusiast, Suzuki-san.

On the second night, when I was running around like a mad woman, I saw what I think was pretty close to miracle thanks to Shosetsu Daiginjo and Mochizuki-san from Kanzawagawa Shuzo. This incident was one of the highlights of my nihonshu life.

Shizuoka Sake Bar 1st day at conference

Toward the end of the tasting, I invited some college student interns who were helping out that night to taste the best examples of really good sake. One of them simply turned my offer down flat by saying “I only drink cocktails. I don’t like nihonshu.” This is very common response from younger people here. Some think our national brew is not so cool or some have had a traumatic experience with lower-grade nihonshu at a cheap izakaya.

What could I say? “Hmm, but these are so different from what you have at most izakaya. Just try some.” Then, she reluctantly took the glass, and a tiny sip, but ended up gasping for water. At that point, I gave up. Mochizuki-san, who saw the whole thing, had a totally different approach. He spent generous amount of time with the “cocktails only” girl simply asking questions. “Are you allergic to alcohol? You are not? Then, do you like rice? You do. How about soy sauce?….” After she left the tasting table, Mochizuki-san pulled me to aside and gave me one of his bottles, Shosetsu Daiginjo, as a treat for the interns.

At the end of the event, the interns had a glass from this very special bottle. Then, the “cocktails only” girl walked up to me and said, “Can I have some, too?” And, of course, after that glass, gave a big smile and an “Oishii desu!”

Te-chan with Garyubai happi coat at Shizuoka Sake Tasting Night

Many thanks to really dedicated sake supporters from Shizuoka.
Please visit Mayumi Suzuki, the movie producer’s blog posts in Japanese. Thanks to Suzuki-san, I was able to find the sake shops willing to jump in the unknowns.
Sake Bar
Sake Tasting Night

Robert-Gilles from Shizuka Sake was one of the people who made this event happen. Please visit his blog post to see the list of sake we had at the events and some behind the scenes stories.

Tokiwa Store
They run a shop and a bar in Okabe-cho, Shizuoka. When you visit the area, this is a great place to taste a range of Shizuoka sake.
Address:
484-2 Murayoshi, Okabe-cho, Fujieda, Shizuoka
藤枝市岡部町村良484-2　
TEL: 054-667-0023

Shinoda sake-ten
They orchestrated the second night tasting. They are one of the top Shizuoka jisake shops and they are just so nice!
Address:
3-3 Irie Okamachi, Shimizu, Shizuoka
静岡県静岡市清水区入江岡町３-３
TEL: 054-352-5047

TV News crew at the Shizuoka Sake Tasting Night

Takashima-san and Mr. Shizuoka Sake, Robert-Gilles

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