Tokyofoodcast

Despite the unbearable heat, summer in Japan is the season for a lot of good stuff–including food. One thing I had wanted to do for sometime was to go to a small coastal city during the uni or sea urchin season and indulge myself. So, before going to Ichinoseki, I took a wide detour and [...]

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When I heard that the Ichinoseki area is called “the home of mochi“, I thought of New Year’s Day. Or rather, I should say New Year’s Eve when my family geared up for massive production of mochi for the whole family and extended family at the holiday. We literally spent the entire day making so [...]

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What would you say if someone asked you to try sake brewed on the Ginza? And, what if that sake had been made from rice grown in the heart of the Ginza, where people come from all over the world for high-end fashion, dining, and culture? I did not know exactly what I was getting [...]

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These bottles are what I got at Chiyomusubi! Would Tim’s audience at Anime Festival in New York be all over these bottles or what? Medama Oyaji is my favorite character from GeGeGe no Kitaro ! This little eyeball always calls his son, “Oi, Kitaro” with high pitch voice.
Since Sakaiminato is the home town of Mizuki [...]

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This beautifully retro postcard came in the mail yesterday. As soon as I saw the smiling woman with an early Showa period air and the Chiyomusubi name next to her, my heart leapt, as if this was my first love letter. That is, if I could actually remember getting a first love letter! The note [...]

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In Tokyo you feel the changes in the seasons: endless rain becomes a sauna-like unbearably hot and humid day, then long awaited fall an with evening breeze. In Tamura-cho, Fukushima, home for our favorite sake Odayaka, you see the seasonal changes as wet green rice fields covered with newly planted sprouts transform to golden waves [...]

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I guess this is a bit like “he said” — “she said”. The previous post was from Te-chan’s take on our experience. This is mine. No, I am not talking about us! I’m talking about sake! And, you will get a chance to read Melinda’s version, too.

Just as expressed by one of their brand [...]

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Shizenshu–Nature’s sake

The Start
On a Saturday morning last month we went for a Shinkansen ride up to Koriyama and a day of sake making at Kinpou Shuzo–Niida Honke, makers of Odayaka (穏), Tamura, and Shizenshu. Melinda and JP came too, and had thoughtfully brought along a mediterranean selection of breakfast treats, so we all settled into [...]

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I always thought there’s something mysterious about sake making. Craftsmanship by Toji which is the master brewer’s magical touch, sleepless work in a steamy kojimuro to produce the best koji, kura people singing worksongs as they mix the mash of shubo with a big paddle in their hand: I thought these are essence to [...]

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Back in May, we succeeded in enticing our long-time friends, Colleen and Steve, to visit us in Tokyo from the US. They have been talking about it for some time, but when we visited them in Seattle in March, we were able to push them a little further.
So, all of a sudden, Et-chan put her [...]

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