Happy Sake Day!

Posted: October 1, 2024 by Ovi

October 1^st is the World Sake Day and we are celebrating!

Made from fermented rice, sake is Japan’s national beverage. It can be served at room temperature, hot, or cold—depending on the type of sake. With an alcohol content of 18% to 20%, sake isn’t considered a strong drink. It’s easy to drink, but also easy to get drunk!

Follow my “sake” journey through wonderful Japan.

Sake Brewery in Takayama

“A beautiful fire,
And some beautiful sake,
How warming it is.”
– A haiku by the Japanese poet Yamaguchi Seison

While walking through the streets of Takayama’s old town, I stumbled upon a sake store, easily recognizable by the beautifully decorated bottles and large barrels of sake displayed at the entrance. The store even has its own small sake brewery, where you can taste different varieties of sake.

Takayama sake brewery

Hanging above the entrance is a cedar ball (“sugi-tama”), which indicates when the sake is ready to drink—when the green cedar turns brown.

Sake bottles

Sake brewery in Takayama

Cooling the sake – sake brewery in Takayama

Drinking Sake

Sake is served in a decanter called a “tokkuri,” and it is traditionally drunk from a small cup called a “sakazuki.”

Cute tokkuri” and “sakazuki” flask and cup

When eating sashimi, sake is a must!

My first night in Tokyo, I made friends in a small family restaurant. The sake was flowing, and everyone was happy!

Tokyo celebration

Sake with Gold Flakes and Fish Inside

Yes, there is the sake for celebrations called “Kinpaku”, with real gold flakes floating inside!

And there is the hot sake with small dead-drunk fish inside that I found in a small family restaurant in Nagoya. I tried it by accident. From the restaurant’s poster, I thought it is a fish meal, so I order it. It was a surprise when I received the sake in a fish-shaped bowl instead of a “tokkuri” bottle, complete with the “drunk” fish inside! Nevertheless, it was very tasty.