Tokyo

Tokyo the capital of Japan is located on Tokyo Bay in the Kanto region of Honshu, Japan’s largest island. The closest airports to Tokyo are Haneda- officially known as Tokyo International Airport, and Narita- Japan’s largest international airport. Tokyo is known for its fashion and shopping, from the trendy shopping districts of Harajuku and Shibuya, to the luxury flagships of Ginza. It is also the hub-centre of Japanese Sake, located with the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association (JSS) a non-profit organization encompassing Sake and Shochu producers throughout Japan.

My first port of entry in Japan was Tokyo. I was visiting the country at the invitation of JSS as part of a global group of seven beverage journalists of different nationalities.

The advantage of a Local Host

On the very first day of my landing, Mika Eoka, a friend working with the JSS came to pick me up at my hotel and we took Japan’s meticulous subway to her place in Shinagawa-ku located in the heart of the city. I had carried some bottles of Indian wines that we tasted alongside some Sakes catered by Mika with a group of Japanese Sommeliers and an Indian friend who works in Tokyo. Our party continued at a nearby Indian restaurant called Mahalaya where apart from enjoying an amazing spread I met the Indian chefs- one of whom came from my native place. It was thrilling to converse with the Chef in a foreign land in my native lingo!

Embarking on a Sake trip

Though my itinerary during the JSS trip involved extensive travel through Sake breweries in Northern Japan, it was in Tokyo that our group got primed in Sake knowledge at the JSS Information Centre located in the city. The centre has, at any given time, more than 60 kinds of Sakes from all over Japan that one can sample and get a good feel of Sake diversity.

Since ours was an organised trip, we underwent a kind of ‘crash course’ on Sake conducted by the famed Sake Evangelist and Educator John Gauntner before embarking on our further schedule. A Sake tasting at the JSS Information Centre was obviously a foregone conclusion.

A dinner with various Japanese brewers organised for our group at a local restaurant was another highlight for us in Tokyo. It was an evening of bonhomie around a vast range of Sakes brought in by the respective brewers, paired with some artful Japanese food.

The next day we flew off to Northern Japan on our Sake adventure. The finale of our official trip was again at Tokyo where we dined at a local restaurant called Big-Pig which is particularly famous for its Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki (savoury pancakes). The decor of the place is reminiscent of Hiroshima, as having many souvenirs from Hiroshima Carp baseball team. The Okonomiyaki that we befittingly ordered with Sake from Hiroshima, was surely an affair to remember.

An extended itinerary

Not having had enough of Tokyo yet, I extended my stay for two more days thanks to my friend Mika who took the pains to show me around the city. Thus we went bar hopping to Central Tokyo, soaking in the Japanese whisky highball culture and shopping at the famed Shibuya district. We also witnessed a giant Tuna cutting show at Yokohama, which is a short train ride of about an hour from the city.

A Sake Tasting as none

The pièce de résistance was a Sake tasting conducted by the famed Nanbu Bijin brewery of the Iwate prefecture. Kosuke Kuji, the owner of Nanbu Bijin personally conduct the soirée, pairing his Sakes with vegan food. Incidentally, Nanbu Bijin is the first brewery from Japan that acquired the vegan certification. Thus concluded my stay in Tokyo with loads of memories to take back home.