We would like to introduce a fantastic video which tells all about Japan’s old industry – SAKE.
Beautifully produced by NHK World Japan, and wonderfully presented by Mr Tokubee Masuda from Tsukino Katsura in Kyoto who is known as the pioneer of Nigori (cloudy) sake). ‘Onko Chishin’ (温故知新) – It is so true that the tradition and innovation go hand in hand.
11th March 2021
On the 11th March 2021, exactly 10 years since the unforgettable disaster in Tohoku, the Fukushima Prefecture Association headed by Mr Yoshio Mitsuyama organised a memorial event online from London. Rie Yoshitake, as a Fukushima Tourism Ambassador, co-hosted a one-hour programme and presented the Fukushima sake promotional video Sake Wonderland Fukushima. The online broadcast reached an audience of thousands all over the world including Japan and the UK. The programme was composed of various short videos and showed the journey of Fukushima after the disaster as well as encouraging messages from Mr Eddie Jones, Lady Victoria Borwick, Torayasu Hotei and the Mayor of London’s Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Cllr Gerald Hargreaves.
7th March 2021
A live masterclass was held on Zoom by industry leaders exploring one of the fundamentals of Japanese beverage culture. The event was sponsored by the Japan Sake & Shochu Makers Association (JSS), commissioned by Miho Komatsu and the UK Bartenders Guild http://ukbartendersguild.co.uk, and attended by over 200 members of UKBG. This was the first session of their Kokushu Japanese alcoholic beverages project, and focused on the Koji, the magical power behind sake, its cultivation and how different strains create different taste and aroma profiles in Sake.
Japan House London
26th February 2021
In partnership with the National Tax Agency of Japan, Japan House London commissioned an exciting trade webinar to vitalise the UK sake market. The event was divided into two parts. Rie Yoshitake, the leading sake ambassador in the UK, delivered a lecture focusing on the thriving export of sake and the UK market’s transitions, characteristics, trends and prospects. Two sake makers, Kamoizumi and Dewazakura, also joined from Japan and shared their experiences as pioneers in the UK market.
Online panel discussion, London
25th February 2021
‘Sake tourism’ has the potential to expand beyond the walls of the brewery and into the surrounding region. Following a successful start-off event ‘Miyagi – A passage to Tohoku’ at the Embassy of Japan in the UK in 2020, INOUTBOUND in Miyagi commissioned by the National Tax Agency and Yoshitake & Associates UK teamed up again. This year, the team focused on creating inbound sake tourism to Miyagi in collaboration with Urakasumi Sake brewery. Are sake and breweries going to be an attraction to bring tourists from the UK and Europe? How could that be possible?