Wentworth Golf Club Hosts First Sake Dinner

4th and 18th February 2017

Over the years, Sake Samurai UK has worked to spread Sake culture through different fields, including the City, the Diplomatic Services, the Arts, academic institutions and sporting circles.
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Sake educator award at the Wine and Spirit Education Trust

23rd January, The Guild Hall

The Wine and Spirit Education Trust is undoubtedly the world largest wine, spirit and sake education body spreading across 73 countries. In 2016 over 72.000 candidates took WSET qualifications and the award giving ceremony took place in the flagship city, London at the Guild Hall. It was encouraging for the sake industry to witness several awards went to sake related organization and personalities.
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Sake and Washoku Promotion Dinner at Cambridge University

21st January 2017, Corpus Christi College Cambridge University

After two years of planning, Sake Samurai UK held a long-awaited and hugely successful Sake and Washoku cuisine dinner at Cambridge University. This was made possible by Dr Barak Kushner, Reader in Japanese history, who helped to orchestrate and host the event at his college. Without his efforts the event would not have been possible, Sincere thanks also to the Japan Embassy in London, Mr Hiranaka, Mr Karasawa and Minister Iida, who sponsored the evening’s splendid dinner.
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Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry New Year Party

8th January, Drapers Hall in the City

Japanese people traditionally celebrate the new year by sipping sacred sake which has been offered to the gods at local shrines, known as omiki. Sake was originally used purely as a libation, but over time came to be enjoyed by ordinary people, in the course of day to day life.
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Emperor’s Birthday Celebration

13th Dec 2016, Embassy of Japan in the UK

The celebration of Emperor Akihito’s birthday is always the most well attended event at the Japanese embassy in London. This year, over three hundred guests came together to celebrate His Imperial Majesty’s 83rd year.
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Exploring new market for sake in Latvia

15th November 2016

While the Japanese Embassy in the UK has been working hard to promote Sake and Japanese culture for many years, Japanese embassies across the world are beginning to follow its example.
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Sake Experience at Posterscope

3rd November 2016

Sake Samurai in the UK has been supporting Japanese-UK related organisations since 2004 by hosting sake tasting opportunities across the country and across different academic (Sake Academy) and professional institutions (Sake and the City). This event was hosted by Metro Ad Agency of Japan for Posterscope in London (the Out of Home specialist brand of Dentsu Aegis Network group), an authentic taste of Japanese culture.
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Woman in Business Seminar

2nd November 2016

Helen Akiyama the founder of Akiyama Connects was delighted to facilitate an event at Stanton House Hotel (close to Swindon) on Wednesday 2nd November with guest speaker Rie Yoshitake from Yoshitake & Associates and Sake Samurai. The event was well attended with members of the Japanese community as well as supporters from the local community.
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Sake – lifting the spirit of UK-Japan relations post-Brexit

31st October 2016

To strengthen Japan-UK collaboration and investment ties before, during and after Brexit, the Embassy of Japan and The British Japanese Parliamentary Group jointly hosted a reception at the Portcullis House, inviting MP’s and Peers, the FCO and representatives of Japanese and UK companies and media. Sake Samurai UK was invited to support the reception and took the opportunity to introduce sake and Japanese culture to guests.
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Sake Experience at Ernst and Young

24th October 2016

One of the major activities of Sake Samurai UK is to introduce sake and Japanese culture to multinational companies in the City of London. On 24th Oct, Sake Samurai UK held a Sake tasting experience at Ernst and Young’s (E&Y) Japan-UK Trade Event. The evening was run by the award winning Far East Network, which aims to encourage diversity within E&Y and the Japan Business Services team. Rose Telyczka, who worked with Sake Samurai at Oxford University initiated the event to continue her support for Japanese culture in a professional context.
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The return of Tosa sake  – Tosa Sake Fair 2016

Following a successful first expedition to London last year, the Tosa sake delegation wowed UK trade and sake lovers again with a selection of nihonshu from the “Land of Sake”. Six sake makers lead by Mr Akihiko Takemura from Tsukasabotan and much respected Father of Kochi Yeast, Dr Haruhiko Uehigashi attended a three-day Tosa Sake Fair in London. On the 10th October, the Embassy of Japan hosted the Tosa sake Seminar and Tasting for trade and press.
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Sake Academy at the London Business School

The Sake Academy initiative was launched in 2014 at St John’s College, Oxford.

Spearheaded by Sake Expert Rie Yoshitake, Sake Academy aimed to introduce Japan’s national beverage and culture to bright young minds, who would go on to become future world leaders.

Since then, Rie Yoshitake and her team at Yoshitake & Associates have expanded the Sake Academy initiative across academic institutions both in the UK and abroad including the London Business School, Cambridge Judge Business School, Edinburgh University, IESE…and its geographic reach only continues to grow.
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Sake Tasting at The Holburne Museum in Bath

1st October 2016

On World Sake Day, the Bath and Beppu Friendship Association in collaboration with Sake Samurai organised a unique and groundbreaking sake tasting in the elegant setting of Bath’s Holburne Museum. This was also the headline event for The Great Bath Feast. Nishinoseki, the household sake brand from Oita prefecture in Kyushu, generously sponsored sake for this event, offering a heartwarming, quintessential taste of Kyushu.
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World Sake Day

1st October 2016

The 1st October was World Sake Day. Watch this video to learn more about Japan's national drink and how to celebrate with Sake!
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IWC Award Winning Sake Seminar & Tasting

8th July 2016 Embassy of Japan

Following the excitement of the awards dinner, the proud champion and shortlisted trophy sake makers gathered at the embassy of Japan to showcase a selection of premium sake to trade, media and friends of Sake Samurai. The afternoon began with a seminar section, followed by brief presentations from nine of the award winning sake makers. Each sake maker passionately and charmingly introduced their sake brewery and philosophy, as well as the story of the winning sake itself.
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IWC 2016 Champion Sake Announcement

7th July at IWC Awards Dinner

‘To protect sake culture and to promote sake internationally’ … in order to realise this mission, the Sake Samurai Association collaborated with the International Wine Challenge (IWC) ten years ago, and has since grown to become the world’s largest and most prestigious sake competition.
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Sake Academy at Oxford University – Educating Future Global Leaders

It goes without saying that future global leaders require a world class education. At Oxford, the cradle of many of the world’s visionaries past and present, this “world class education” evolved in 2014 to include Sake 101, with the launch of the Sake Academy initiative. Led by Sake Expert Rie Yoshitake, Sake Academy aimed to introduce Japan’s national beverage to bright young minds at university campuses across the world. The Oxford chapter was launched at the St John’s College Triennial May Ball, in true Oxford style.
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Japan Day at Cambridge University

Cambridge Japan Day was started in 2015 by a team of Japanese MBA students studying at Judge Business School, with the purpose of promoting Japanese culture ("Cool Japan") to students from all over the world. With the support of Sake Samurai UK and Tazaki Foods UK, they were able to host their second Japan Day this year with great success.
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IWC 2016 Sake judging and award announcement in Hyogo

The 2016 International Wine Challenge sake competition celebrates its 10-year collaboration between the Sake Samurai Association and the IWC. This robust and fruitful relationship has supported the global expansion of sake, by both boosting international awareness and exports, as well as increasing the popularity of sake within Japan itself.
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“Sake no Tomo”, Friend of Sake

For years, sake has been casting its spell far beyond the borders of its homeland. More and more, epicures from across Europe are expressing a curiousity to learn more about a drink they had always associated with hangovers. In an effort to nurture Europe’s developing sake market, the Sake Samurai Association (SSA) launched a Sake Roadshow initiative across the UK and mainland Europe, in order to educate and spread the passion for Nihonshu. On 13th April 2015, the IESE Business School in Barcelona in partnership with the Japanese Consulate, Sake Samurai UK, and Comerjapones.com hosted the Spanish chapter of the Sake event which Academy initiative.
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