Annual Sake Event at Cambridge Judge Business School

8th June 2018, Judge Business School in Cambridge

On the 8th June 2018, an annual sake event took place at Judge Business School in Cambridge University for the fourth year running.  In collaboration with Rie Yoshitake and Sake Samurai UK, the event was organised by MBA and MFin (Masters in Finance) students from the Cambridge Asia Business Association, who wanted to create an opportunity for the rest of the students to learn about and enjoy Japanese culture and food. Here is the report from Miss Sakura Nitta, chairman of Cambridge Asia Business Association:

The event commenced with a lecture by Ms Hiroko Nishitani, a sake expert from Tazaki Foods. Regardless of the varying levels of knowledge of participants, she gave some very interesting tips about sake and Japanese culture to all the participants. People especially liked the tasting of four different types of sake: Urakasumi, Dassai 50, Shirakabe Gura Mio, and Nishinoseki 1988. They were surprised by the variety of tastes and found their favourite ones.

A walk-around tasting with homemade Japanese food followed the lecture. The participants enjoyed 24 different bottles of sake with a marriage of sushi, fried chicken (kara-age), pancake balls with octopus (takoyaki), pickles (asazuke), green soybeans (edamame), and rice crackers (sembei). It surprised the organisers that most of the food, including 8 kg of chicken, disappeared before the end of the event.

We also offered a yukata experience to participants. They loved the unique shape and colourful patterns of yukata and took many photos. Some wore Pikachu and samurai costumes which entertained others.

The event came to a close with both participants and organisers feeling very satisfied with the evening and happy to have been a part of the event. Our sincere thanks to Ms Rie Yoshitake for her support for the event, Tazaki Foods for the lecture and the provision of sake for the lecture, and the Embassy of Japan for the arrangement of sake for the walk-around tasting.

Cambridge Asia Business Association (Asia Business SIG) is a society founded in 2015 by students of Cambridge Judge Business School. It aims to build a network between the University of Cambridge and Asia, dedicated to sharing knowledge about Asia, and supporting relationships among Cambridge Judge Business School and Cambridge students and alumni and Asian business leaders.