Sake no Jin 2012 / にいがた酒の陣2012

Grab Your Cup

The significance of this years Sake no Jin will go down in the books as a momentous occasion for Japanese sake, and the many brewers who have painstakingly held things together post 3-11.  As some of you may already know, Sake no Jin was cancelled last year due to the earthquake and tsunami disaster.   Many breweries were destroyed and many more were left severely damaged.   As  a result, whole operations were impacted leaving sake and bottling  production lines inoperable for months.   Since then, volunteer groups and other sake enthusiast from all around Japan have band together to help get things back on track and have assisted several breweries through-out Tohoku to rebuild and restart sake production again, which has been an ongoing labor of love.    

Just to give you a little more perspective on the magnitude of this fair.   It is the greatest sake event on earth, for two days only!  It is the coming together of all the breweries in one building in Niigata city to showcase the very best sake Niigata has to offer.   If you skip any other sake fair or event this year, then it's "ok," just don't miss this one.  Guest will be flying in from all over the world to partake in this elixir of the ancient gods.   Be there, or....Well....Just be there.






 ("Sake no Jin is an annual sake fair, attended by about one hundred sake producers from across Niigata, a prefecture  known for its exceptionally high quality soba, rice,and rice beer ").








If all goes well this year , 2012, Sake no jin will be held on March 17 and 18 at the Toki Messe convention center in Niigata City, about a two hour shinkansen ride from Tokyo.      Everybody over the age of twenty is welcome to attend and enjoy a large variety of Niigata sake.   Admissions is free, but if you need to do tasting you have to pay 2000 yen in exchange for a sake cup to be used for sampling from hundreds of types of sake.   

Here's what to look for and what I look forward to doing and tasting: 

A couple of big names to remember would be Asahi Shuzo and Midori Gawa Shuzo!    

1) Tokugetsu and Asahi Yama300 and Kubota

2) Hakyuro

3) Kagatora

4) Tsuru no Tomo

5) Hakkaisan

6) Echigo Tsurukame

7)Manotsuru

8) Kirinzan

9) Midori-Gawa 

10) I look forward to eating delicious Hegi Soba and Tempura.  

11) And lastly Harashuzo = Great umami type sakes.  

I highly recommend sampling all of these offerings as most of these are pretty old and well established sake breweries and sake.  Try all of the new stuff too.   It's good to book accommodations early, or if you'll be coming from Tokyo you can have dinner and then head back to Tokyo after the fair.   

Here's a link to the sake fair

For people flying in from overseas I highly recommend trying the hard stuff to get outside of Japan.  Yes, there are some stores that offer rare seasonal sake in North America.   Keep in mind the Nama-genshu, and Tokubetsu sakes.   Focus on the  Junmai Nama Genshus and Junmai Nama Chozoshus.

Tickets can be purchased at convenience stores or at the door at Toki Messa.    

Have fun and see you there!