Tour period: 2023/2/11 (Sat)–2023/2/11 (Sat) Travel duration: 1 day
A day trip visiting two long-established sake breweries with over 100 years of history
Aoi Yuki is active as a traveling freelance announcer who travels across Japan for reporting while holding qualifications such as sake sommelier, shochu sommelier, WSET Level 3 (Wine & Spirits), First-Class Food Analyst, Japanese chopstick education instructor, and ceremonial event organizer, and she works to share the appeal, importance, and enjoyment of Japanese alcohol and food culture.
In particular, with the hope of creating opportunities for Japanese and international people who are not used to drinking sake to discover the deliciousness of sake as one important part of Japanese culture, she teaches at culture salons and organizes brewery tours and pairing events.
At pairing events, brewers are invited to share their thoughts on sake making, guests enjoy dishes that pair with each sake, and tips on how to enjoy sake are shared, and the paired cuisines range widely including Chinese, French, and Italian, creating opportunities to experience the expanding possibilities of sake as a drink enjoyed with meals, while she also continues to share the appeal of sake through media and the internet.
Would you like to join Aoi Yuki for a special and enjoyable time visiting long-established sake breweries in Tokyo?
◆ Profile of Aoi Yuki
After working for an airline, she became an announcer, and while being active on television, radio, and other media, she actively shares the appeal of Japanese food and sake as well as dining etiquette, conveying their importance and enjoyment, and with food, sake, and travel as her life’s work, she has visited over 350 sake breweries, wineries, and rice fields nationwide, and conducts reporting and sharing from sites related to food and traditional crafts.
She has been extensively involved as a food and sake expert in local government revitalization projects, produced local gourmet foods, created high-value experience lodging plans at luxury hotels, organized brewery tours, collaboration events combining Japanese traditional culture and sake, and pairing events with Japanese sake and cuisines such as Japanese, Italian, and French, and she also writes regular columns on sake and shochu, gives lectures nationwide, serves as a seminar instructor, talk show guest, symposium facilitator, and event MC, and she also serves as a judge for sake and plum wine contests.
She holds qualifications including sake sommelier, shochu sommelier, WSET Level 3 (Wine & Spirits), WSET Level 3 (Sake), First-Class Food Analyst, Japanese chopstick education instructor, Vegetable Kampo advisor, Comrade of Cheese, ceremonial event organizer, and funeral counselor.
・Former live commercial personality on Fuji TV’s “Joho Presenter Tokudane!” (appeared for 11 and a half years)
・Certified “Sake Samurai” by the Japan Sake Brewers Association Youth Council
“Sake Samurai” is a title awarded by the Japan Sake Brewers Association Youth Council, an organization of young brewers nationwide, to individuals who love sake and Japanese culture and strive to share its excellence with the world.
・Private committee member of the Sake Brewery Tourism Promotion Council
・Director of the Umeshu Research Association (General Incorporated Association)
・Director of the Japan Wine Maranic Association
History
◆ Ozawa Sake Brewery
Founded in Genroku 15 (1702), the location of “Sawanoi” was once called “Sawai Village,” and the name was derived from this place name. “Sawai” is a place name derived from the area where abundant spring water flows as streams.
Since ancient times, people have brewed sake as an offering to the gods.
Sake serves as a bridge between gods and humans, playing an essential role when people pray for happiness and a bountiful harvest.
Therefore, sake brewing is a solemn ritual, requiring the strict and refined discipline of the toji (master brewers).
We believe that it is the careful attention to each batch and the skillful, meticulous techniques that create truly heartfelt sake.
The brewing water springs from a cave dug into the bedrock of the Chichibu Paleozoic layer, surrounded by mountains, lush greenery, and the clear air of Okutama, combined with carefully selected rice and refined techniques, and turning all of this into a single drop of fine sake is, according to Sawanoi’s creed, the result of the entire company’s wholehearted dedication and diligent effort.
As long as there is rice in Japan and fine water in Okutama, Sawanoi will continue to produce exquisite sake.
(From the Ozawa Sake Brewery website)
◆Toyoshimaya Sake Brewery
About 400 years ago in Kanda-Kamakuragishi, Edo, Toshimaya Juemon I started a liquor store and one-drink shop business, which seems to have been very prosperous as a gathering place for many people. Juemon also began brewing a pioneering white sake in Edo, which became very popular. This became the foundation of today’s Toshimaya Sake Brewery.
Toshimaya became Toshimaya Honten (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), and in the early Showa period, Toshimaya Sake Brewery was established as a brewery in present-day Higashimurayama City, Tokyo. Since then, the brewery has been widely patronized by people as a sake brewer rooted in the community and brewing sake for many people. (From the website of the Toshimaya Brewery)
Photo courtesy of Toshimaya Sake Brewery
The guide for this tour is…
Yuki A oi
Traveling freelance announcer and Japanese sake coordinator
After working for an airline company, she became an announcer. While working in various media such as TV and radio, she actively promotes the attractiveness of Japanese food and Japanese sake, as well as dining etiquette, and conveys the importance and enjoyment of these foods. Food, sake, and travel are her life’s work, and she has visited sake breweries, wineries, and rice paddies throughout Japan more than 350 times, as well as interviewing and communicating with producers in the field of food and traditional crafts. He is certified as a sake taster, shochu taster, WSET Level 3 (wine and spirits), WSET Level 3 ( SAKE ), and first class food analyst.
Focus here
Brewery tour at “Ozawa Sake Brewery”
You will learn about the process of making Sawanoi sake and hear stories about the brewery, and receive a guided tour inside the brewery. At the end of the visit, sake tasting is also available.
Sake brewery tour at Toshimaya Sake Brewery
You will hear about the process of making sake at Toshimaya, Tokyo’s oldest sake store, and the challenges of sake brewing. (Photo shows a brewery from the Showa era)
On the bus, Aoi will give a talk about Japanese sake
In addition to introducing the breweries and basic knowledge of sake, there will also be a Q&A session. We hope it becomes an opportunity to rediscover Japan’s history and spirit that have evolved alongside rice cultivation through sake.
Spot Overview
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