Do You Like Sake? A Japanese Sake Event Is Being Held at Roppongi, Tokyo

From February 5th, a Japanese sake event is being held at Roppongi, Tokyo. It will continue until this Sunday, February 14th. A total of one hundred local sake breweries will be introduced during the 10 days, and people can taste sake from 10 different breweries each day for a fee.

To join the event, people buy a starter set for 3500 Yen, which includs a small glass for cold sake and a small cup for hot sake as shown in the lower left hand side photo and 6 tokens. Then they can exchange the tokens for sake tasting or some appetizers. Also additional tokens are available for perchase, for the price of 1500 Yen for 6 tokens,  2500 Yen for 11 tokens.

In Japan there are tons of local sake breweries all over the country and the situation is similar to that of local beer breweries in the U.S.A. The tastes of sake are very different in each Sake breweries so that it is fun to try Sake at different breweries. The local sake breweries generally start brewing sake every fall after the harvest of rice, and winter is the season of freshly brewed Sake. Therefore a sake tasting event in winter is like "October Fest" for beer.

The cost for tasting in this event is 3 tokens for a glass of cold Junmai-Daiginjo/Daiginjo sake, 2 token for a glass of cold Junmai-Ginjo/Ginjo sake, and 1 token for a glass of cold Junmai sake/a cup of hot sake. These Daiginjo, Ginjo, and Junmai are classifications for sake. Although the cost is very different between them, it doesn't mean Daiginjou is the highest class/the best tasting sake and Junmai is a low class/tasteless sake. 

Actually the differences between them are mainly the extent of rice polished which is the main ingredient. Japanese sake is made of rice and water and "Daiginjo" is using rice grains polished to 50% or less of weight, in other word it is using only core of rice grains which are 50% or less than 50% of the whole grain. For Ginjo, rice grains are basically polished to 50-60% or less of the whole grain, and for Junmai rice grains are  basically polished to 60-70% or less of the whole grain. 

Thus, the difference of the price between Daiginjo, Ginjo, and Junmai basically reflect the cost for the rice because to make Daiginjo sake would require 1.5 times or more rice grains than Junmai sake. However, the tastes of the three types are in fact very different from each other, since constituents of inner core and outer core of rice grain are different. 

Therefore, which one a person likes most would depend on personal preferences, so I hope you will have a chance to try different kinds of sake and find your favorite!