One cup of Choja from Niigata Meijo. The flavor comes out when slightly warmed up, and matches better with dried sardines and clams. 

One cup of Matsumidori from Nakazawa Shuzo in Kanagawa. The rounded flavor pairs nicely with kombu cooked in soy sauce. 

A fine example that drawings don't necessarily get better with more drinks. I got this Gizaemon One Cup near Ise Grand Shrine, but the brewery, Waka-ebisu Shuzo, is located in the neighboring Iga City. 

Tasting the difference between "junmai" and "unpasteurized junmai" with my parents, using Asahiyama from Niigata and Sentoku from Miyazaki as learning materials. On the side was yellowtail sashimi.

Sentoku Shuzo is the only sake brewery in Miyazaki, which is dominated by shochu distilleries, and is located in my mom's hometown of Nobeoka!  

Oboro Saketen's special bottle of Ken Konichi junmai ginjo genshu from Miyagi. It goes really well with cheese when slightly warmed up. The finish is pretty sharp, but it's full of great grainy flavor. 

This is from the same evening, a drawing of the same stuff, but with Adrian's technical advice. It's always fun to have illustrator roommates. 

Yumi chan and I went to Hidetoshi Nakata's sake event that focused on the storage temperature of sake. There were tasting samples of the same sake stored at room temperature and in the fridge. Apprently Nakata said "disgusting" to the one stored at RT, but I  personally liked it better. They were also offering dozens of expensive daiginjo for 300yen a glass, which was pretty impressive. 

Nick and I went to Terada Honke for their official brewery tour. They're all about natural brewing, doing everything by hand, so there were no pipes wired around the brewery at all (impressive!). Very informative, great talks by the president of the brewery, Masaru Terada, and awesome tasting during the tour inside the brewery and at the end.

I discovered Meguro Shinbashi, a little corridor full of tiny bars in a big apartment building down the hill from JR Meguro station. At first, I thought the name referred to Shinbashi (aka drinking paradise for Tokyo's salarymen), but later found out that the bridge over Meguro River in front of the building was also called Meguro Shinbashi. Either way, it's a precious little spot!

Warm Yukino Bosha aged yamahai brought up the sweet and toasty aroma of brown sugar-coated chestnuts. I didn't drink for 4 days, but  it didn't make me feel more lucid or healthy. I don't know if that's good or bad. Oh well. 

There is nothing better than sipping warm sake and watching a movie in a rainy winter evening. Nagano's Daisekkei is light, and makes a nice accompaniment to Chinese cabbage and tuna stew. 

Kon Kenichi and Juzo Itami's "The Funeral" make a cozy party. 

Finding a vegetarian spot on Sunday after 10:30pm is almost impossible, so Nevin settled for fried rice at an okonomiyaki restaurant in Ebisu. I had okonomiyaki and hot Kikumasamune that came in a retro glass bottle. Cute!