Cup Sake
I tasted a lot of sake in Akita-ken, but my favorite was the nigorizake pictured above (you reading this, Mike?) and which I bought at Yokote. It was so good, I bought one bottle, and two small cup sakes which featured a picture of a kamakura, or snow igloo in honor of the famous snow festival taking place in that town.
One of the cup sakes never made it as a souvenir; once I got it home and everyone discovered how good it was, we decided to drink it ourselves.
Yesterday I picked up a copy of the March issue of Dancyu only to find that there is an entire article devoted to the cup sakes of Akita-ken. It was wonderful to see the different designs, and to see this form of sake consumption getting some recognition.
This article gives a little history on the reputation of cup sake in Tokyo (not so good) and points out that recently cup sake is starting to get more recognition.
They certainly do not conjure the best of images, being mostly consumed by solitary salarymen, and often in less than three swigs. But believe it or not, they may be worth a second look.
When you get out into the countryside, the cup sake found out there is always one of the local brews.
Take a look at this blog too which shows a number of cup sakes from different areas. I love how each region has its own design, sometimes capitalizing on a local matsuri. Heavy though these cups may be, they make great gifts, and I’m glad I came home with my nigorizake (though my initial idea for a souvenir was an XBox 360, which wouldn’t have worked here anyhow).
Marie, you liked nigorizake? Down here they also call it doburoku, and it was way too sweet for my taste. How was yours?
Nice idea about the different sake cups from different areas. Sometimes when I take trips, I bring back those sushi shop-style tea mugs from cheap souvenir stands with words from the local dialect printed on the side.
I am drinking green tea from a Kagoshima Prefecture cup as I write this. It says the local word for kawaii is moze,and the local word for musume is ogojo.
March 17th, 2006 at 12:49 pmBTW, the first cup on that regional sake cup site is from Shiga Prefecture, and that picture of the demon with the shamisen seems very much inspired by otsu-e to me.
Try the local search engine for a post I did a while back on otsu-e. They’re an interesting part of popular culture that’s centuries old.
March 17th, 2006 at 12:53 pmYou know, Ampontan, the nigorizake I had was amazing. It was so good I knew I had to buy it the minute I had a taste. They are all so different!
You should do a tea cup post. I think on this last trip my mom and I were reading one of those cups for Akita-ken which had a lot of slang. It was very funny! Later in the day, someone asked me if I could speak the local dialect and I got really nervous and said, “No.” But they thought that was funny.
I look for your otsu-e post. I always love your thoughtful comments!
March 17th, 2006 at 1:29 pmOoooh, Marie, those photos are drinkable!
Pingback here to see a real cup of real nigorizake!
March 17th, 2006 at 2:05 pmOoooh, Marie, those photos are drinkable!
Pingback here.
March 17th, 2006 at 2:39 pmMarie, and anyone else who might know about this:
Is it possible to bring nigorizake on an airplane as a gift for friends overseas? Last year, two friends from Tokyo visited me in Taiwan, and they intended to bring me a nice bottle of nigorizake as a gift, since they know I love the stuff, but they were informed by the JAL that they could not bring the nigorizake on the plane as it would explode from the air pressure. Ever heard of this prohibition? Regular sake is okay, it won’t explode, but apparently nigorizake is prohibited on planes. Why?
March 17th, 2006 at 10:25 pmi dunno about sake, but i’m a total lush for shochu. =/
March 18th, 2006 at 12:16 amHow bizarre. I’ve never heard of that. My bottles didn’t explode.
March 18th, 2006 at 1:29 amAs long as it’s in a bottle it won’t explode, Danny. It wouldn’t even explode if it wasn’t in a bottle, they just didn’t know what they were talking about. (I just can’t picture Japanese officials doing that to swipe your nigorizake.
)
March 18th, 2006 at 9:42 amDanny, I hope JAL informed your friends of this because they tried to bring nigorizake on their checked bags, not carryon. If not, then that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. Aircraft cabins are pressurized; and even if there was a decompression event, keep in mind there are countless other items in the cabin that are under pressure: Shaving cream, deoderant, soda cans, beer (and probably champange too in business class).
March 18th, 2006 at 11:34 am