Sake On Air

We’re kicking off a new semi-ongoing series this week! Over the course of the past couple of years, in a world where international visitors have been largely restricted from entering Japan, we’ve been repeatedly getting a specific type of show topic request: sake travel. For those that have been used to visiting Japan on relatively frequent occasion but have had their regular visits rudely interru...

Back on Air Livestream We can’t believe it has been nearly 4 months since our last “official” show release . Even though it was part of the plan, we’re now getting a bit stir-crazy. It’s time to get back on air. For those that missed it, we got most of the gang together at the JSS Information Center for a livestream back on July 29 th . For those of you that missed it, we’ve cleaned up the audio a...

Back in October of 2018 when we released the very first episode of Sake On Air, none of us had recorded or produced a podcast before, and there was no precedent for what a podcast about sake and shochu could or should be. At the time, the number resources with quality information about what sake is were both growing and improving – which was fantastic! So instead of retreading that same material,...

We’ve welcomed more than an a few non-Japanese kurabito to the show in the past that have made sake brewing here in Japan their chosen path for a day or a lifetime . As the number of breweries integrating more diverse members into their workforce increases, it’s becoming difficult to keep track of the range of characters immersing themselves sake-driven careers here in the land of the rising sun....

It’s been way too long since we’ve spent an entire episode dialing straight into the world of awamori. That’s why we’re thrilled that your host Christopher Pellegrini’s recent trip to Okinawa brought him together with Maurice Dudley , a man who has been slightly behind the scenes but at the absolute center of the concentrated efforts to bring the glory of awamori to spirits and cocktail connoisseu...

We finally have a great excuse to discuss beer this week. Despite a long history of (ongoing) misrepresentation as “rice wine” and the sake industry’s mild obsession with the wine world, we’re finally reaching a point where common sense (and basic science) have started to take hold. The result is a wider realization and acceptance that, when it comes to the act of brewing, sake exists in a place c...

In Part 1 of this special two-part series visiting the producers reviving the lost art of kamejikomi , we spoke with Ken Kojima of Kojima Sohonten , makers of Toko sake in Yamagata Prefecture. This week we travel to the town of Gose in Nara Prefecture to chat with Chobei Yamamoto who represents 13 generations of sake-making at Yucho Shuzo , best known for their sake brand, Kaze no Mori . Yamamoto-...

Back in Episode 51 we explored the hard work being invested in restoring kioke , the large-scale traditional wooden tanks that transformed sake brewing in the Edo Period. Thanks to the hard work of many, supply can’t keep up with demand and as more and more breweries are wanting to reintegrate kioke back into their brewing practices and more woodworking craftsman are stepping up to learn the craft...

Last week we focused our energy on examining the Niigata region as a whole. This week we’re once again joined by our same guests, Ms. Kaoru Ito and Mr. Hiroshi Nagamoto from the Overseas Business Department of Asahi Shuzo Sake Brewing Company , makers of Kubota , to delve into the ubiquitous brand of sake almost synonymous with the region of Niigata and celebrated not only in its home territory of...

There’s really no such thing as an “inferior” region for sake production in Japan. A particular region may boast more breweries, higher production volume, or more acreage dedicated to a popular rice variety, but you really aren’t going to struggle to find great sake being made just about anywhere on the island. (In fact, there’s a reasonable argument to support the idea that some of the nation’s m...

Ginjo is king. Or at least, that’s kind of been a mantra for several generations of more than a few sake lovers, makers, and advocates. Looking at the numbers in recent years, some have dubbed this the current era to be the era of junmai ginjo. (Straight-up ginjo has been faltering a bit, however). Sake classified in the ginjo stratum today aren’t the same as that of yesteryear, and if the depicti...

Another year, another chance to set ourselves up for failure with a series of wild predictions! This year the team has independently put together their own lists of predictions and expectations for what the worlds of sake and shochu may have in store for 2022. Intentionally, we haven’t shared or discussed our views with one another in advance in some attempt to produce any “best” answer, so what y...

This past autumn, something really special came into being that all of our sake and shochu-loving listeners ought to appreciate. A project that has been in-the-making for quite some time behind the scenes at the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association, the Digital Kokushu Museum offers a rather particular kind of glimpse into the ongoing evolution of tradition and culture of Japan’s iconic and lo...

A lot of the interview material from our episodes here at Sake on Air winds up on the cutting room floor, but some of it is just too good to let go to waste. With our Okawari series, we raise our glass for a second round of information and insight from our past guest interviews and serendipitous encounters that we just didn’t get enough of the first time around. This week’s Okawari welcomes back t...

Although this particular holiday season may prove to be somewhat of an exception for some – much in the way that many of us assumed 2020 to be an exception – for many people around the world the year winding down and a new year ramping up tends to be a long-awaited opportunity to gather and spend a bit more time with family, friends and colleagues. A natural extension of this is, for many, also a...

Seeing as how we haven’t featured any of our esteemed sake brewing revolutionist friends on the European continent recently, we thought it was about time we check in. This week we’re joined by Tom Wilson, co-founder and head brewer at Kanpai in London , as well as Grégoire Boeuf, kuramoto at Les Larmes du Levant , located in Pélusin, France. While often loosely lumped into the same category, both...

On October 18 th , way back in the distant past that was 2018, we released the first official episode of Sake On Air . Exactly three years to the day, we got the entire crew together to commemorate and celebrate (virtually) along with our listeners and supporters  from across the globe. Back at the end of September we still weren’t sure what we would be able to do in order to share this special oc...

Back in Episode 65 during our discussion with the president of Sohomare , Mr. Jun Kono, another interesting name popped; that of Gautier Roussille . An agronomist and oenologist by trade, Gautier’s exposure to sake back in 2006, followed by years of proactively exploring and researching the category, eventually lead him to a brief foray as a kurabioto at Sohomare , which then inspired one of the m...

Along with a general interest in sake expanding globally, the number of homebrewers curious to try their hand at sake making and professional brewers setting up formal production operations around the world continues to grow year-on-year at an ever-increasing rate. At the same time, as the population committing themselves to sake both personally and professionally across a range of activities &#82...

This week at Sake On Air we tackle a wide range of sake and shochu-specific topics based upon questions submitted by you, the listeners! Even though we’re always available and eager to engage with our listeners, viewers and followers across all of the online spaces you can find us on , we also recognize that there’s still a great deal more that we could be doing to facilitate that dialogue. This e...

Continuing this month’s series examining the world of sparkling sake, this week we bring you a pair of interviews with sake makers that have been instrumental in both evolving and improving the sparkling sake category. Regular host Chris Hughes first sits down with Mr. Hitoshi Suzuki, president of Ichinokura , and sales representative Ms. Erina Nakamura, to discuss what’s largely considered to be...

Of all the requests that we get for various show topics, an episode focusing on “Sparkling Sake” is probably one, if not the most requested topic filling our inbox. So this week, we (finally) bring you the first of two episodes that we’ve put together to help provide a bit of context and perspective for this rapidly expanding style that’s showing no signs of slowing down. This week Chris Hughes, R...

This week we have a rather special story to tell, as we’re joined by Katsura Sunshine , the second non-Japanese master Rakugo-ka in the history of the craft. The nuanced, playful, dramatic, and at sometimes outright hilarious art of Rakugo storytelling carries over 400 years of historical and cultural significance, passing down universal messages and timeless life lessons that have helped shape ho...

We’ve been way overdue for an episode highlighting one of Japan’s many inspiring sake breweries. When your hosts Sebastien Lemoine and John Gauntner line up a sit-down with Mr. Jun Kono, who represents five generations of award-winning Sohomare sake , you know you’re in for a treat. Located in Tochigi prefecture – a bit of a hot-spot in the world of sake these days – Sohomare’s stretch of consecut...

We’ve been relatively quiet on the shochu front in recent months, but we’re looking to remedy that this week by serving up an episode that should inspire our listeners to begin procuring their shochu and awamori selections for the weekend and beyond. This week Christopher Pellegrini welcomes frequent collaborator, author and co-host of the Japan Distilled podcast, Stephen Lyman. Stephen took us on...