Umami Mart

In 2011, we visited Hakkaisan, a sake brewery in Niigata. As one of the most well-known breweries in Japan, it was a wonderful experience to walk through the vast facilities, hosted by the production master, Mr. Nagumo. You can read about our visit here. Yoko and I never thought we would visit this part of Japan again, […]

During our visit to Aoki Brewery in Niigata, we were told that the three most important factors of brewing sake is the rice, the water and the people. The rice that breweries use for sake-making are not the usual grains you find at the grocery store — they use special rice strains like Yamadanishiki, Koshitanrei, Ohmachi, […]