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Smooth as Melting Snow:
The Akita Sake & Products Fair
A Sake Brewery in Akita Prefecture
On November 9th, the Consulate co-hosted the Akita Sake & Products Fair with the Akita Sake Club at the Ambassador’s official residence. The Akita Sake Club was established in New York by Mr. Masatoshi Yamamoto and other natives of Akita in June 2006 to introduce Akita’s sakes, delicacies, and crafts to people in the New York metropolitan area. This event was intended to attract a broad range of attendees and take advantage of the official residence as a unique venue. The Consulate itself holds approximately two hundred events at the residence each year, but there has been a recent move to collaborate with private organizations or local governments to hold Japan-related cultural or promotional events like the Akita Sake & Products Fair. The evening was an ideal opportunity for budding connoisseurs of Japanese cuisine to dig deeper and to discover the great regional diversity of tastes and flavors that Japan has to offer.
Sake
Akita Prefecture is situated in the northwestern part of mainland Japan and it is the sixth largest among the 47 prefectures of Japan. Akita is known for the great rice it grows, and it is third in total rice production. With more than 50 sake breweries, this prefecture ranks fourth in total sake production. Just as impressively, it ranks second in sake consumption per capita. With all these remarkable features, the prefecture claims to be the ‘kingdom of fine sake’. Akita Prefecture’s Governor, Mr. Sukeshiro Terata, said in his written message to the event, ‘the prefectural government and I are committed to actively supporting them [sake brewers] as producers of what I believe to be one of our prefecture’s premier products.
Magewappa and Kabazaiku
More than 150 attendees, including the organizers, could taste 23 different varieties of Akita’s sake as well as famous delicacies, such as kiritanpo, mashed rice shaped like a tube, and iburigakko, smoked and pickled daikon radish. Accompanying them were unique wooden crafts, magewappa and kabazaiku, made from Akita cedar and the bark of cherry trees respectively. Cedar is said to enhance the flavor of sake and therefore is used to make cups for serving sake, and is also used in various stages of sake production. In addition, guests enjoyed live performances of koto (a thirteen-stringed horizontal Japanese harp), violin and cello. Akita Prefecture provided a DVD and leaflets to introduce Akita’s festivals and other tourist attractions.
Sake exports to the U.S., which have more than doubled in the last decade, now account for about one third of all sake exports from Japan and are still on the rise. Most brands served at this event are available in the U.S., and the organizers hope that the positive comments from attendees will result in more consumption of such fine sakes in the New York area. Furthermore, the event not only promoted an appreciation of sake and Akita, it also promoted better mutual understanding between the peoples of Japan and the United States. The Consulate hopes to continue such efforts like this that utilize the official residence.
See details at "http://www.ny.us.emb-japan.go.jp/en/c/japaninfo0712.html"
The Akita Sake & Products Fair
A Sake Brewery in Akita Prefecture
On November 9th, the Consulate co-hosted the Akita Sake & Products Fair with the Akita Sake Club at the Ambassador’s official residence. The Akita Sake Club was established in New York by Mr. Masatoshi Yamamoto and other natives of Akita in June 2006 to introduce Akita’s sakes, delicacies, and crafts to people in the New York metropolitan area. This event was intended to attract a broad range of attendees and take advantage of the official residence as a unique venue. The Consulate itself holds approximately two hundred events at the residence each year, but there has been a recent move to collaborate with private organizations or local governments to hold Japan-related cultural or promotional events like the Akita Sake & Products Fair. The evening was an ideal opportunity for budding connoisseurs of Japanese cuisine to dig deeper and to discover the great regional diversity of tastes and flavors that Japan has to offer.
Sake
Akita Prefecture is situated in the northwestern part of mainland Japan and it is the sixth largest among the 47 prefectures of Japan. Akita is known for the great rice it grows, and it is third in total rice production. With more than 50 sake breweries, this prefecture ranks fourth in total sake production. Just as impressively, it ranks second in sake consumption per capita. With all these remarkable features, the prefecture claims to be the ‘kingdom of fine sake’. Akita Prefecture’s Governor, Mr. Sukeshiro Terata, said in his written message to the event, ‘the prefectural government and I are committed to actively supporting them [sake brewers] as producers of what I believe to be one of our prefecture’s premier products.
Magewappa and Kabazaiku
More than 150 attendees, including the organizers, could taste 23 different varieties of Akita’s sake as well as famous delicacies, such as kiritanpo, mashed rice shaped like a tube, and iburigakko, smoked and pickled daikon radish. Accompanying them were unique wooden crafts, magewappa and kabazaiku, made from Akita cedar and the bark of cherry trees respectively. Cedar is said to enhance the flavor of sake and therefore is used to make cups for serving sake, and is also used in various stages of sake production. In addition, guests enjoyed live performances of koto (a thirteen-stringed horizontal Japanese harp), violin and cello. Akita Prefecture provided a DVD and leaflets to introduce Akita’s festivals and other tourist attractions.
Sake exports to the U.S., which have more than doubled in the last decade, now account for about one third of all sake exports from Japan and are still on the rise. Most brands served at this event are available in the U.S., and the organizers hope that the positive comments from attendees will result in more consumption of such fine sakes in the New York area. Furthermore, the event not only promoted an appreciation of sake and Akita, it also promoted better mutual understanding between the peoples of Japan and the United States. The Consulate hopes to continue such efforts like this that utilize the official residence.
See details at "http://www.ny.us.emb-japan.go.jp/en/c/japaninfo0712.html"
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