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Last updated: September 24, 2006
 
Feature
Sake 101: How to enjoy Japan’s national drink
By Daren Epstein
 

Photo by Daren Epstein
The friendly staff at Sake no Ana will help you select that perfect sake.
Living in Japan provides a foreign traveler or resident an opportunity to experience one of the great alcoholic beverages of the world. The stuff of myth, legend and misunderstanding, Japan’s national drink, sake, can be enjoyed here like no other place on earth.

However, in order to maximize one’s enjoyment of the sake experience, one must be familiar with a few basic principles of intelligent consumption. What follows is more or less a sake primer that can be referred to as a starting point for further exploration and research.


What is sake?

In Japan, the word sake and the associated Japanese kanji character means alcoholic beverage. What we know in the West as sake is in fact called Nihonshu in Japan, although in casual conversation Japanese usually use the term sake or O sake, especially when dealing with foreigners.


 
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