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Erika[ Sharing Kyoto Staff ] |
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SAKE Spring, the biggest sake event in Kyoto, is held on April 15 and 16. There was a media event on April 6 at Taizo-in Temple, so, me (Erika) and Sampo had to, of course, also join this event! We had a lot of great sake, ate food made by the best restaurants in Kyoto, saw a maiko dance, and all in all just had a really good time!
The media event started at 6 p.m. The weather was rainy, but the rock garden of Taizo-in looked pretty even though it was wet.
At this event the CEO of the organizer Nozomi Inc. and Asahishuzo’s chairman representing the sake breweries, and the CEO of Masuda Tokube Shoten, and a vice priest from Taizo-in Temple all talked about their passion for sake and about their contribution to SAKE Spring, and the things that are going to happen in the world of sake from now on.
After this, chefs from Kyoto’s most famous restaurants and a maiko also joined them, and we got to take a group picture.
After the press conference ended, we moved to a tea room in the inner part of the temple called Daikyu-an. There we could taste the sake and great dishes available at the SAKE Spring event.
During this event the garden of Taizo-in Temple was illuminated, making the atmosphere feel mysterious. The famous weeping cherry blossoms of Taizo-in had unfortunately not bloomed yet, probably because of the cold weather.
In the tea room there were many types of sake from all over Japan, including famous ones like Dassai and Tsuki no Katsura, which we could freely drink.
You could enjoy this event with a sake cup in one hand, choosing the types of sake you wanted to drink. It is possible for the readers to do just the same by participating in the SAKE Spring event!
Some of the sake cups were really cute!
To go with sake, there was a great number of great Japanese, French, Spanish, and other dishes by the greatest chefs in Kyoto. They also had cheese and kimchi chosen especially to go well with sake. They also had chefs from the famous restaurants of Kyoto actually cooking food at the tea room.
Here you could have sake cocktails. They had three different cocktails: Kiyomizu, Kinkaku, and Arashiyama; each one symbolizing a famous temple or area of Kyoto. All of them have the cocktail-like mild taste while keeping the richness of sake, so these cocktails are also recommended for women!
Sampo chose the one called Kiyomizu. Compared to the other two this one has more sake in it and the taste is stronger.
I got to spend some luxurious time just drinking sake and eating some great food while looking out into the garden.
On the day of the event only the people who buy the 12,000 yen VIP ticket get to see this maiko dance, but luckily for us, we got to see it in the tea room!
We enjoyed the sake, food, and the dance by the maiko while we conversed about the finer details of sake. I think that on the day of the event, it must be even more fun with more sake and more dishes, and all the events they have.
SAKE Spring is a great event for those who like sake, but beginners in the world of sake can also enjoy the event just as much, so how about joining? They also sell tickets at the door so it’s not too late!
 Sampo
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The press event of SAKE Spring was an interesting event to participate; getting to taste many different types of sake; being able to see the garden of the temple at night; the dance of a maiko; and, of course, the great people that are making this event become reality. It was also great to hear about how they are planning to make this event even bigger, so I’m really looking forward to what they come up with next!
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