A view of Craft Sake Week. The woodwork was made by made by Miyagi Prefecture's Ishinomaki Laboratory. | MONICA IRELANDProduced by soccer superstar Hidetoshi Nakata, Craft Sake Week is a 10-day event at Roppongi Hills that will feature some of the best artisanal sake that Japan offers, which includes a wide spectrum of nihonshu, shochu and umeshu (plum wine). Each day a different theme will be featured, and the selection of beverages and brewers will change.
For the event's launch on Friday, the fine sake brewers of Fukushima were in the lamp light. Over the coming days, sake lovers can look forward to themes that feature everything from master brewers to the new kids on the block.
Here's a selection of scenes from the event's launch on Feb. 5.
Yasuhiko Niida (center) from Odayaka, an organic brand of sake. | MONICA IRELANDKouichi Suzuki from Akebono Shuzo, a company that has been making sake since 1904. | MONICA IRELAND Takeo Matsumoto from Nagurayama. | MONICA IRELANDFrom left to right, Ari, Sophie, Ivy, Brandon, Justin and Nathan from Temple University. Nestlé Japan recently released a sake-flavored Kit Kat that contains .8 percent alcohol. | MONICA IRELANDFrom left to right, comedian Asayan, Yurie Sato and Tomoaki Ishida at Craft Sake Week. | MONICA IRELANDCustomers can pay ¥3,500 for a starter kit of all you can drink sake and six food selections. | MONICA IRELANDArtist Shoji Ryo and his dog Jackie at Craft Sake Week. | MONICA IRELANDDishes being sold at Sake Craft Week are coming from restaurants such as La Bombance (Nishi-Azabu), Kudan (Gakugei University) and oden restaurant. | MONICA IRELANDIf you're serious about your sake, you might want to download the Sakenomy app for indexing the types you have tried and searching a large database of brands. | MONICA IRELANDIn total, the festival will feature around 100 different breweries from all over Japan. Kanpai! | MONICA IRELAND
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