George Mallory, the late British mountaineer, was once asked by a journalist why he wanted to climb Mount Everest.
“Because it’s there,” was his famous reply.
No, I have no intention of scaling Mount Everest, or for that matter, any other mountain in the world.
What I plan to do instead, is to drink sake from all 47 prefectures of Japan.
It seems trivial compared to reaching one of the highest summits on Earth, but still, it’s not an easy task.
If I were living in Japan, it might only take a month to achieve the objective. This is all I’d need to do:
- Sit down at a sake bar
- Order a flight of three ochokos
- Repeat every other day
- Mission accomplished
While sake is gaining popularity in Singapore, it’s not common to find bars that serve tasting portions of different sakes.
More often than not, you’d end up having to buy individual 720ml bottles. Even then, choices are usually limited to the famous labels, with prices that are significantly marked up.
Current Status
After several years of casual drinking, I’ve managed to try 35 sakes from 17 different prefectures, covering all 8 regions of Japan. Which means that I’ve already reached 36% of the final target.
To keep track of my progress, I created a simple graphic with all 47 prefectures from North to South.
The green boxes have been achieved, leaving the ones in white to be tracked down one-by-one. I’ve kept a copy on my mobile, for quick and easy reference.
Strategy
In order to be more systematic with my hunt, I’ve tried to identify specific labels for each of the remaining 30 prefectures.
To narrow down the search, I started with the Sake International Association’s list of top sake breweries by prefectures.
For each prefecture, I tried to visually identify the brands or labels I’d seen before, either in a restaurant, bar, retail store or online shop in Singapore.
Since the list of breweries is not exhaustive, I supplemented it with a general Google image search, for example “Aomori sake”.
Below are the 17 prefectures that had familiar labels. For each one, I included a sample bottle and its photo, so that I can spot it easily in the future.
Aomori (青森)
Momokawa (桃川) Junmai (純米)
Akita (秋田)
Yuki No Bosha (雪の茅舎) Junmai Ginjo (純米 吟醸)
Miyagi (宮城)
Ichinokura (一ノ蔵) Sparkling Junmai Sake (スパークリング 純米 酒)
Fukushima (福島)
Daishichi (大七) Minowamon Kimoto Junmai Daiginjo Kimoto (箕輪門 生酛 純米 大吟醸 )
Kanagawa (神奈川)
Izumibashi (泉橋) Kimoto Junmai (きもと 純米)
Ishikawa (石川)
Tengumai (天狗舞) Junmai Daiginjo 50 (純米 大吟醸 50)
Yamanashi (山梨)
Shichiken (七賢) Namanama Junmai (なま生 純米)
Shizuoka (静岡)
Isojiman (磯自慢) Tokubetsu Honjozo Tokusen (特別 本醸造 特撰)
Shiga (滋賀)
Emishiki (笑四季) Sensation White (センセーション白)
Mie (三重)
Jikon (而今) Tokubetsu Junmai (特別 純米)
Wakayama (和歌山)
Kid (紀土) Junmai Daiginjo (純米 大吟醸)
Shimane (島根)
Rihaku (李白) Nigori Tokubetsu Junmai (にごり 特別 純米)
Okayama (岡山)
Sanzen (燦然) Junmai Daiginjo Omachi 50 (純米 大吟醸 雄町 50)
Tokushima (徳島)
Narutotai (鳴門鯛) Ginjo Nama Genshu (吟醸 生 原酒)
Ehime (愛媛)
Ishizuchi (石鎚) Junmai Ginjo Yamadanishiki 50 (純米 吟醸 山田錦 50)
Saga (佐賀)
Nabeshima (鍋島) Tokubetsu Junmai (特別 純米)
Miyazaki (宮崎)
Mio (澪) Sparkling Sake
Remaining Prefectures
There were still 13 prefectures with labels that I didn’t recognise, specifically:
- Saitama (埼玉)
- Chiba (千葉)
- Tōkyō (東京)
- Toyama (富山)
- Gifu (岐阜)
- Ōsaka (大阪)
- Tottori (鳥取)
- Kagawa (香川)
- Nagasaki (長崎)
- Oita (大分)
- Kumamoto (熊本)
- Kagoshima (鹿児島)
- Okinawa (沖縄)
They will be difficult to find in Singapore, so I’ll probably have to leave them for future trips to Japan.
Given the relatively long time it took for me to hit the first 17 prefectures, getting to all 47 is going to take a while. But it will definitely add an interesting element to the sake discovery journey.
