Liquor Shops Carrying Tokyo Sake (1)

I am collecting information about liquor shops carrying Tokyo sake. Recently, I visited the liquor corners in Isetan and Takashimaya department stores in Tachikawa City. Both shops have quite good selections of Tokyo sake.

First, I visited the liquor corner in Isetan and found Kitaoka Honten, a sake brewery from Nara Prefecture, offering sample tasting and selling their products there. I tried some products of them. Among the sakes I tasted, "Yatagarasu Junmaiginjo Kameno-o Shikomi, one of their sake products, had been brewed from sake rice Kame-no-o and had a rich taste. I love such a type of sake. By the way, this liquor corner is carrying Tokyo sake from three breweries. They are Kasen, Tamajiman, and Sawanoi.

-- Sake corner in Tachikawa Isetan --


In the Takashimaya liquor corner, they had Sawanoi Daiginjo "Kaguya," a Tachikawa Takashimaya original merchandise item. In addition, there are some Takashimaya original items such as the box containing five 300-ml bottles of Kasen, Tamajiman, Sawanoi, Chiyozuru, and Kinkon.

-- Sawanoi Daiginjo Kaguya and Tokyo sake corner in Tachikawa Takashimaya --


On my way home after leaving Tachikawa, I also visited Nagatsuka Shoten close to JR Akishima Station. I am sure this shop is careful in handling their goods, because they were keeping sake and wine in a dark room to protect them from light. They have good selections of sake including Hiroki, Kubota, Hakkaisan, Oroku, etc. In addition, they carry unique products from Asahi Shuzo in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture, including the Esshu series (brewed from Senshuraku, a rare rice variety), Senbatsu Asahiyama (brewed from Koshitanrei, a new-face rice variety of Niigata), and Tokugetsu (using rice polished down to 28% of the original weight!). I didn't intend to buy something in this shop, but San-no-Esshu was attractive and I bought one 720-ml bottle of it. Oops, I almost failed to mention about Tokyo sake sold in this shop. Of course, they sell Tokyo sake. They have separate racks for Tokyo sake, in which many types of products of Chiyozuru, Kasen, Tamajiman, and Sawanoi are placed.

-- Exterior of Nagatsuka Shoten and its Tokyo sake corner --


Today's Sake
Tokubetsujunmai San no Esshu (Asahi Shuzo)
This sake is brewed from the rice variety named Senshuraku. It has favorable fragrance and tastes dry and flinty, exhibiting modest impression on the whole. This may be drunk casually with any food.

Seimaibuai: 55%

Alcohol: 14-15%

Tokyo Sake Map
To locate sake breweries in Tokyo, see Breweries in Tokyo