LONDON, May 6, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- On Wednesday 22 May, Japan House
London hosts a sake masterclass with Master of Wine
Kenichi Ohashi, focussing on
the brewing traditions of the Noto Peninsula. The event raises
awareness for the area, badly affected by a major earthquake
earlier this year.
On 1 January 2024, when many
Japanese families were celebrating New Year's Day, a magnitude
7.6 earthquake struck the Noto Peninsula located in Ishikawa
Prefecture in central Japan. The
earthquake, followed by landslides, fires and a tsunami warning,
took the lives of 245 people and left 1191 injured. It also caused
widespread destruction to housing and infrastructure including in
the towns of Wajima and Noto, famous for their lacquerware and
sake-making traditions. This had a devastating effect on many local
businesses, such as renowned lacquer studios and sake breweries.
The road to recovery will likely be long.
This event, jointly organized by Japan House London,
International Wine Challenge and Sake Samurai
Association, brings together some of the best sake experts in
the world and offers visitors the opportunity to taste six brands
of sake from Ishikawa Prefecture, carefully selected by Kenichi
Ohashi MW for this occasion.
The event starts with a short introduction about the impact of
the Noto Peninsula Earthquake on the local sake industry by
the Chairman of Sake Samurai Association, followed by a
masterclass on Noto sake by wine and sake expert Kenichi Ohashi MW.
After the IWC judges and co-chairmen Simon Hofstra and Beau Timken have given the audience a closer
look at the six brands of sake featured in the tasting, all four
speakers sit together to take questions from the audience. The
guided sake tasting will follow the talk event.
Bookings open on 8 May at 12:00.
Notes to Editors
Japan House London
Japan House London is a cultural destination offering guests the
opportunity to experience the best and latest from Japan. Located on London's Kensington
High Street, the experience is an authentic encounter with
Japan, engaging and surprising
even the most knowledgeable guests. Presenting the very best of
Japanese art, design, gastronomy, innovation, and technology, it
deepens the visitor's appreciation of all that Japan has to offer. This year, Japan House
London marks five years of bringing
the best of Japan to the UK and
beyond. Part of a global initiative, there are two other Japan
Houses, one in Los Angeles and the
other in São Paulo.
Sake Samurai Association
The Sake Samurai Association was established in 2005 as a junior
council for the Japan Sake Brewers Association to protect sake and
brewing traditions in Japan and to
promote them internationally. It has greatly contributed to the
increased popularity of sake and Japanese cuisine overseas. Since
2006, the Association has been awarding the 'Sake Samurai' title to
individuals for their outstanding contribution to the
understanding, appreciation or promotion of sake.
Kenichi Ohashi (Ken) MW
Kenichi Ohashi (Ken) MW is the only
person in the world to hold both prestigious titles of Master of
Sake and Master of Wine. He is a leading Japanese wine and
sake distributor in Tokyo with
many industry accolades. Awarded Best Wine Merchant 1999 by Japan
Sommelier Association he is recognized for his extensive
knowledge of the subject both in Japan and internationally. He is the author of
Natural Wine and an online columnist of Japan's top wine publication Wine Report. He
holds a Diploma from Wine & Spirit Education Trust in
London. Ohashi has also been
awarded many prestigious awards, including Personality of the Year
2016 by the IWC. He has also been certified as a Master of Sake
(SSI) and Sake Expert Assessor (NRIB).
Beau Timken
Author (Sake – A Modern Guide), certified kikisakeshi
(sake sommelier), educator, and Co-Chairman of the IWC,
Beau Timken is considered a pioneer
in the field of international sake promotion. He opened the first
dedicated sake store outside Japan
in 2002 in San Francisco. He was
selected as the first Sake Samurai by the Japanese Sake Brewer's
Association. He also founded the largest and longest standing sake
tasting event known as SAKE DAY (Nihonshu No Hi) which is
celebrating its 19th anniversary this year. Timken issues a monthly
newsletter (www.truesake.com) with 56,000 subscribers which he has
been writing consecutively for the past 19 years.
Simon Hofstra
Simon Hofstra is the owner of Taste
of Sake, a company specializing in the consulting, importing,
distribution and education of sake. He was one of the first
non-Japanese sake enthusiasts in Europe who started to popularize and
distribute Japanese sake. Hofstra was awarded the prestigious
Sake Samurai title in 2009 and won the Sake Contribution Award in
2008. He is a Co-Chairman of the IWC and an educator for the
Wine & Spirit Education Trust Award in Sake.
International Wine Challenge
The International Wine Challenge (IWC) is the world's most
rigorously judged wine competition, hosting its annual awards in
London. IWC sake judging was
introduced as a key component in 2007 and has since grown to become
the biggest sake competition outside Japan.
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