Tokyo Jizake Strolling (Year-end sales event)
2024-03-13

By Ryuji Takahashi
 
Three sake breweries were invited to organize the 2023 year-end sales event at Kanemasu Brewery (Shibata city, Niigata prefecture). Thursday, December 28 felt like a half-day workday, yet many visitors arrived to purchase nigori sake “Hatsuyuki,” a popular nigori sake of this brewery. Some customers purchased sake in bulk since Kanemasu Brewery offers few bottled sake products. The sake products featured by Kanemasu Brewery were Junmai Daiginjo “Hatsuhana,” stored at freezing temperatures for two years; and “Kanemasu 36-year-old sake.”      
The container of “Kanemasu 36-year-old sake,” aged for thirty-six years since 1986, is eye-catching. The 360 ml titanium custom-made double wall tumbler was made by the renowned Horie Titanium Co., based in the Tsubame-Sanjo area. After the aged sake is finished, the uneven interior of the tumbler ensures silky froth beer foam. The 360 ml aged sake is priced at approximately 40000 JPY. Explaining the value of this aged sake to customers was very challenging.   
The sales event on December 29 featured “Nagatorogura” by Hakuro Brewery (Nagaoka city, Niigata prefecture) and new sake by both the Hakuro Brewery and Fujisaki Sobe Shoten (Nagatoro city, Saitama prefecture) of the same group. Hakuro Brewery featured their new sake, Junmai-Daiginjo Nigori Sake, and “Sanzui Junmai-Daiginjo Non-filtered Unprocessed Sake,” bottled in low volumes. New sake by Nagatorogura is unprocessed, non-filtered Junmai Ginjo sake with a flavor like fresh green apple juice. Customers came out in droves to the shopping district this day after completing their work for the year to prepare for New Year’s eve and New Year’s day. Many customers purchased fresh sake available only this time of the year. 
Nihonsakari was featured the next day, soon to become a classic sake featured during the sales event on December 30. The special set packaged in the Jinkichi bag (handbag made of durable canvas fabric used to transport sake from the sake shop) consisted of the Ginjo with gold leaf, Daiginjo with gold leaf, and “Souhana Junmai Ginjo,” also used when the Emperor ascended the throne, all products that suit the New Year ambiance. Sales personnel at Nihonsakari taught me the basics of selling sake before my shop opened. For the first time in over a decade, we teamed up so I could learn how to sell sake from a seller of a national sake brand, which is different from how local sake is sold. 
On the final day of New Year’s eve on December 31, two part-time workers were invited to sell out the rest of the inventory of the year. High-end sake sold out in no time, along with various new sake and New Year’s sake products that all sold out and concluded the year by 21:00. 
It is truly unusual to see this much sake sold at other times of the year. The phenomenon of high sake sales raises the question if domestic sake consumption is declining in Japan. If sake sales of this volume are consistent year-round, it would be safe to say the Japanese sake industry has a bright future ahead. 

*Jinkichi bag: handbag made of durable canvas fabric used to transport sake from the sake shop  
 
 
東京地酒散歩(年末販売会)
 年末の販売会が2023年も3蔵招いて開催された。トップバッターは新潟県新発田市の金升酒造。28日というまだ半分ウイークデーの感覚だったが、この酒蔵人気のにごり酒「初雪」を求めた来店者が多く、酒蔵としても瓶詰めがあまり多くない商品ということもあって、まとめ買いをする人もいた。そして目玉は氷温弐年貯蔵の純米大吟醸「初花」と「金升参拾六年古酒」である。この1986年に仕込まれた古酒もさながら、この酒が入っている容器が素晴らしい。チタン製造で有名な燕三条のホリエ製で、高保冷2重構造、完全特注品の360mlタンブラーに入っている。古酒を飲み切った後もビアタンブラーなどとしても楽しめる様になっており、内部に多少の凹凸がある為、きめ細やかで滑らかな泡立ちのビールを楽しむことが出来るのだ。360mlで約4万円。この価値をお客様に伝えるのは非常に難しかった。29日は新潟県長岡市の柏露酒造と同グループの埼玉県長瀞の藤崎摠兵衛商店「長瀞蔵」の販売会。この販売会の目玉はやはり新酒である。柏露酒造は定番柏露の新酒と純米大吟醸のにごり酒、
少しだけ瓶詰めされる「さんずい純米大吟醸無濾過生原酒直汲み」である。そして長瀞蔵の新酒も、まるで青リンゴ果汁を飲んでいる様な純米吟醸の無濾過生原酒。もうこの日は、仕事納め後の大晦日や正月に向けたお買い物客が多く商店街に出ており、この時期だけのフレッシュな酒を求めた人達が多く訪れた。
翌日は、30日の販売会の定番となりつつある日本盛。金箔入り吟醸酒、金箔入り大吟醸180mlを2本甚吉袋*に入れた特別セット、
天皇陛下即位の際にも使われた「惣花純米吟醸」などお正月の雰囲気にピッタリな商品を並べた。日本盛の営業マンは当店が出来る前に酒の売り方の基本を教えてくれた人であり、十数年振りに、タッグを組ませてもらい地酒の販売とは違う、ナショナルブランドならではの酒販売方法を学ばせてもらった。最終31日大晦日は、アルバイトの売り子さんを2名招いて、年内最後の売り尽くし。高級酒があっという間に売り切れ、各新酒も売り切れが続出し21時の時点では新酒やお正月商品が全て無くなり、年内最後の営業を終えた。
本当に年末だけは異常なくらいに日本酒が売れていく。本当に国内消費量が年々下がっているとは思えない現象が起こるのだが、これが通年の出来事であるならば、まだまだ日本酒の世界には未来があると言えるのだが。
*甚吉袋: 酒屋からお酒を運ぶ時に使われていた丈夫な帆布生地でできている手提げ