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Sake Deep Dive · Feb 28, 2025 · 1 hr 1 min

Sake Bars - Drinking in Japan

This time, Andy and Jim take things a little easy with a little guide to drinking in Japan. From hidden neighborhood izakaya to trendy Tokyo sake bars, they ease the way into finding and enjoying a tipple on your next trip to Japan. Vocabulary Izakaya 居酒屋 - An eating and drinking spot, meaning literally “shop to be with liquor.” The baseline for drinking in Japan. Kaku uchi 角打ち - A type of liquor store that doubles as a place to drink in the evening. Standing only, and some simple snacks are often available. Mokkiri もっきり - a rather ostentatious way of serving nihonshu by putting a glass into a masu then pouring until the glass overflows. Otoshi お通し - a small dish served on sitting down at an izakaya or some bars, without being ordered. It is a paid dish and essentially doubles as a table charge. Otsumami お摘み - The general word for nibbles or snacks, often associated with drinking. Sakana 肴 - The traditional word for food served along drinks. Note that the pronunciation is the same as “fish” but the character is different. Tachinomi 立ち飲み - A standing bar. Different from kaku uchi in that it is ONLY a bar, without the liquor store function.   Recommendations: Andy - Kaifork 解放区 in Okayama City Jim - Hularito in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture Don’t forget to support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/SakeDeepDive Also, check out Andy’s website at: https://www.originsake.com/ And buy Jim’s book, Discovering Yamaguchi Sake wherever you order your books (print and ebook available)! Our theme music is from Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions Under a Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg

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show notes

This time, Andy and Jim take things a little easy with a little guide to drinking in Japan. From hidden neighborhood izakaya to trendy Tokyo sake bars, they ease the way into finding and enjoying a tipple on your next trip to Japan. 

Vocabulary

Izakaya 居酒屋 - An eating and drinking spot, meaning literally “shop to be with liquor.” The baseline for drinking in Japan.

Kaku uchi 角打ち - A type of liquor store that doubles as a place to drink in the evening. Standing only, and some simple snacks are often available.

Mokkiri もっきり - a rather ostentatious way of serving nihonshu by putting a glass into a masu then pouring until the glass overflows.

Otoshi お通し - a small dish served on sitting down at an izakaya or some bars, without being ordered. It is a paid dish and essentially doubles as a table charge.

Otsumami お摘み - The general word for nibbles or snacks, often associated with drinking.

Sakana 肴 - The traditional word for food served along drinks. Note that the pronunciation is the same as “fish” but the character is different.

Tachinomi 立ち飲み - A standing bar. Different from kaku uchi in that it is ONLY a bar, without the liquor store function.

 

Recommendations:

Andy - Kaifork 解放区 in Okayama City

Jim - Hularito in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture

Don’t forget to support us on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/SakeDeepDive 

Also, check out Andy’s website at: https://www.originsake.com/ 

And buy Jim’s book, Discovering Yamaguchi Sake wherever you order your books (print and ebook available)!

Our theme music is from 

Lotus Lane by The Loyalist - Preconceived Notions Available at https://soundcloud.com/preconceived-notions

Under a  Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0

Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/lotus-lane

Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/1YVHRMVwwHg 


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