Drinking Japan. Chris Bunting
and has a display of sake bottles.
Kaasan かあさん 03-3344-0888 www.kasan.jp
4F Nishi-Shinjuku Kokusai dōri Biru, 1-16-4 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tōkyō
東京都新宿区西新宿 1-16-4 西新宿国際通ビル 4F
Open: Weekdays 4 pm–12 pm; Saturday 4 pm–11 pm (varies between branches); many branches closed Sundays
Credit cards? Most major cards English menu? No Table charge: 400 yen (some branches cheaper)
Kaasan means “mom” and they take their name seriously at this cheap and cheerful izakaya. It seems (how can I put this and avoid death by rolling pin?) that only women of a “certain maturity” work there. “There is no actual rule on the age,” insisted Kōtarō Nanaumi of head office. “I think it is because of the shop’s name. We just get a lot of women of that sort of age applying.” Kaasan started off in Kawasaki city in 1988, but there are now more than 20 of these unpretentious, Formica-topped establishments dotted around the Tōkyō area. Kaasan’s eponymous “mom” seems to be an indulgent sort. She maintains a first-class sake list for her family. There were 40 or 50 sakes available at the Nishi-Shinjuku branch I visited (and 22 shōchū). Try the fragrant “Uragasanryū Kōka” sake (裏雅 山流香華, 700 yen) with the mochimochi pizza (720 yen) or the nikujaga (pork and potato, 580 yen). “Uraga-sanryū Kōka” sake is made by Shindō Shuzō, a long-established kura in Yamagata prefecture, using the famous Miyama Nishiki sake rice, a speciality of the region (see page 38). It is a honjōzō sake, meaning that a small amount of distilled alcohol is added during the brewing. The technique often lightens the taste and brings out flavors and aromas from the moromi. See what you think. Kaasan also recommend the “Denshu” sake (田酒, 800 yen, see page 52).
DIRECTIONS: Kaasan has branches across Tōkyō. For the Nishi Shinjuku branch: Shinjuku JR Station, south entrance. Turn right and follow the yellow signs to the “Skyscraper district” and “Tōkyō Metropolitan Government Office” until you get to an exit pointing you down the stairs to your left. Instead, walk straight ahead. You want to go straight up the alley beside the KFC restaurant that is immediately ahead of you across the large road. Pass Gaia Pachinko on your right. It is on the fourth floor above Ringer Hut.
Kōjimachi Japontei 麹町じゃぽん亭 03-3263-3642
2F Kei Biru, 3-4-7 Kōjimachi, Chiyoda ku
千代田区麹町 3-4-7 啓ビル 2F
Open: Weekdays 5.30 pm–12.30 am (last food orders 11 pm); closed Saturday, Sunday and national holidays
Booking recommended? Yes Credit cards? Most major cards
English menu? No Table charge: 400 yen (varies slightly with the otōshi dish served)
Kōjimachi, the name of this part of Tōkyō, literally means “mold town” and uses the same kanji character as the kōji mold used in sake making. One theory has it that this used to be the base for Edo’s kōji makers. Although booze making has long since been displaced by diplomatic wrangling in what is now a major embassy district, Japontei is doing its best to live up to the district’s alcoholic billing with a superb selection of 40 jizake. The staff are knowledgeable without being intimidating and, while not English speakers, are quite used to dealing with foreigners: they attract a lot of custom from dipsomanic diplomats, it seems. They specialize in “Jū Yon Dai” (十四代, see page 53) from Takagi Shuzō and their refrigerators normally have at least 15 different bottlings of the famed brand. When I visited they had a very rare “Ryūgetsu” bottling for 3,000 yen a glass. I am afraid I have no idea what it tastes like because it was well beyond my pocket, but it is a measure of the relative cheapness of sake in Japan that they were incredulous when I told them that wines in some Tōkyō bars could reach 10,000 yen and whiskies more than 90,000 yen (see page 180). A selection of three types of sashimi (sashimi moriawase) will set you back 1,500 yen. More adventurous types might want to try out the ultimate Japanese drinking snack: chinmi (pickled unidentifiable seafood bits, 500 yen).
DIRECTIONS: Kōjimachi Station (Yūrakuchō Line), Exit 3. Turn left around the coffee shop, left up the road and it is the next entrance on your left.
Komahachi 駒八 03-3453-2530 www.komahachi.com
Sake annex: 1-2F Ishii biru, 5-16-14 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tōkyō 108-0014
[Main restaurant: 1F Hashimoto Biru 5-16-1 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tōkyō108-0014]
〒 108-0014 東京都港区芝 5-16-14 石井ビル 1 ～ 2F [Main restaurant: 〒 108-0014 東京都港区芝 5-16-1 橋本ビル 1F
Open: 5 pm–1 pm; closed Sunday and national holidays
Booking recommended? No Credit cards? Most major cards English menu? No Table charge: 300 yen
Komahachi is a chain izakaya with a commitment to proper sake. The first restaurant was opened in Shiba in 1975 and there are now 20 stores across the Tōkyō area. It is the Bekkan (annex), just round the corner from the original restaurant, that you should seek out if you are interested in sake. Most of the branches offer at least 10 good sakes, but the annex has a choice of about 50. Despite the scale of Komahachi’s operation, they are strong on small kura sake. They had “Houou Biden” (鳳凰美田, 800 yen) on the menu when I visited in 2008. The makers, Kobayashi Shuzō in Tochigi prefecture, operate on a very small scale and have come up with what must be the ultimate manufacturer’s ruse: they actually get their consumers to pay to help them make the sake. Twice a year, at rice planting time, they invite people from all over Japan to come to Tochigi for a “rice planting festival.” By all accounts, it is a fun occasion and the payment probably barely covers the cost of the free sake that is laid on in the evenings after hard days spent hand planting rice. They do the same at harvest time. Houou Biden is not heat-treated at bottling (namazume, see page 41) and has a pronounced floral, slightly melony aroma with a soft, mild taste. All of Komahachi’s sake is priced between 700 and 900 yen. The food is generally reasonably priced too. The gyū motsu nabe (beef off al nabe, 980 yen for one person) and kabocha āmondo age (pumpkin and almond fry, 580 yen) are favorites with the salarymen who make up much of Komahachi’s clientele.
DIRECTIONS: Mita Station (Toei Mita and Asakusa Lines), Exit A3. Turn left away from the larger road and left again. Turn right at the T-junction and take the third road on the right. The main izakaya is immediately after the slight kink in the road, about 60 yards after you turn. The annex, which specializes in sake, is a few paces down the road to the right, just before the kink.
Kushikoma 串駒 03-3917-6657 www.kushikoma.com
1-33-25 Kita Ōtsuka, Toshima ku, Tōkyō
東京都豊島区北大塚 1-33-25
Open: 6 pm–12 pm; closed Sunday Booking recommended? Yes Credit cards? Most major cards