Season and Sake- Seasonal Sake;Fall – Winter

Yukimizake. To praise the beautiful moon, people exchange sake cups, and when gazing upon a beautiful snowy landscape, they reach out for kanzake (warmed sake). People make an excuse to drink sake, which hasn’t changed since the old days.

September

Kikuzake (literally, chrysanthemum sake) or tsukimizake. Chrysanthemum petals are soaked in sake to wish for a long life for the Choyo-no-sekku (the 9th day of the 9th lunar month). In the sake world, the sake hiyaoroshi represents the season of fall. Choyo-no-sekku on the lunar calendar is early October for the solar calendar. Once the air gets cool, sake is shipped; however, this tends to be earlier than before. Though still on hot days, hiyaoroshi will be on the market.

October

October 1 is known as National Sake Day. Let’s make a toast with sake. In Japan, the month of October is called Kannazuki, literally the month when there are no gods. Gods throughout Japan gather at the Izumo Shrine for their annual meeting, then enjoy a big banquet in front of the Saka Shrine and when done go back to their home area.

November

We hear the voice of new sake. The first-run, non-pressed sake is called arabashiri, and nowadays in many cases, arabashiri also means the year-beginning sake.

December

Yukimizake. In this busy month, people yearn for warmed sake. How about enjoying sake on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day?

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