Just for Fun

Last night, the annual "Sake San José" event was held in the Japantown area of San Jose, California. www.sakesanjose.com An annual event, Sake San José involves various businesses and restaurants in Japantown who host a small table for exclusive sake tasting at their location.

The event was well attended. The bigger turn out this year was noticed by anyone who attended last year and was attributed to beautiful weather and an increase in "word-of-mouth" advertising. Obviously, in the Silicon Valley as in many other parts of the country, "word-of-mouth" has become email between friends, but the increase in popularity does not seem to hinder this well organized tour of Japantown. Aside from a couple host venues that had very narrow passageways through which two way people traffic had to squeeze at times, the long lines actually moved relatively quickly and no one seemed to mind the wait.

The Yu-ai Kai Senior Community Center is the organizer of the event and some of the proceeds go to benefit this center. Ticket purchasers all receive a wrist-band to verify age and a small tote bag containing a participating businesses map with the brands of sake being offered, a pen, and a bottle of water.

The Japan-town area is just slightly north of San Jose State University centered around Jackson Street and 4th to 5th North Streets.

View Larger Map

The Sake San José event is not the ideal way to learn details about sake, because the tasting is a bit too fast paced for tasters to ask many questions. Moreover, the servers of the various styles are volunteers and have widely varying knowledge of the sakes they are pouring. Nevertheless, it is a rare occasion to be able to sample so many different brands and styles of sake in one event. So, a bit of research either before or after the event could enhance the experience and allow neophytes to discover what they like in a sake. Also, there is a storefront that is stocked to sell all of the types of sake offered at the various locations with clerks who have more specific knowledge.