5 Things You Didn't Know You Should Avoid When Drinking Saké

“Things to keep in mind, not only to be polite to others but also for you to enjoy its best state”

Drinking Japanese saké might be one of the things you are most excited about experiencing when you visit Japan. Japanese Saké or “日本酒 nihon-shu” in Japanese, is Japan’s original alcoholic drink that is made from its carefully cultivated rice, delicious water, and the techniques that have
a history of over 1,000 years (or even more)! Surely enjoying Japanese saké is a great way to feel the culture, history, and the beautiful nature of Japan.

...However, because it has such a long history, there are some rules that you should follow in order to look more polite when you drink saké, and enjoy it in its best state.

So today, I would like to introduce the 5 taboos when enjoying saké! However, all 5 of these rules are just a way to care for others who will be drinking with you, and they are not mandatory. A lot of Japanese people don't know them and make mistakes, and that's why it's taught in Japan too.

My wish is that more people can relax and enjoy the culture, without being worried about being rude.

[Time codes]
0:00 Let's START!
1:49 1. Pouring saké with your palm up
3:38 2. Not holding the cup when someone is pouring saké for you
5:04 3. Pouring until the cup is full
7:25 4. Adding saké in one tokkuri to another
8:31 5. Shaking and Peeking into the tokkuri
9:36 Today's conclusion

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I’m Shogo, a Kyoto born & Hiroshima raised Japanese, that grew up in Michigan USA for 6 years, and studied Mandarin in Beijing university for a year! I live in Kyoto now, as I train in Iaido(katana), Sado(tea ceremony), and Noh theatre(traditional stage art).

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#japanesesake #howtodrinksake #hotsake #nihonshu #ricewine

[myrddrral]

"However, there are some rules you should follow..."
Everything in Japan in a nutshell. 😀

[keiichi]

My grandma left Japan in the 60s and I never got the privilege of learning too much about our heritage. So I am quite thankful I found your channel

[rich]

For those who haven't tried really hot sake, I can thoroughly recommend it. It really is a very different experience to other alcoholic beverages, and an especially lovely feeling when eating spicy food.
About number 4 and 5, my solution is when the second bottle comes on the table is to offer from the new bottle to the others, and simply emptying the rest of the first bottle to my own cup.
Another tip, which may not be proper etiquette, is that in some restaurants in Europe the sake bottle is often heated in a water bath placed on your table. In these cases the bottle can be quite slippery. Sometimes there is a paper bow tied near the neck of the bottle, and it's easier to grip there to prevent dropping the bottle.

[peko]

One of things I missed visiting Japan, tasting different kinds of nihonshu. Tasted a good one in Yamagata Station restaurant, even took a picture of the bottle, but couldn't find it in the store nearby. Went to a sake festival in Kobe one time and had a good time tasting different ones. It's really too bad I couldn't read the labels.

[shaymadethis]

I love how eloquently spoken you are in all your videos! It seems like you always conduct yourself with a level of professionalism and it really shows in the quality of your videos so please keep making this amazing content!

[LetsaskShogo]

Drinking saké and pouring saké to each other is considered a very important form of communication in Japan, and I really hope you can try it out when you visit Japan!

I named this video “5 taboos of drinking saké, ” but in a way it could be said “5 ways to fully enjoy saké” too!

・

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In this channel, you can take a closer look at Japanese traditional culture, tips upon traveling to Kyoto, and social problems in Japan.
So learners and lovers of Japanese language and culture, be sure to subscribe to enjoy more content!

Please check out the description box for more videos recommended for you!

▼Join our Membership▼

●Membership benefits
-Limited behind-the-scene videos
-Weekly live stream
-Priority reply to comments

Every single yen we earn from this membership, we will be donating to groups of people who are fighting to solve social problems in Japan, the Japanese schools where foreign students can study, or use it to spread the works of people working with traditional culture in Japan to preserve the arts they are doing.

▼Sub channel “Shogo’s Podcast”▼

The perfect channel to learn about Japanese culture and history in your spare time, during your walk to school or work, and when you are cooking or doing house chores.

Not only will I be covering the topics in this main channel, but also some topics that you will only be able to enjoy in the sub-channel, like answering questions I receive, and my opinions towards some of the comments.

Thank you again very much for watching!

[nicolasheung]

Turn the tokkuri when finished pouring to keep the sake from dripping onto the
Now that is a life hack I wish I learned earlier. That homebrew ginger vodka was good, after all.

[Serenity_Dee]

I remember my early 20's, when I could go out with my friends and drink like a fish.

Well. I *mostly* remember 😅

[pizzagogo]

I’m so glad you included the overfilling example...when this happened to me at first I wondered if maybe it was an insult or something?! Given the chef seemed very friendly & welcoming to gaijin, I figured that wasn’t the case...then I was worried about how I was supposed to drink it out of the box (without doing something incorrect!). Thanks!

[stevemolina]

Many thanks for explaining the Masu, I was once at a small restaurant and it was the first time my Sake came in the Masu. I was totally confused as to how to handle this, finally the server noticed my confusion and whispered a few hints on how to drink the Sake this way, But he didn't explain why. Thank you!

[DarthRane]

Sake is hands down one of the smoothest alcohols to drink also it tastes wonderful warm

[sugashak]

Thank you for taking the time to share your culture with us and the world. We need more sharing and less hate!

[meto]

Very intriguing to see how many common points there are with the drinking culture in my country. Thank you for the video, Shogo!

[dragoncatoverload]

“The label has to be upward”
*flashes back to that scene in Aggretsuko”

[cheshirekat]

Holding the cup is the opposite of the rule in Occident when asking someone to refill your glass of alcohol. In Occident, you're supposed to leave your glass on the table and not touch it until the person pouring the alcohol is finished.
1) It's for stability. When 2 people are lifting the containers (glass and bottle), it moves around a lot and increases the chances of spillage;
2) There's an element of culture as pouring someone a drink is a bit of a "show" and you're supposed to let the "server" make the ceremonial display of their wine-pouring skills;
3) It's somewhat vulgar. Holding your glass as it's being refilled can be interpreted as a sign of alcoholism. It's as if you can't wait to drink, so you can't let go of your glass.

... There are exceptions, of course, like when the table is too full and there's no place to pour... or when you're at a party and everyone is standing up.

As for the person pouring the alcohol, it's mostly the same rules... Except for the 1-hand; palm up display. In Occident, that's the way that the "sommelier" (wine stewart/expert) would pour the wine. It takes a lot of skills to do it right, so most people don't do it (you kinda look like an idiot if you spill wine everywhere and you're probably going to drop the bottle).

[donkeysaurusrex]

This is a cool and useful topic that I never would have thought to ask for. Thanks Shogo!

[BleachDemon]

You know what I love? How considerate Japanese culture is not only to the self, but of others as well. It's, imo, one of the best things 🙂

[FonzieKree]

I am interested in drinking and dining cultures... But after watching this I binged 4hrs of your content. You are my new content

[soconeytembara]

Really kind and usefull things to notice! Its a nice way to communicate, it's polite and respectful if you know what to do! :D

[BruderSenf]

yes! the overfilling of the glas into the "masu" really got me.i though it was somthing like an a ancient japanese life lesson/philosophy...like some equivalent to lao tzus "a bowl is most useful when it is empty"...so it took me a while, my host found it hilarious XD it was a one of my best evenings ever thank you japan