Going to Sake Events and How to Find Them

0:21Welcome back to Sake On Air, the world's first podcast dedicated to sake, shochu and abamori, made possible with the generous support of the Japan Sake and Jojo Makers Association. My name is Cindy Bissick and today we have a full house of hosts here with me. We have Sebastian Lemoy. Hello. Chris Hughes. Hello. And the one and only Frank Walter. That's me. I might be lurking a little bit, but I am here too. Perfect. So we have lots of opinions in the room today and we are, well, I am really excited because we're talking about something that I spent a lot of time doing over the last couple of years.

1:09We're talking about sake events and festivals and which one are worth visiting. I think we decided to go through it from January to December, right? So we can give our listeners a full view of scope of what's happening from spring to December. and there are lots of things happening some seasons seem to have a higher density of events though and I think they are related to like festive mood, the festive mood of Japanese citizens and or constraints of sake breweries, sake gurus yeah absolutely, that's very true it does kind of follow the sake brewery cycle a little bit when they're available, especially if it's an event which features the breweries themselves, because sake events don't always feature the breweries.

2:03And if they are events that require the breweries to be there, then obviously it's got to align with their brewing schedule. So we're going to dive in and we're going to start with January, are we? I think we are. so not all of the all all not all of these events we're actually going to like deep dive into right we're just going to name some of them point our listeners to where they can find more information and then for some of them we're actually going to talk in a bit more detail and generally that's because sebastian myself cindy and frank haven't necessarily attended all these events to be quite honest so we're just going to focus on the ones that we've been to ourselves that we can offer a bit more information, a bit more insight about.

2:52So we've got one event that happens at the end of January. So the first one is an event taking place in Nishinomiya, which is part of the greater Kobe metropolitan area. Nishinomiya is obviously fundamental for sake history and culture. It used to be called Nada, and it still is the largest sake producing region in the world. That event features about 18 breweries as far as I can read from the website, even though I have to admit I did not participate to that event. I think it's an event that is worth going to if you're in the area and you're interested in sake, Because besides the tasting, you can be sure that you will have access to great sake history museums or great museums about sake history, which are opened and managed by some of the large breweries down there.

3:52Yeah, I've been to Hakutsuru's museum, Enkiku Masamune's museum. Those alone are worth the visit. Sure. And Hakushika is as well, and Takashizo is a very interesting one as well. So I mean lots and lots of things to see. And as you walk through the town, you can look for these odds UFOs, but there are signs of a water well, a Miyamizu water well. And so that's one of the rabbit hole themes that we may not have covered yet on sake on air have you ever been able to find that well because i've asked brewers where it is and no no one could point me towards its location you can find the original one and throughout the city you can find the i mean in fenced areas um water wells most definitely and i think what's good to know here as well i mean the area is really massive like this is not your small town sake festival like there's some really big breweries and you will have lots and lots of people all right then moving on to the next event then um is an event which frank and i recently uh checked out and this one is rather an interesting one for sure so it takes place in what is already quite a famous part of Tokyo called Yougoku.

5:28And Yougoku is famous for, of course, sumo. So yeah, we basically, Frank and I, we did this sort of like tour of the area. And then after that, we took part in this event. And the event is called Oden Kanzake Station. and the station uh part of the event name is a massive clue as to where this event takes place because it actually takes place on an abandoned uh train platform inside your unused unused chris it's not like it's not like abandoned sounded more mysterious and cool but all right unused yeah i guess so um it's an unused platform obviously when this event is happening so So they basically use the entire platform for this event.

6:18And you enter from inside the station. And then there are some booths with some brewers serving sake. And then there are some tables and some tatami matted areas, some kotatsu, which are like these tables with a warmer underneath. and you get when you actually enter the event you get given a little tray with a packet of something called oden which is a type of japanese stew slash hot pot and it's actually already kind of like warmed up for you and then you just break open the packet and and tip it into the it all in yeah provided yeah and frank did significantly more drinking than i did because i had to go and i had to go and work later that day it's it's six it's uh six and six breweries so 12 breweries and it's over four days and every day the breweries are different yes so like and you only have two hours so it's it is kind of an in and out thing where you're like there you've got your oden your you've got your little ochoko and your taste you're tasting the various hot sakes that are available which is very nice but you want to talk to the brewer so there's not like a lot of time necessary to like take it easy but it is very fun you can talk to people who are there and you can get tickets for multiple days if you remember to book in advance it has gotten quite popular so you may have to consider yourself lucky for getting one of the days at this point but um yeah i think some some days are slightly less busy yeah that's true no it's a lot of fun but just do be aware that when it gets super busy you can't move about that that easily yeah if you don't like big crowds of people in confined spaces that might be one to move out so yeah i think it's a it's a cool event like you said it's getting more popular and yeah so that's Kan Zake Station.

8:26I certainly had a fun time. As did I yeah. Late January as well there seems to be another event called Fuyumatsuri taking place in Yoyogi very convenient if you visit Meiji Shrine and it seems to be pretty well balanced between food and sake. It's a combination of stores, I mean, it's a series of stores offering delicacies and street food and sake at the same time. And you know that area, actually, where that event takes place, there's always something happening in that area, particularly on weekends. It's kind of Tokyo's equivalent of, yeah, like a big sort of like gathering space where they they i mean it's a huge open space and so they have numerous events throughout the year in tokyo such as the thai food festival the mexican festival the uh chinko de mayo uh festival um and many others and many sake festivals it has to be said that isn't the only one that is held in that space but i think that's one of the main ones indeed yeah um definitely heading over to yoyogi park on the weekends there's always like some sort of food thing and more often than that there is some sort of sake at that food thing happening where the cool kids hang out right yeah yeah so moving on to february uh leaving cold january behind uh it was particularly cold this year and the next event is one that i actually personally i'm not familiar with at all i'm just wondering if any of you are it's called nambu shoko i think nambu shoko is refers to the to the uh website as well but the the the the full name of the event is jojima sakagura biraki and jojima refers to i think a place which is in Kurume.

10:34Kurume is in Kyushu, not far from Fukuoka, and played a very important role in Edo times in particular, because that's the place where rice coming from the various Kyushu hands, Kyushu clans, was accumulating before being shipped to Osaka and in other parts of Japan. So it's not a surprise that you have a number of sake breweries around. And that event features, if I look at the website, 368 local breweries. This one is one of those Kurebiraki events that are fairly common in January, maybe even a little bit of February where either a sake brewers association or a single sake brewery is going to be like hey we finished our first batch of stuff we're going to sell come and have a little party and try some with us it's effectively a sake brewery opened it originally and now they've expanded to include multiple breweries because sometimes one brewery doesn't really have the space inside their facilities to hold this kind of open day.

11:52So what they do is they combine forces with local brewers. And particularly if they're located on a street or an open area, they can kind of convert that into the equivalent of the space that they would usually use. We're actually going to feature maybe one or two other of these style events later in this episode. Yeah, definitely something, though, if you're planning a trip to Japan, like searching Kurabiraki and seeing if any line up with the dates you're going to be here, it'll be a fun thing to add to a trip or just checking out your favorite breweries website they're always listed on there just look at the news section or you could even email them and say when's your do you have a curry baraki and when is it held and again they can be quite popular so you do need to get your tickets in in advance or check their instagram right a lot of them have actually started to advertise these events but you're saying they're quite well the popular ones are often sold out a month in advance.

12:52So if you want to go to some of them next year, you probably want to start looking probably by autumn. Yeah, just check out their last year Instagram and see what was going on. And actually, some of these kurabiraki, you don't even have to worry about transport. They'll actually take you all the way from Tokyo all the way to the brewery. So they can be quite a handy little event to do. Amongst the eight breweries that are represented that the Jojima event, you have two names that are talked about on the sake scene at the moment. One is Wakanami and the other one is Morinokura, which are two brands whose fame has clearly expanded beyond Kyushu and the region and are sought after in Tokyo and around the world.

13:49Yeah, they're exported to a lot of countries. Okay, so moving on in February, and we come back to Tokyo for an event which actually literally happens across the road and in Oeno Park, which is literally on my doorstep. And I have to very embarrassingly say, I never managed to get to this event, but I do believe that what makes this event a little bit different from some of the others is that it's actually run by the sake shops as opposed to sake breweries. So it's very, I think, seldom maybe some of the breweries do actually take part, but it's quite a lot of the time it's just representatives of the sake shops.

14:35And sake shops have played such an important role supporting sake breweries with their clients. and it's the way they present sake to clients and the way they structure the tasting. But even beyond that, sake shops often mature sake themselves and make experiences with the sake that is sold to them by breweries. So sometimes a unique opportunity to taste bottles that you wouldn't find at the brewery or that you wouldn't be able to source from any other place. And KakuFest is Kakuuchi Festival. And Kakuuchi refers to the sake shops where you can taste the products. yeah Ako Uchi literally means tasting from the corner and it actually refers to the corner of the wooden boxes Sake Masu that's that one in Oeno then we move into March and at the beginning of March there is actually probably now I think one of the biggest sake events in Tokyo and it's actually run by a sake brewery And a Saki Brewery that I think many of our listeners will be familiar with because they are exporting quite extensively.

16:05It is, of course, the wonderful kid, Heiwa Shuzo from Wakayama. And it's bad because it's only been maybe three years. Yeah, they started in 2023. Yeah, because I think we went there together the first time it happened. But they've moved the event. So, for example, this year, it's actually going to be held in Tokyo Midtown in something called Canopy Square. I've never actually been to this area, but it's located between Nogizaka Tube Station, Nogizaka Metro Station and Roppongi Metro Station. Oh, that's really interesting. Yeah. Last year it was held in Hibiya in a similar kind of closed off street between restaurants and shops.

16:50and it was quite a difficult space to get around, I thought. Because what I really like about Saki Park was how open it was and easy to kind of walk around. Hopefully, I think maybe they'll be able to go back to a similar kind of open space this year. But what's interesting about this event is that they actually run it via crowdfunding. So originally, it's actually put on a crowdfunding platform called Makuake, which is a mainly Japanese crowdfunding platform and then fans of sake they basically all go and they purchase tickets in advance and that's what basically helps to get the event up and running.

17:31You can of course buy tickets on the day and that's what a lot of people will do I believe this year there will be 30 breweries taking part not all of them are sake breweries there will be some craft sake breweries and maybe shochu as well and And one of the other cool things about this event is that they invite breweries from overseas, or maybe the brewery themselves are not able to actually come to Tokyo and take part, but they provide their sake to showcase at the event. So, for example, last year, Origami, the great, our friend and sake podcast and the Sake On Air member, Justin Potts, who is busy making sake in Arkansas.

18:18The brewery where he's working, Origami Sake, was actually showcased. And Brooklyn Kura as well, which is another famous one in the States. So, yeah, it's a great opportunity to try some sake, which isn't made in Japan. And they have a DJ, they have street food. It's just one big party. Changing region, Niigata. Yes. Let me guess which one you're going to talk about in Niigata. There's only really one everybody talks about. Could it by any chance be... Especially as we're recording this in the early March and the internet just has been exploding with people going there and drinking. and tell us, Sebastian, where are we going?

19:02We're going to Sake no Gin. It's happening right now, right? Yes. It was last weekend. Well, it just finished, basically. Yesterday was the last day, Sunday. It's Saturday and Sunday. The first thing to say is it's mainly, well, not mainly, it's only sake breweries in Niigata. So it's all about showcasing the sake breweries of Niigata. The good news, though, is that Niigata happens to be the prefecture with the most sake breweries in Japan. And when I say most, I mean 90, I think, is the official figure right now. So you've got 90 sake breweries to explore in about two hours. I think each session is about two hours.

19:45And basically, you book a particular session. I think there are about three sessions or two sessions each day. And it's on Saturday and Sunday. A word of warning, the hotel's... basically book up completely well before the event is due to take place. And also, the event itself is basically selling out every year. Yes, that's what happened to me last year, actually. I tried to go and I waited too long before booking my tickets. I've only been once and it was way back in 2014. So probably not the best person to talk about this thing, because I'm sure it's changed a lot. but what I remember is it's just I mean it's a lot of fun but it is pretty chaotic there's a lot of people in this one space and a lot of breweries to get around I mean I would challenge anyone to try and get around all 90 breweries in how many hours two hour slots two hours yeah and bearing in mind that each brewery has maybe four or five different sake that they're showcasing to be honest and this might be a little bit unpopular and I still intend to go because I haven't been but I think the pure size of the event is actually not that attractive to me anymore because I do feel like unless you are you have a super plan on how to navigate the event like you're going to be totally lost like I'd love to actually hear from a couple of people who went this year and see how how many sake they drunk or how many sake they remember from what they have been drinking during the event yeah absolutely you've just got to take a lot of photographs and maybe video as well which you can do in the event but i think what's great about this event is that anyone who's anyone in the sake world will probably be there as long as they could get a ticket so it's a great networking event you'll be able to meet more of the community and a lot of people do come from overseas to attend this event so you'll be able to meet people who are in far countries that you never that's Saki no Jin and moving back from Niigata not back from Niigata, going all the way from Niigata down to the south of Japan, one of my favorite sake brewing places and we go to Saga for the Shikashima Shuzo Surism event Has anyone been to this one?

22:16I have not, but I mean going through it again, I decided that I want to go next time. Me too. Because, I mean, a little bit like the sewer one we're going to talk about later, it's about visiting breweries. It's about visiting breweries' premises. I'm not exactly sure if you can really enter such premises, because I guess because of the crowds, they do not necessarily open their doors. But you had a great chance to go and taste the sake on site. What's a little bit complex about it is you've got different areas around two train stations and of course the producers of the events are trying to help with with shuttles and information about how to get from one point to the other but there are three six eight breweries again with some famous brands like nabeshima for example which you can you can visit so one of my favorite breweries in that area is yano shuzo who makes kuragokoro and they have a very cute little dog as well i think it's run by the sun now.

23:40When I visited it, the sun was still in training, but I think he's now the toji. Great kimoto. And of course, because like for most of these events, it's not about sake only, but it's a matsuri, it's a festival. So you have dancing, parades, and a lot of fun stuff, fun stuff happening around the breweries and a lot of good food but what i will say finally about saga is they've done a lot of work for tourism they're one of the big uh tourism centers now in the sake world so it's um it's definitely quite a prolific event and yeah like you sebastian i really want to try and go to this event yeah and then i think we're we're making our way back up we're still in march but we're moving up to kyoto and to an event that i really love i've been going to this for years even before i moved here because i always thought it was great because it was so accessible because we are looking at an event in fushimi with all the fushimi sake breweries um they're actually doing two events they do one in april and to do another one in november but the april one is the one that's really the one to watch out for because it is the combination of like the sake festivals that we talked about but then also the open sake breweries and with 12 of them will be open and they're literally within walking distance of each other each of them kind of providing their own little festival with their sake they often have like limited things um last year I went to Saito Shuzo, makers of Eikun, and they had a Tsukidama maker in the front.

25:30So you could actually see how these Caesar balls were made fresh, and then you could also purchase them. I was so tempted to purchase one. Come on, Cindy, what were you doing? I'm going back this year, so when you see it, you'll see it. I might have to put an order in. No, really, really interesting, And I love it because it's also quite a young festival. I think sometimes we talk about sake being a bit of the old man's drink. But when you go to these festivals, there's often lots of young people, families. Like it's really a community gathering. It's more than just the sake brands showing up, but it's really them opening their breweries for the communities.

26:10So I always loved being able to meet people, talk to the people behind the stalls. and then you're inevitably making new friends as you keep walking around the breweries together. And it's near the famous shrine, right? Which even if people don't know this area so well. To be honest, like in Fushimi, it's actually, it's not near Matsuno Taisha. It's really downtown Fushimi. So it's very close to Gekekan Museum because it's within the brewery. So I think the close breweries, you might walk 10 minutes from one brewery to another, which is quite nice. And then they have a big festival site, which they actually did move to Kikiikan's second factory because it has a roof.

26:59And we're in March and it's still you never really know what the weather decides to do. So there's the two aspects again. And there is the breweries who provide some limited sake and food and everything and looks into their establishment. And then you have that tasting that then happens at the festival site, which is as so often in Japan. And I don't know how this is actually overseas, but for us, it's so common to have these festival time slots, right? You buy a ticket and Fushimi is hilarious because they say your ticket is from 940 for two hours, you know, and it's literally by the 20 minutes.

27:38And it was like, how do you even enforce this? Yeah, I think maybe a little bit unusual for people who have never been to a sake festival in Japan to be kicked out after two hours of having fun. But it's a really good one to highlight because I think it would be fair to say that most people visiting Japan will go to Kyoto. And it's possible that even if they're on a tour, they have a packed itinerary, they may just have just enough time just to join this festival and it's really not that far from the center of Kyoto is it it's just a local train quite easy to get to and to be honest because of the season right we're just right before cherry blossom so you can actually go get in before it gets too expensive but you still get glimpses of the beauty of nature as you're walking around without the big price tag so it's actually a really good timing for anyone who comes come like early March take away a couple of these festivals you know and then enjoy and you can check out the famous shrine as well exactly okay so another event that we have which actually we're going to talk about the one which happens in like end of March going into April but actually this is an event which is held multiple times in the year it is called Wash U Fest It's washu is basically the Japanese for Japanese liquor.

29:06And fess is a sort of an abbreviation of festival. That's essentially what it is. It's a huge outdoor, normally outdoor festival showcasing Japan's drinks, not just sake, shochu as well, liqueurs. They may even I think they even have some whiskey sometimes as well. And quite a lot of producers take part. I don't know the exact number, but I think in recent events, it's been close to like 40 or 50. They try to rotate the participants around. So there's always someone, there's always a new producer to check out when you attend this event. Very informal, a lot of fun. You make friends. It's the right season.

29:53Like, Sakura is out. I mean, it's, yeah, I mean, you can feel the energy of spring. it's great it's fun and it's not just in Tokyo there's also one in Osaka oh that's a good point

30:10we're not excluding have you been to the one in Osaka? I've been to the one in Osaka because Julian was serving sake once and we all went to see him and hassle him a little bit that's Julian Hausman who we featured on a previous episode who runs a bar in yeah and it was really great because i think the washu fest that is in nakameguro in tokyo can often get a little bit crowded because it is colliding in spring with uh cherry blossom season so i always feel like it i'm a bit claustrophobic walking around although it is beautiful i mean i'm i'm not going to say don't go i say please do but it is probably one of the busiest sake festivals that you'll see because of the season and it's right outside the station so it's already an area right where you see all the the cherry trees where the osaka one is normally at osaka bay tower so it's like a courtyard inside a complex which is shaded but still open because we're in osaka we're not necessarily center center it's also a little bit less frequented so there's a lot more time to kind of have the same style of festival but just a little bit more relaxed you know a little bit more time to talk to the people behind the counters that's washiu fest uh definitely recommend that one and then no sooner have we done with washiu fest uh but around about middle of april uh arguably i think one of the most famous Sake events outside Japan will take place.

31:49It's run by a company called the Craft Sake Company. And it's run by an ex-footballer, Japanese footballer, by the name of Nakata Hidetoshi. You may have heard that name. And he's become a massive fan of sake. He set up this company. Our very own Rebecca Wilson Lai. She has worked for this company. I see a big contrast between Crafts Sake Week and many of the other sake events, where you have very simple booths like tents, cheap tents that are, how do you say, upfolded or just open for a day or two. I mean, the attention to detail in the design, the atmosphere, the booths, the reception area, the food trucks, make it something really special on the event scene.

32:52I mean, there's a slight flick side to the coin. It's not exactly a cheap event to participate to, I have to say. but yeah it's great to go there for one day or two and everything is done so that you come back I was going to say it's probably the Rolls Royce of sake festivals in Japan because it's so high end right it's really towards people who are attracting a new audience to the sake scene and then I think what we haven't mentioned And this is not a one day festivals. We're looking at a 12 day festival where every day a different lineup of breweries comes in with a theme, different restaurants.

33:40So it's kind of on a different level and totally towards a different audience, if you ask me. I completely agree with that. But I think although it's true that it isn't cheap and I do definitely agree with that. I mean, you have to plan a little bit, right? yeah but i think it is important to say that you do you are still to some extent getting some value for money because you know it's a prime location you're in the middle of roppongi which is already you know a very very uh cool location and you get you know that everything from the glassware which you get for the event to the quality of the food that you get at the event and also to some extent the brewers as well you get the sorry the sake that the brewers bring along as well um i think everything is at a very premium level whether it's expensive or not is maybe not for us to judge but it's uh you know it definitely is one of maybe the higher end um events for sure yeah because i remember when rebecca came on the show and actually talked a bit about the behind the scenes of craft sake week i think what struck me and what i didn't realize before is that it's one of the few events where the breweries actually get paid according to what they bring to the festivals, where often a festival would just have like, oh, there's one token for everything.

34:59So it wouldn't insensitize brewers to bring like special items. But Kraft Sake actually pays the brewer by the glass that they're selling. So of course, if they bring us like a$300 bottle, then as a result, the glass of sake from that$300 bottle will also be slightly more expensive. So I think because they're encouraged through that system, many of them do bring very special brews. And then they do come at a higher price. But I do think there is a place for it. And most people love it. I mean, I've seen a couple of sake. I was like, this is going a bit crazy, but it's still a lot of fun. And it pulls in celebrities and it pulls in a wide audience.

35:42I mean, as far as the events, sake events in Tokyo are concerned, I think it pulls in one of the widest audiences. I was also I had a little chat with Nakata-san and I asked him what kind of sake do you want to focus on with this year's event and he said very clearly that we want to try and more than ever we want to try and include sake which is appealing more to as wider audience as we possibly can so we want to have some styles which maybe we normally wouldn't feature. Well from Tokyo back to Kyoto there's another event that a lot of people love and I went there last year I'm not sure if you guys have been it's the sake grand prix it's close to Matsuno Taisha which is obviously a very important sake shrine it's not actually in the shrine because I thought it would be and it wasn't and I was a little bit disappointed by it but it's a fun event where lots of breweries come out and their system is actually that all the people who attend can then vote for their favorite sake and then that wins this year's Grand Prix.

36:53So every year they have a top five and interestingly enough when I've been looking at it last year Matsui Shuso from Kyoto is a big favorite crowd pleaser. They do tend to show up in the top five quite a bit but yeah it's a fun event it's not a token system so you basically just get the glass you get your entrance stick and you get the glass and then you can just try from as many stalls as you want to try and they normally have a stage with some music and a little bit of the program but it's a lot smaller scale but it's it's a very locally locally loved festival. I mean, how far is it from Matsuo Taisha?

37:37Because we always advise our listeners to drink water between sake glasses and it would be a great opportunity to drink sacred water between sake glasses. It would make the whole experience special. It would. I think that would be a great point for the advertisers actually to include that. but no I think you probably would have to do like a 20-25 minutes walk so that in between holy water would come at the price okay you never know maybe there is a point to be made to go visit it before or after although before would definitely probably be my suggestion fill your bottle with holy water and sacred water and just go to the festival then yeah but i also have to say this is one of the festivals where people do get pretty drunk i think there's more civilized festivals and i mean we talked about craft sake week so they might be because the price point where people tend to say like that's my budget and then i kind of stop and i might go to an izakaya or or some other establishment and continue whereas this is a festival where people really enjoy drinking this is the mosh pit of uh it's a bit of the mosh pit yes and uh after that one i think we're still in your neck of the woods right in osaka for what's this called how do you read this it's a sake festival with music oh yes it's the aishu It's another little bit of a wild card.

39:16It's, again, very local, but the... How do I say this? The idea behind this is actually more of a music festival meets sake. So for people who live in Japan, they probably are familiar with ZEP, the music venue where a lot of concerts are held. There's one in Tokyo, there's one in Osaka. There might be actually more in other regions. but these venues are generally famous for having a big stage and then big gigs on. So Aishudito is where a lot of the younger brewers come and join with their booths and they also have part of a stage performance where the brewers participate and in between they have live music acts playing and you have like food stalls and it's a little bit wilder, but it's a lot of fun because people just come there to actually have fun and enjoy.

40:14Some of the brewers are quite musical, aren't they? There's actually quite a lot of brewery presidents or toji who can actually play an instrument or can actually sing or something else. So a lot of them are quite musically talented. Something about music in the sector. No, it's a really fun one. You know, I mean, if you're into gigs and you like music, that's a really great opportunity to kind of kill two birds with one stone. You know, you get some great sake from the people who make it. They do a lot of hot sake as well as part of it. You know, they have like some unusual food pairings, again, more towards a festival crowd.

40:53And then you get to see maybe one or two Japanese. Osaka last year. And it was actually given a different name. And this was to coincide with the expo, which was taking place in Osaka. But it is coming home, back home to Tokyo. And I guess, actually, we don't have to talk so much about this because we do actually have an entire episode dedicated to this event that we've put out in the past. So we could link to that in the show notes. We can say there are two parts or two sides. There is one room where you have a lineup of all the sake that try to get a medal for the Shinshu Kanpyokai. And this is quite unique.

41:43An opportunity to taste 400 different Daiginjos or Junmai Daiginjos is something that is a challenge. And it is a professional tasting, right? So you shouldn't go into this expecting that you can just mill around. For that, you need to go to the more casual sake fair. That's more kind of like an ordinary sake event where you've got foods and you can just go around at your heart's content. This is a professional tasting, and it's quite orderly and quite regimental. And it's done in silence, as far as I remember. But as to train your palette or to try to identify some of the subtle differences between various daggers from a similar region or from different regions, it's unique.

42:46I mean, you can't expect to cover everything. So again, I would agree with Cindy. I would say like Cindy that you need to have a bit of planning. But... It doesn't help. I always run out of time, Sebastian, even though I plan. I try every year. I plan and I somehow end up only doing like 40 % of all the breweries. And I don't even bother with this, you know, tasting that you're talking about, professional tasting. I don't have time for that. I can't even get around all the breweries in the main sake. But to be honest, I think, you know, I think when you go in with the mindset that there is going to be so much sake that you can't try everything.