A Record of a Glass | Episode 65: Okumori Junmai Nakadori Mujo-sei (Higashimurayama, Tokyo)

Tracing the land through a single glass of sake.

Higashimurayama, Tokyo.
A town where the traces of the Musashino landscape still remain.

Fields and forests stretch out,
and the sky is unexpectedly vast.

Toshimaya Shuzo, the brewery that crafts Okumori,
was born in Kanda, Edo, during the Keicho era.

The city has changed from Edo to Tokyo.

Yet, the will to carry on the noren curtain
still pulses here today,
warm and vibrant.

The chic of Edo, with a modern sensibility.

Facing the rice and water,
they refine the sake.

A history spanning over four hundred years
exists not to grow old,
but to brew this vivid glass.

Now, to the main point.

The aroma is bright.
Like a fully ripened melon,
a soft hint of fruit.

When you take a sip,
the lively gas fizzes softly.

It is fresh.

A juicy sweetness
suddenly paints over the palate.

It is light.
Yet, immediately,
a dense umami follows.

The sweetness and umami
overlap intensely,
and a pleasant acidity vividly outlines their contours.

It is flamboyant,
but the flow remains unbroken.

The finish is soft.
Leaving behind the satisfaction of having bitten into a high-quality fruit,
it quietly unravels.

—Yeah, this is good.

Tokyo isn't so bad either.

I record this glass here
as that very "vibrant umami."