What’s the most delicious way you can contribute to Japan’s recovery from the triple whammy of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis?
Drink sake. Japanese sake, of course, but that’s where all the good stuff is from.
Japan’s sake industry is a national treasure; one of its most traditional and unique industries. But while the quality is as high as ever, financially the Japanese sake industry has been in decline for a while as most Japanese drinkers choose beer, shochu and increasingly wine.
(Originally posted by W. Blake Gray in Palate Press: The online wine magazine.)
Many breweries are in old buildings and even those far from the epicenter suffered some damage in the earthquake. It’s never easy for small, artisanal companies to raise capital that they might need for repairs, but a surge in orders for the product will help with any bank needs they might have.
Beyond the purely practical, Japanese people can use a gesture of support. Right now the American government is heavily criticizing and questioning Japan, with good reason, over its handling of its nuclear plants. Our leaders are absolutely right to do this. But let’s not make that our only message to the Japanese people, who are beaten up emotionally by this ongoing trauma.
The idea is really simple. On Friday, just buy a bottle of Japanese sake, any brand, and drink it. Tweet about it with the hashtag #drinksaketonight. Or don’t tweet. Just buy the sake. You’ll keep brewers and exporters employed. You’ll lift spirits in more ways than one.
It’s not much, I admit. Drinking a bottle of sake on Friday won’t cool fuel rods or rebuild crushed homes or find missing people. But it will help, even if only a little, and it’s really not much to ask.
So Drink Sake Tonight on Friday, March 25. It’s the easiest, tastiest Japan benefit around. Kampai!
For a bit more sake, you can see:
Taking Sake Seriously
Eating the Demons Away
Sake Does Not Get Into Fights With Food