A business trip to Edo at the start of the year

With the matsu-no-uchi (New Year period) over, my first work of 2023 begins with hope — I'm off on a business trip on the "Nozomi."

I came to Edo (Tokyo) for market research.

The high-end specialty supermarket "Grand Food Hall" in Roppongi Hills

abbreviated "Guraho" — I felt every bit the Roppongi Hills set (laughs).

Grand Food Hall's policy is to carry only one item per category.

Led by president Mr. Iwaki, five buyers taste-test ingredients from all over Japan and sell only the finest gourmet items they're convinced are the "most delicious in Japan," in safety and peace of mind. It's a shop full of charm that discovers dying makers whose excellent products weren't selling and makes them breakout hits one after another.

I felt firsthand a sales floor that treasures the feelings of the producers.

In the evening, a dinner at a French restaurant.

It's French, so wine??

No, no — they had properly prepared sake to match the meal!

An impressive selection, as expected.

The photos turned out a bit fan-girly...

But this is also part of the learning, so please forgive me.

The next day, at a sake bar with the concept that "comparing and drinking sake is an experiment,"

the aptly named "Osake no Jikkensho" ("Sake Laboratory") — I studied there.

From about 150 breweries, they stock mainly limited-release sake put out each season by breweries rated highly by customers. It's sold by weight in four sizes — 30g, 60g, 90g, and 120g (warm sake starts from 60g, apparently).

Sake lovers, doesn't that get you excited?

This time I took on a tasting set of seven varieties of the "Meguri Ginjo" series, brewed from Akita Komachi rice grown in Akita Prefecture!

Each has its own aroma and flavor — so interesting!

That was fun ♪

"You just went all the way to Edo to drink, didn't you???"

I can already hear that criticism coming...

but I did also have an export-related meeting.

Precisely because we could talk face-to-face on site, communication went more smoothly and became a stronger relationship of trust.

We live in an age of convenient tools like online meetings, but as the saying "sitting knee to knee" suggests, it's important to meet in person and talk face to face!

I was reminded of that anew ♫

I'll keep working hard so that I can meet many more people this year.