130 Years of Experience at Taguchi-ya
Published: November 9, 2017
The Morishita area of Koto-ku still retains something of the atmosphere of old Edo. Strolling along a tree-lined avenue just off Kiyosumi-dori Street, one’s eyes are drawn to a rather distinctive, detached building with the look of old Tokyo. Is it a restaurant or a shop? What is it?
It’s Taguchi-ya, the venerable sakaya (liquor store) that has been catering to the local people since its foundation in 1887. Neither natural disasters nor man-made ones have prevented the proprietors from serving the very best liquor that Japan and the world has to offer. Fourth generation proprietor Mr. Yoshinori Hida recently spoke to me about his business.
“As you can see, we have a wide selection of Japanese sake from all parts of the country. That’s our area of specialization, as it has been for a long time now. We want young people to learn how to enjoy drinking sake; after all, it’s our national drink and part of our culture and heritage,” says Mr. Hida.
“Most of our sales are to restaurants, bars and the like now. To be honest, I don’t really drink much sake myself these days, although I do taste testing and have a drink in our customers’ places. At home I generally have beer. We also carry shochu (traditional distilled liquor).”
Taguchi-ya purveys a wide selection of alcohol and Mr. Hida exemplifies the depth of knowledge accumulated during 130 years in the business. “We stock Japanese whiskey and often have foreign customers in looking for some of the popular brands. I enjoy a drop myself,” he adds, “Usually Taketsuru 21 or Chivas Regal 25.”
The latest addition to Taguchi-ya’s shelves is a selection of craft gin. The craft beer boom may have peaked in certain areas but on the next wave of handcrafted liquor is gin, in particular botanically diverse gin. Here we see the Colombian gin Dictador Treasure, based on the limon mandarino, a hybrid cross between a mandarin orange and a lemon. On the right is Monkey 47 from the Black Forest in Germany, which contains 47 botanicals and is 47% abv. In 2011 Monkey 47 won the gold medal at the World Spirits Awards and the gold medal at the International Wine and Spirits Competition London.
This Roku gin from Suntory contains six botanicals (cherry blossoms, cherry leaves, green tea (sencha), refined green tea (gyokuro), sansho pepper, and yuzu), while this Ki no Bi gin from Kyoto features yuzu peel, bamboo leaves, Japanese cypress wood chips and green sansho pepper amongst other things. They sound amazing, don’t they? Why not get ahead of the curve; craft gin for your cocktails is all the rage now!
The shop also has a selection of wines from the four corners of the globe. Whatever your palate or budget, you can find something here to enjoy.
The sake breweries give these signboards to liquor shops authorized to sell their products. The name of the brewery and the name of the shop are prominently displayed.
The shop also features this outdoor seating area where customers can imbibe their purchases. The practice of drinking at a sakaya is known as kakuuchi in Japanese, it’s quite a rare sight these days. The seats are made from old sake barrels.
Mr. Hida has a dispenser serving the popular craft beer, Tokyo Blues. He pours a generous glass full of the golden pale ale and we sit on the barrels in the morning sunshine. The beer is wonderful, with a light, fruity, Muscat-like flavour and a slight bitterness. It’s very smooth and easy to drink.
Mr. Hida and his charming wife are kind and hospitable hosts, their shop is bursting with tempting drinks, and it’s a very agreeable place to pass a pleasant time. If you’re in the area and would like expert advice or just fancy a quick one, then pop into Taguchi-ya. You’ll be very glad you did.
Story and Photos by Stephen Spencer
