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Tokyo Weekender
05-08-2025
- General
- Tokyo Weekender
Experience Refined Yakiniku: A Review of Onikuya Keisuke Sannanbo
For meat lovers coming to Japan, a visit to a yakiniku restaurant is a must. This beloved Japanese style of barbecue involves grilling bite-sized pieces of raw meat and vegetables at the table, creating a fun, hands-on experience that's often lively, smoky and a little noisy. Sometimes, though, after a long day of sightseeing, you want something a bit quieter and more sophisticated. That is what diners at Onikuya Keisuke Sannanbo can expect. Located on the basement floor of a small shopping street in the upscale district of Hiroo in Tokyo, Onikuya Keisuke Sannanbo is an intimate fine dining restaurant — featuring several semi-private rooms and one private room — which serves impossibly juicy and tender cuts of meat that feel like they melt in your mouth. It sources top-grade beef from trusted meat distributors across Japan in renowned regions like Kobe, Yonezawa and Matsuzaka. However, the primary beef at this fine-dining yakiniku eatery is Takamori wagyu from Yamaguchi Prefecture. 'It is selected with care down to the cattle, the farm and even the feed,' restaurant owner Keisuke Inoue tells TW. 'When I first heard about this exceptional beef, I visited the producers in person. After tasting it on-site, I was deeply moved and immediately started negotiations to bring it to Tokyo. We work with a farm that inherits traditions dating back to the Meiji era. They use a proprietary feed blend that includes sake lees and rice flour from the famous local sake, Dassai.' List of Contents: Takamori Wagyu The Meal at Onikuya Keisuke Sannanbo About Keisuke Inoue Related Posts Takamori Wagyu The beef is nicknamed 'drunken wagyu' due to the diet of the cattle, which gives the meat a mild and silky texture. Known for its distinctive sweet flavor and high-quality marbling, it is highly sought-after, yet extremely difficult to get hold of as the Iwakuni Farm produces less than 200 cattle annually. Inoue first visited the farm in 2016, when he sampled a large chunk of beef, more like the style you would get at steak restaurants in the US. Yakiniku eateries in Japan tend to serve meat in thin slices. But Inoue, who lived in the States, was more interested in the thicker, American-style cuts he enjoyed at Iwakuni Farm. Simply procuring first-rate meat, though, wasn't enough for the entrepreneur. He also purchased special smokeless roasters to enhance the quality of the beef. Placed in every room, these roasters all feature far-infrared technology that cooks the meat slowly and evenly, allowing for perfect medium-rare steak. Of course, even with the best roaster, it is still possible to undercook or overcook meat; at typical yakiniku restaurants, customers choose from a variety of beef cuts and are then usually left to their own devices. Things are done differently at Onikuya Keisuke Sannanbo. There's no a la carte menu, and the attentive servers roast the meat in front of you to ensure everything is cooked to perfection. The Meal at Onikuya Keisuke Sannanbo Our meal began with two rich and extremely tender dishes: melted meat yukke — dual-layered raw wagyu marinated in seasonings — followed by four slices of the fattiest part of the tongue served with ponzu sauce, which has a salty umami base. Both tasted divine, but what came next was even better. The slider burger, featuring a wagyu fillet cutlet fried with the rice flours of Dassai, was arguably the highlight of the meal. The only problem was that it was consumed too quickly. It was then time to cleanse the palate with some granita before devouring a sumptuous meat sushi dish of sea urchin on top of wagyu tartar. That was a lovely prelude to the heavyweight dishes that came next: Chateaubriand served with Kawamura soy sauce, followed by Takamori wagyu with raw egg and truffles. Inoue waxed lyrical about the quality of the meat from Iwakuni Farm prior to our meal, and it certainly didn't disappoint. Afterwards, there was still just enough room for another beef and rice dish, followed by homemade cheesecake and gelato for dessert. As Inoue's mother made him the same cake when he was a child, it holds sentimental value for the owner. Combining delightfully with the ice cream, it was a wonderful way to end what had been a heavenly culinary experience. We were even presented with some onigiri to take home. About Keisuke Inoue After starting his career in the real estate industry, Inoue moved to the United States, where he earned an MBA from the University of California, Irvine. Returning to Japan, he worked as a producer at a venture company that invested in anime production. Realizing he wanted to spread happiness through food, he founded Smile Cube, Inc. in 2008. Since then, he has operated various types of establishments, including cafes, beach houses, bars, ramen shops and pizza restaurants. He currently manages six different restaurant locations, though Onikuya Keisuke Sannanbo is arguably the jewel in his crown. Inoue opened the restaurant in 2016 after the headquarters of a franchised pizza business he was running went out of business. It proved a wise move. Onikuya Keisuke Sannanbo has garnered quite the reputation and has been listed in Tabelog's 100 best restaurants for three consecutive years from 2022 to 2024. 'I wanted something that could succeed internationally and appeal to both Japanese and foreign guests,' says Inoue. 'Rather than just offering traditional yakiniku, we serve meat-based cuisine inspired by both Japanese and French culinary styles. What sets us apart is our dedication to providing guests with the very best meat possible. The thing I enjoy most is hearing customers say, 'That was delicious. Thank you.' There aren't many industries where you receive gratitude even after receiving payment.' Related Posts Move Over Kobe — Gourmands Are Heaping Praise on Hida Beef The Secret to Yakiniku's X's Success Gonpachi Introduces a Muslim-Friendly Halal Wagyu Beef Course
SoraNews24
16-07-2025
- Business
- SoraNews24
Sake bread and cakes, using one of Japan's best brews, can only be bought at one Tokyo bakery
The star of the Yamaguchi sake scene shows up in Shinjuku baked goods, and we're ready for a trio of taste tests. Japan has so many sake makers that it can be hard for an individual brewer to stand out. Among the general public, it's mainly a handful of mass-produced, low-in-character brands that have widespread name recognition, with many smaller, higher-quality producers primarily known only to sake aficionados. An exception, though, is Dassai. Made in the town of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Dassai has won acclaim for its crisp, smooth flavor with a hint of sweetness from sake experts and amateur drinkers alike, despite Asahi Shuzo, the company that makes Dassai, not being neither the highest-volume nor biggest-budgeted sake brewer around. Part of the secret to Dassai's success is that its nicely balanced and can be enjoyed both on its own or paired with an especially wide variety of dishes. As further proof of how versatile Dassai is, there's even a bakery that makes Dassai bread and sweets. This bakery is found on the opposite side of the country from Dassai's home prefecture, as it's offered by the Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo, a short walk west from Shinjuku Station in downtown Tokyo. Every day the hotel's staff bakes up three special Dassai treats for its second-floor Food Boutique Poppins specialty store, and we recently scooped up the trio for taste-testing. We'll start with the Dassai Shokupan, shokupan being what Japan calls a conventional Western-style loaf of bread. Singed into the side are the kanji characters for Dassai, but the real connection to the sake is that the yeast used for the bread is made with sake kasu, the pressed lees left over as a by-product when making sake. Sake kasu can be used as a cooking seasoning, and while it doesn't make the Dassai bread taste like alcohol, it does impart an elegant, relaxing sake-like aroma to the loaf, with the sort of gentle, subtle sweetness that's made Dassai such a hit. All those qualities are retained even after giving the Dassai Shokpan a light toasting, and it tastes so good that we recommend eating it without putting butter, jam, or any other kind of spread on it. If you're after something more distinctly sweet, there's the Dassai Anpan sweet bean buns. Sprinkled with sesame, these pastries are filled with anko (sweet red bean jam) made with beans from Hokkaido Prefecture's Tokachi region, and the bread itself is once again made with Dassai sake kasu. Taking a bite, the initial sensation comes from the anko's sweetness. Drifting along behind it is the Dassai aroma, though, which combined with the texture of the beans makes this feel like anpan that's not just delicious, but sophisticated too. And last, if you're looking to get really decadent, there's the Dassai Pound Cake, which comes in a classy box that makes it well suited for gift-giving. The cake (which needs to be refrigerated, by the way) is made not just with Dassai lees, but actual Dassai sake itself. It's similar to the concept of cooking a pound cake with brandy, except without the harsh alcohol notes or cloying sweetness that brandy can sometimes impart. Instead, you get mellow hints of sake that become more pronounced as you chew, and while we didn't have a bottle on hand to crack open and confirm with, the hotel says that the Dassai Pound Cake goes especially well with a glass of Dassai. Another key to Dassai's popularity is that though it's not exactly a cheap sake, it's reasonably affordable and offers great quality for its price. In keeping with that, these Dassai baked goods are more expensive than their non-Dassai convenience store or supermarket counterparts would be, but at 650-yen (US$4.50) for the Dassai Shokupan, 280 yen for a Dassai Anpan, and 2,800 yen for the Dassai Poundcake, they're not unobtainable luxuries, even for sweets/sake fans of moderate means. More so than their cost, it's their scarcity that can make these hard to get your hands on. Like we said above, they're exclusive to the Keio Plaza Hotel Tokyo, and when batches are put out, they tend to sell out rather quickly. Thankfully, the staff tipped us off that they usually go on sale around 1 p.m. each day, so you'll want to arrive before then to give yourself the best shot at snagging them. Related: Keio Plaza Hotel Photos ©SoraNews24 ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! [ Read in Japanese ]
Bloomberg
16-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
American Sake Is Having a Major Moment
'Oak, coconut, candy dots.' That's how Alyssa Mikiko DiPasquale, owner of Boston sake bar Koji Club, describes Needs of Many, a canned sake made by Farthest Star in rural Medfield, Massachusetts, an hour's drive away. Another, Class M ('roasted chestnuts, shiitake mushrooms, custard') would go well with a smashburger, she muses, or a side of spicy potato chips—and both can go toe-to-toe with any of Japan's traditional brews. American sake is having a moment. The seeds for a domestic industry were planted when US farmers started growing sushi rice in the 1990s, and it's flourished alongside the global rise of Japanese cuisine and the thirst for sake to sip alongside it. Dassai, arguably Japan's most famous high-end brand, opened Dassai Blue, a 55,000-square-foot facility, in 2023 in Hyde Park, New York, to make its products using American water and rice. And last year the US became Japan's largest sake export market by volume. Shipments surged 23% from 2023, driven by fine-dining demand, according to the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association. (China remains Japan's largest sake export market by value.)
Asahi Shimbun
23-05-2025
- Business
- Asahi Shimbun
A boozy waltz: Sake brewed to world-class orchestral track
Hiroshi Sakurai, chairperson of Asahi Shuzo Co., and Philipp Gardie, vice president of the Austrian Federal Institute of Industry, with bottles of 'Dassai — Composing the Future' on May 22 in Osaka. (Akina Nishi) OSAKA—Renowned Dassai sake maker Asahi Shuzo Co. and the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber unveiled a collaborative brew at the Osaka Kansai Expo's Austria Pavilion on May 22. The sake 'Dassai — Composing the Future" features the pavilion's theme in its name as a literal interpretation of it, with the collaborators adding the unconventional step of playing music performed by the leading orchestras of both countries in the sake's fermentation tank for about 40 days. Production began in the summer of 2023 at the suggestion of the Austrian side. Johann Strauss II's 'Lagoon-Waltz' was selected as the specific piece and was performed by members of the Vienna Philharmonic, the world's most prestigious orchestra, and the Japan Century Symphony Orchestra in separate recording sessions. The recordings were then combined into a single track for Asahi Shuzo to play as brewers worked on the sake that was completed in March. According to the brewer based in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, having it on loop was not a gimmick. The sound wavelengths from the waltz were enough to vibrate the tank, facilitating the release of dissolved gas and changing the yeast's behavior throughout the fermentation process. A representative of the company said, 'The sake tastes very rounded and soft after 40 days of listening to the music around the clock.' Hiroshi Sakurai, the company's chairperson, said, 'When we received the proposal, we were beyond thrilled. We have been working hard to produce good sake, and it shows in the taste.' Philipp Gardie, vice president of the Austrian Federal Institute of Industry, attended the unveiling ceremony and said the beverage represents music and sake well, the two being embedded in the culture and values of both countries. Limited to 8,000 bottles, this rendition of Dassai is now available at the Austrian pavilion as well as department stores in the Kansai region until Oct. 13, the expo's last day. Each bottle is 720 ml and costs 8,000 yen ($56). It can also be found in Austria and certain parts of Europe.
Kyodo News
26-04-2025
- Health
- Kyodo News
Exposure to 1-minute sound may prevent motion sickness: Japan team
KYODO NEWS - 12 hours ago - 10:10 | Japan, All People suffering from motion sickness may be able to prevent their symptoms from developing just by listening to a minute of special sound, a Japanese research team said. The research found a sound at 100 hertz stimulates the inner ear and helps to reduce motion sickness by improving balance, the team said, while current preventive measures are largely limited to taking medicines. The study comes as the risk of suffering from motion sickness is on the rise with the development of self-driving vehicle technology, as it is passengers rather than drivers that tend to develop symptoms, according to the team, which includes researchers from Nagoya University. In the experiment, around 80 volunteers were exposed to the special sound at a certain volume for one minute shortly before riding on a swing, a driving simulator and an actual car, while a similar group took part without exposure to the sound. The study showed 70 to 80 percent of those who were exposed to the sound found symptoms such as lightheadedness and nausea were alleviated, according to the findings published last month in medical journal Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine. The improvement in such symptoms is believed to have been caused by the sound stimulating the otolithic organs in the inner ear, thus activating the vestibular system, the team said. "We'd like to put (the study) into practice at an early date after carefully confirming its safety. We hope that this will be an option for people suffering from motion sickness," said Masashi Kato, a Nagoya University professor who participated in the research. Related coverage: Japan hospital uses insulin-producing iPS cells for type 1 diabetes Innovation over tradition sending Dassai sake to the Moon Japanese people more susceptible to authoritarian messages: research
