JAPAN TODAY


 

For Yukari Yanaba, owner of the Tokyo-based sake bar Sake Scene Masufuku, a cup of sake goes deeper than just a drink. For her it’s a story — this of the people who spend seasons making it; this of the customers who come to the bar to taste it, and this of her own life dedicated to it.

Last year, at the age of 40, she took a new path in her career leaving the corporate Japanese life to embrace a new goal she had always wanted to pursue — introducing the traditional Japanese drink to the world and helping Japanese sake makers promote their businesses.

“It all started with my passion for traveling abroad,” the kimono-clad Yanaba says with a smile. Having traveled to more countries than she can count on both her hands (twice), she discovered the beauty of her own roots and culture. “I knew I wanted to share it with the rest of the world.”

 

So after years of waiting for the right chance, last September she started her journey by opening a small sake bar near Tokyo Tower, in the neighborhood she was born and raised.

Now, a year on, this bar serves as a place where foreign visitors come to taste over 40 kinds of Japanese sake, selected by Yanaba herself, where each glass comes with a story of its roots and making.

Savvy Tokyo caught up with Yanaba to learn more about the bar, her passion for sake, and the road that led to its opening.