The Sake Station: Make tracks to Niigata, famous for its traditional Japanese rice wine

ROAM hasn’t left the train station, but we already know we’re going to love Niigata.

Maybe it’s pheromonic, or maybe it’s because we’ve already drunk the equivalent of a tokkuri of sake, but this brief, boozy brush with the city has us convinced that whatever lies beyond the JR station, chances are we’re in for a good time.

Niigata is famous for its sake. Well, technically, it’s famous for its rice and water, but what better way to use rice and water than by transforming them into rice wine?

Well, technically (know we’re getting very technical here), sake is closer in the brewing process to beer than wine. The word “sake” simply translates to “alcohol” in Japanese. What we all know as sake in the West is called nihonshu in Japan, but for the sake of sanity, let’s stick with calling it sake here.

It’s a love of sake that’s brought me to Niigata, and while getting drunk at the train station sounds like a mildly degenerate way to start a trip, there really is no escaping thanks to Ponshukan. Some people call it a sake museum, though I’ve been to dozens of museums and none of them have been nearly this fun.

Grab a ceramic cup from the front desk, get your drink tokens, and then use them on the coin-operated vending machines that hark back to the early sake dispensers invented at the end of the 19th century.

There are more than a hundred premium sakes to try, and those consumed are exceptional. It’s mind-blowing that with nothing but rice, water and a few thousand years of practice, sake brewers can use fermentation to create flavours nothing short of alchemy.

To learn more about this process, ROAM heads for Imayotsukasa Sake Brewery, which hosts English-speaking tours (2pm Monday to Friday). The walk further swells this newfound love for Niigata. It’s not like Kyoto or Kanazawa, where ancient tradition blends with modern aesthetics, it’s more like coming over to your drunk uncle’s house where the decor hasn’t changed since his playboy days in the 70s.

The shops are tacky, the streets are cool, and there’s a beer vending machine every hundred or so metres. Foreigners are also non-existent and locals still smile and make eye contact on walking past, as opposed to burying their eyeballs in the footpath.

The tour at Imayotsukasa is greatly illuminating, although I quickly forget much of what is learnt. This is largely due to the consumed sake and the fact my notes appear to be written in hieroglyphics. All the more reason to head there yourself, if for nothing else than the soft-serve ice-cream made from the rice residue after pressing the sake.

It’s actually not the sake or the “soft cream” that makes me swoon for this city, but a standing bar in Furumachi Dori. At Stand Odake, the owners are legends, the regulars keep shouting drinks and the seasonal dishes are incredible — from the crackiest corn tempura to the best bonito sashimi we’ve ever consumed.

What makes it so special is the pride everyone in that broom closet-sized bar has for Niigata. They actually want you to come here to experience what they’ve known all along — that Niigata has something worth sharing with the world.