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ANNOUNCEMENT

    
 FOREIGN MINISTER’S COMMENDATION FOR 2012

 July 12, 2012

 Honolulu, Thursday, July 12, 2012—On July 12, 2011 (Japan time), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan made an official announcement of the recipients of the Foreign Minister’s Commendation for 2012.  From Hawaii, the Kokusai Sake Kai has been selected to receive the Commendation.

 The Foreign Minister’s Commendation is awarded to those who have made outstanding contributions to the promotion of mutual understanding and friendly relations between Japan and other countries through economic and technical cooperation, information and cultural activities, and other activities to enhance international relations. 

 The Kokusai Sake Kai was founded in Hawaii in 1987. The organization’s founders sought out Mr. Takao Nihei, formerly of Japan’s Ministry of Finance’s Brewing Institute, and who in 1956 moved to Hawaii to head operations at the Honolulu Sake Brewery, to educate and instill them with the proper knowledge of sake and sake culture, so that they could effectively promote Japanese culture at the grassroots level within the community. He became the Kokusai Sake Kai’s Founding Advisor.

 In the ensuing years, the Kokusai Sake Kai has held seasonal events to increase, not only the knowledge of sake itself, but to inspire ways to incorporate it into the culinary culture of America. In the spring of 2001, the group organized the first U.S. National Sake Appraisal in Honolulu, under the guidance of representatives from the Japan National Research Institute of Brewing, where Mr. Nihei used to work. This and subsequent similar appraisals have brought together experts from the United States and Japan to judge the quality of sake using procedures and equipment to that used in Japan’s national sake appraisals, and is highly regarded, as an event of great prestige, by the participating breweries. 

 In conjunction with the national appraisal, The Joy of Sake, was commissioned to organize the public tasting event, following the appraisal, where restaurants are invited to participate in preparing “sake no sakana” appetizer pairings for the featured sakes. The Joy of Sake was held in San Francisco in 2003, with the New York event following in 2004, and the Tokyo event in 2010, steadily raising the bar for the growing popularity and enjoyment of high quality Japanese sake and cuisine through the years.

 With activities focused on the simple theme of “for the sake of sake”, the Kokusai Sake Kai has contributed to furthering the bonds of friendship and mutual understanding between the U.S. and Japan by promoting the enjoyment of sake, raising the bar on its quality, and increasing public appreciation of Japanese sake culture.