Niigata Sake no Jin is a big event in Niigata, attracting more than 100,000 visitors every year.

Since its inception in 2004 (Heisei 16) as a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Niigata Sake Brewers Association, this year's event, the 11th of its kind, was held at Toki Messe on 14/15 March!

The author participated on Saturday 14 March.

• 1. win from standby!
• This is the second time the author has participated in this event, after last year.
• Having reflected on the last time I arrived after 10am and waited outside for about an hour, this year I arrived at the venue at 8:40am and stood by. (In fact, this year the queue stretched up to the Yanagito Bridge at the maximum. In the afternoon, the buses from Niigata Station also had to wait for quite a while).
• 館内で早々にパンフレットをもらって戦略会議をしていたら、あっという間に10時開場。15分くらいで入場できました。来年の参戦を検討されている方、開場前整列おススメ！（この入場した時にすでにヤマトさんのところで発送の手続きをしている人がいました。ベテランは先に買い物を済ませるのですね。）入り口では万代太鼓がお出迎え。音の反響が良くテンション上がる！
• 2. the main thing is the tasting!
• 徐々に入場するため、午前中は午後と比べれば混み具合もゆるゆる。10:15頃の会場。空き空きです。
• Get a boar cup and water at the entrance to start the tasting.
• An indispensable partner. ♪ Commemorative ♪
• All-you-can-taste 500 different types of sake from about 90 breweries... a sake paradise! The best part is being able to hear directly from the toji and employees of each brewery about the thoughts and characteristics that go into each and every sake. Personally, I was interested to hear that the water that flows next to the Tsunan Sake Brewery is used as natural water by Famima.
• A wide variety of sake is generously served, including daiginjo and unfiltered, as well as plum and sweet sake.
• I drank so much that I can't remember which sake was the best, but it was interesting to discover how many different types of sake you can drink in one day. It's interesting to discover how different the same 'sake' can be. Moreover, it's also great to encounter rare and unusual sakes, such as sake made with Yukitsubaki yeast, sake made in bourbon barrels and sake camp limited edition sake, which are difficult to find out about for the uninitiated!
• When made in whisky barrels, it is astringent because it is baked, while when made in bourbon barrels, it is milder.
• In the afternoon, when I was being poured, more and more hands reached out from behind me and it was difficult to get through the crowd after I had finished my drink (laughs). But even this hustle and bustle was fun.Â♪
• 3. not only drinks - the food level is also high!
• 個人的にこの屋台のラインナップも酒の陣の大きな魅力の一つかと♪種類豊富で、選ぶのに困るという幸せ（笑）。
• This year, I ate the Murakami beef steak donburi, the seared nodoguroro (northern bluefin tuna) donburi, the squid yaki and sushi, sharing them with my friends. Incidentally, there was a huge queue for the Gankan-yaki (grilled oysters).
• This is also where izakaya and other speciality shops are opened, with high quality & reasonable prices!
• Especially already... the Murakami beef is so delicious, it's not half bad. Meat and happiness are chewed all over. How many times have I murmured to my friends that I was too happy? This steak bowl won the Grand Prix in a menu contest. The nodoguro is also delicious, accented with a hint of salt!
• If I wrote everything, I could write an entire article just on that, so I'll stop here, but popular products can sell out early, so if you plan to enter next year, it is recommended to attack this area strategically as well.
• Niigata's best-known fish is the nodoguro

And when I was walking around buying and eating the soft-serve ice cream that the Yahiko Sake Brewery was serving, a number of people (strangers) asked me about it, but it had nothing to do with the sake in particular, the strawberry sauce being Echigohime was the selling point (laughs).

• 4. drinking power that makes neighbours drinking buddies â
• Almost everyone there is drunk and in a good mood, so even if you have never met them before, you can chat with them naturally, which is another part of the fun. No matter where you live, what nationality or title you have in common, you have one thing in common: you like to drink. Many visitors come from outside the prefecture, and it is common to hear people say, "I took the bullet train in the morning just for this". The man I talked to for a while was later discovered to be the president of the company.
• There was also a special area where we could talk to the master brewer, who was able to answer even the most rudimentary questions of a novice.
• A little after 14:00. Crowded!

Although it coincided with the opening day of the Hokuriku Shinkansen, a record 120,000 people visited the exhibition over the two days!

It was a day full of enjoying Niigata's sake culture, the deliciousness of its rice and the human connections that sake brings together.

The evening view of the Shinano River on the way home concludes the typical Niigata 'hospitality'.

Photos from last year, as I left a bit early this year.

The 'Sake School', where brewers hone their skills beyond the confines of the brewery.

Niigata Prefecture is the only prefecture in the country to have established a three-year school and has worked to pass on and improve skills.

The Niigata sake breweries prepare for a year in advance for the 'Niigata Sake no Jin',

It is packed with the 'now' of sake from Niigata.

We can already look forward to next year's event!

Official website → http://sakenojin.jp

FB→https://www.facebook.com/pages/にいがた酒の陣公式/228135167250799

Last year's article on signs -> https://niigata-repo.com/play/post-1603/