{"id":33,"date":"2017-04-17T02:04:44","date_gmt":"2017-04-17T02:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/streetsofnewyork-9thstreetbeat\/?p=33"},"modified":"2017-04-17T02:11:00","modified_gmt":"2017-04-17T02:11:00","slug":"for-the-sake-of-sake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/projects.nyujournalism.org\/streetsofnewyork-9thstreetbeat\/2017\/04\/17\/for-the-sake-of-sake\/","title":{"rendered":"For the Sake of \u2018Sake\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sake Drinking Guide to New York\u2019s Little Tokyo<\/span><\/p>\n

Sake has long been one of the more exotic ways to consume alcohol. While less common in America\u2019s heartland, there has been a revival of interest in the beverage inside America\u2019s coastal urban areas thanks to a growth in the popularity of Japanese culture since World War II. Sake is a fermented rice wine that was originally created and consumed in Japan but has since spread across the globe, showing up in bars from New York City to Dubai. Here, we have put together a short video documenting the culture of Sake in Lower Manhattan\u2019s Little Tokyo, a two-block area in the East Village that originally developed in the late 1980\u2019s and early \u201890s when Japan was experiencing a financial boom. These authentic restaurants and bars are known throughout Japan and are featured in all the country\u2019s guidebooks. Even though the Japanese economy has taken a step back from its blistering pace 20 years ago, Japanese sophistication and Sake watering holes still dominate the area on East 9th Street between 1st and 3rd Avenue.\u2014Logan R. Baker<\/span><\/p>\n