This email is sent to guests who have dined with us at HIGASHI-YAMA Tokyo and our affiliated restaurants, and also those who have registered from our website.

The first of twenty-four points in the lunisolar calendar, risshun is deeply significant as both the start of spring and the new year.

Again this year, we invite you to partake in a truly special drink called “Risshun Asashibori” to celebrate spring’s arrival. Pressed from before daybreak on risshun (February 4th), the sake is bottled immediately and shipped the same day after undergoing purification by a Shinto priest. The ultimate in fresh sake available just once a year, auspicious “Risshun Asashibori” embodies wishes for good health and prosperous business.

The sake brewing period known as fuyu jikomi runs from winter to spring. It is also the season for sake kasu or lees, which remain after the mash is pressed. The by-product of sake brewing has long been prized as an ingredient in kasu-jiru soup and to make pickles, and as the base for a beverage called amazake. The tradition of partaking in piping hot kasu-jiru soup in this bitterly cold season illustrates the resourceful nature of Japanese people, always using ingredients without waste.

We look forward to welcoming you and sharing an array of dishes that showcase this season’s unique flavors and ingredients.

White miso enriches the mellow aroma and slightly sweet flavor of sake lees in this soup, creating a wonderful base for the rich umami of oyster and soft texture of satoimo taro. The dish is finished with refreshing yuzu and curly spinach whose sweetness is enhanced by the deep cold. The full force of winter’s cold remains despite risshun signaling the start of spring, and we invite you to warm your body from the core with a piping hot bowl of sake lees soup.

Sake lees soup with oyster and satoimo taro　￥1,900
Served until February 29^th

In our Lounge, in addition to original seasonal cocktails, we have a wonderful range of shochu, sake, wine and other beverages. This season we have a gorgeous frozen cocktail filled with the goodness of strawberries. Underlying the sweet flavor and aroma of the strawberries in this refreshing creation is the deep flavor of Hoshiko plum liqueur. Please join us for a drink.

Hoshiko Strawberry ￥2,000

Closed Days: February – March 2020

○ = Closed

＊Lunch service is unavailable on Mondays as well as on any day that follows a closed day.