I regularly buy sake at this shop. I usually buy two bottles at a time. One bottle is from my favorite Yokoyama series, and the other one is one that we choose ourselves or get recommended. This time, I bought a Junmai sake named after the Kuzuryu River in Fukui Prefecture, known as the best sake-producing region in Japan. It's a bit strong at first, but I'm looking forward to how it will change as I continue to drink it.

Our family, who have recently been into beer, wine, and now starting to enjoy sake, have finally discovered a top-notch sake shop in our local area. Surprisingly, one of the best sake shops in the country is located right here in Takatsuki. Although Takatsuki has a history of sake breweries, this shop stands out in the middle of a residential area, making it quite a challenge to walk from the station. The selection of sake and shochu, as well as the passion and enthusiasm for alcohol, is at the top level nationwide. The shop is filled with sake from all over Japan that you may have never seen before. They also offer wine, Belgian beer, and shochu. You can purchase your drinks here and enjoy a paid tasting at the counter. This is what we call "kakuteru." It's only open from 5 p.m., and it takes more than 15 minutes on foot from Hankyu Tomita Station, which is a bit of a downside. However, the shop is completely smoke-free, and they serve sake at the perfect temperature, allowing you to truly appreciate the charm of alcohol. Our favorite sake we discovered here is "Yokoyama" from Iki. We have also experienced many delicious snacks that go well with sake here. The effort of walking all the way here is definitely worth it. The shop manager and staff truly seem to love alcohol.

We visited the fifth and final stop on our "Rediscovering Osaka Tour," which was actually a liquor store where you can drink inside, known as "kakuchi" in Japanese. The term originally meant "drinking sake from a square wooden cup" but now refers to drinking at a liquor store. The store we visited was featured in a senior magazine called "Sarai," and I had been eager to try kakuchi after reading about it. One of my companions, a sake enthusiast, guided us in choosing sake while we enjoyed our drinks. We took a leisurely stroll through the Tenjinbashi-suji shopping street, visited a shrine, and then made our way to the liquor store, although we mistakenly took the wrong train line. After a bit of confusion, we ended up taking a taxi to the store. The experience was enjoyable, despite the minor mishaps along the way.

When it comes to Takatsuki, or more specifically the Shiragiku-ya in Tomita, they have a spacious parking lot next to the store where you can park 5-6 cars, and they sell renowned alcohol at affordable prices, making it a super famous liquor store that almost everyone in the food and beverage industry in Takatsuki knows about. Shiragiku-ya has a standing bar with partitions inside the store, where you can enjoy a wide variety of alcohol such as recommended sake, shochu, sake, beer, etc., at very affordable prices. I recently visited for a drink and enjoyed aged sake and carefully prepared shochu, with pickled radish and dried squid for snacks, all for around 710 yen. The quality is premium and the taste is excellent, making it an unbelievable value. However, despite being such an amazing standing bar, the customers are mostly locals because Shiragiku-ya is quite far from the train station and there are no other food and beverage establishments nearby, making it difficult for people to visit without a car. The standing bar at Shiragiku-ya closes at 8:00 pm, limiting the opportunity for people to enjoy it, despite being right in front of them. It's a hidden gem of a standing bar that many envy but can't easily access. The owner and the former beautiful hostess are very knowledgeable about alcohol and it's a fun place to chat. So, how about showing your drinking spirit and giving it a try? "Thank you for always serving delicious drinks!"

This is a famous liquor store that sells premium shochu at regular prices. They have standing bar hours from 5 pm, making it convenient to grab a drink after shopping inside the store. They are known to offer super premium, premium, and guild shochu at a reasonable price. It would be fun to try and find the restaurants that source their drinks from here. Some examples of the shochu they carry include Sato, Murao, Guild series (Mogura, Tiger & Dragon, Mamushi, Wedge, Kamado, Black Scorpion, Soba Osho, Nekomata, etc.), Umi, Kujira, Nakamura, Ki-Roku, Kawagoe, Manzen, Manzenan, Tsuma, Tomino Takarayama, Kichitakara, Sakurai, etc.

Visited in May 2019 and posted on May 5th (all information is from the visit): On the second day of the 21st Takatsuki Jazz Street held on May 3rd and 4th, my husband and I went to Takatsuki City's Momozono Elementary School ground. Initially, I accidentally bought takoyaki and beer at the same time. Since we were standing, my hands were full and I couldn't take a picture of the takoyaki. But, eating it together is always the best, right? Eventually, a table became available and my husband and I sat down. We then got some more alcohol. I tried a German beer from Shirokiku-ya, a sake shop and standing bar in Yanagawa-cho, Takatsuki City. - Schlenkerla Rauchbier Märzen 500ml bottle for 900 yen Rauchbier, or smoked beer, is a beer style from Bamberg, Germany, made from smoked malt in a bottom-fermented process. It has a very smoky flavor with a moderate bitterness, but the smoky aroma is stronger, making it a magical beer that can make you question if the food you're eating is smoked. It's not something you can drink every day, but it's definitely delicious when enjoyed occasionally. I was lucky to come across it this time. Visit my blog for more details.