Assemblage Club, a Japanese sake project made possible through the cooperation of three sake breweries in Kyoto, and My Sake World, a place where individuals, restaurants, and businesses can create their own original blended Japanese sake. We interviewed the breweries and people who are cooperating and supporting this unprecedented project called "Sake Blending," about why they decided to participate and the impact it has had since then.

This time, we visited Bungo Gion, a Japanese beef restaurant located in Gion. The manager, Mr. Tsuda, produces three types of blended sake.
We asked about the thoughts and efforts behind producing a blended sake to pair with Wagyu beef.

I spoke to this person

Masayoshi Tsuda, Manager of Bungo Gion Branch, a Wagyu Beef Restaurant

Profile

After graduating from a vocational school, he joined Daichi Co., Ltd., a restaurant chain specializing in meat dishes. He discovered the charm of Oita Wagyu beef through Italian charcoal grilling and wine at a sister restaurant. His favorite drinks are wine and sake.

A marriage of rare Oita Wagyu beef and sake

Gion-Shinbashi Street, where strolling in kimono is picturesque, exudes the most Kyoto-esque atmosphere. Located near Tatsumi Shrine, where geisha and maiko (apprentice geisha) can be seen praying to the god of performing arts, is Wagyu Ryotei Bungo Gion Branch. This restaurant, set in a traditional Kyoto City-designated building, is renowned for its luxurious course menu showcasing the finest Wagyu beef, paired with a selection of premium sake. The Oita Wagyu beef used here is a rare brand known for its smooth, high-quality fat, rich flavor, and gentle digestion. The restaurant serves "no-grill" yakiniku, an all-you-can-eat style of beef, perfectly grilled to bring out the natural flavor of the beef. A wide variety of drinks are paired with the restaurant, including carefully selected authentic wines, sake, and Japanese whiskey. The restaurant's selection of premium sake, including its original "Hokyowaen," offers a perfect pairing with the exquisite Wagyu dishes. In addition to counter seating, you can also choose a more comfortable private room (separate private room fee applies). Courses start from 18,700 yen.

We start with a cheese and Kyoto vegetable appetizer. The centerpiece is burrata cheese and beef wrapped in root vegetables. Boiled and sautéed seasonal Kyoto vegetables are served with dashi espuma and colorful vegetable sauces.

This exquisite dish is made with yukhoe wrapped around matsutake mushrooms, topped with caviar and generously shaved truffles.

The catchy phrase "You can only drink this here"

-You experienced blending sake at My Sake World in Kyoto and created an original sake for Wagyu Ryotei Bungo Gion branch. What were your impressions of the experience?

Tsuda: "I was surprised by the very technique of blending sake. I had never even imagined it before, so I was surprised to learn that blending can make something taste better. Frankly, when I actually tried it, it was fun. Some combinations went well together, and some didn't quite go so well. Even when I wasn't sure how it would taste, sometimes it turned out to be surprisingly delicious, so it was quite interesting. All of the sake used in the blends is from Kyoto."

-Please tell us the theme of each of the three original sakes you have produced: "FUKYOWAON Shizuku," "Hana," and "Kaede."

Tsuda-san: "Let's start with Shizuku. We get a lot of orders for red wine, but the concept is to create a sake that we can recommend to customers who want a white wine, even though it's relatively rare. We blended a sake with a lemony scent to create a very tart and fresh taste. It goes well with the cheese and Kyoto vegetable salad appetizer, and also matches well with dashi stock.
The second bottle, "Hana," is quite spicy. It's a strong type that's perfect to drink with meat. But it's not just spicy, it's spicy but deliciously spicy. It has a rich flavor and a strong spiciness.
The last one, "Kaede," is the one I put the most effort into blending, and it's a sake that allows you to enjoy the change in flavor depending on the temperature. When serving it at a low temperature with a meal, if you drink it after two or three dishes, it will have a slightly different flavor. On the other hand, "Shizuku" and "Hana" have little change in flavor depending on the temperature, so I think they are delicious just the way they are."

—Along with the colorful label design, the name "FUKYOWAON" is also striking and impactful.

Tsuda-san: "I came up with both the label design and the name. The word FUKYOWAON (dissonance) has an unpleasant connotation, as it is an uncomfortable overlapping of sounds, but I wanted the sake blend itself to overturn the impression of being taboo up until now and become delicious, and the combination of sake and Wagyu beef - all of these things - to match perfectly. The name is meant to convey the message that we want to spread this message from Gion. The kanji characters are ateji, consisting of "Yutaka" from Bungo, "Kyoto" from Kyoto, "Wa" from Japanese cuisine, and "Sono" from Gion.

How do you recommend it to your customers?

Tsuda-san: "For now, we will be offering one of each of these three types of sake (as of September 2025, it will be "Hana"). In the final stage, we hope to have all three types lined up and allow customers to choose. We have only just started, so we were only planning to adjust, but we didn't expect that we would receive so many orders so smoothly. Even without us having to push it, customers look at the menu and become interested. After all, the idea of ​​an original sake that can only be drunk here really appeals. Most of our customers are from overseas, and when they travel, they want to try something unique to the place. I think it's the same for Japanese customers."

In the future, I want to own a sake brewery.

-Finally, please tell us if you have any plans for the future.

Tsuda-san: "It may be quite a long way off in the future, but my dream is to have my own sake brewery. I believe that our original sake, made in Japan using Japanese rice, will be a powerful weapon. The blended sake we created with the help of Leaf is just the first step towards that goal!"

—That's amazing, I'm looking forward to it. Thank you for today!

Sake is also of great interest to inbound customers who visit the restaurant, and many people pair it with wine and wagyu beef. In particular, the original sake "FUKYOWAON" has proved more popular than expected, and thanks to the owner Tsuda's keen sense as a blender, it is likely to sell out quickly. In the future, once the three varieties of "Shizuku," "Hana," and "Kaede" are all available, we would like to try pairing each dish with the flow of the course.

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Writer/Sake Master Eriko Fujita
Expand your world to a sake specialty store in Osaka and encounter a variety of sake and sake breweries. Favorite sakes are Akishika, Ohgi, and others.
Other than drinking, my hobbies include collecting minerals and raising swallowtail butterflies.