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Raise a glass to Masaomi Fujita's deliciously illustrated Introduction to Sake

An Introduction to Sake is a delightful handbook designed and illustrated by Masaomi Fujita for a sake seminar in New York by Iinuma Honke, a Japanese brewery that wanted to better educate bar and restaurant workers about the drink.

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Cover of An Introduction to Sake handbook featuring illustrated icons depicting sake production, ingredients, serving methods and enjoyment

With information on its history, its ingredients, its manufacturing process as well as instructions for how it's best served and what food it goes well with, the pocked-sized guide aims to make anyone an expert on sake.

Masaomi explains: "Although people tend to think drinking Japanese sake requires special knowledge, this handbook shows the attractiveness of sake through clear and concise sentences and illustrations to promote more understanding. It's a compact A6 size visual book, which is the same size as a postcard, can be easily carried around wherever you go."

Cover of An Introduction to Sake handbook showing illustrated hands holding cups, rice grains and other sake-related ingredients with labels
Contents page of An Introduction to Sake showing chapter listings with small illustrations including a yellow sake cup icon
Contents page of An Introduction to Sake handbook listing chapters on history, ingredients, manufacturing process, classification, types, cuisines, temperatures, label and etiquette
Illustrated double-page spread from a sake handbook showing figures working with large wooden barrels and text headed History of Sake
Two-page spread from Masaomi Fujita's illustrated sake guide showing ingredients including water, distilled alcohol, rice and koji mould with yeast, on a pale green background
Illustrated guide showing sake serving temperatures ranging from 15°C for cool to 50°C for hot, with descriptions of how aroma and palate change at each temperature level
Two pages from Masaomi Fujita's sake handbook showing illustrated guides to fruity, mature, light and smooth, and full body sake types with pairing recommendations
Yellow illustrated infographic by Masaomi Fujita showing the manufacturing process for sake, beer and wine, with ingredient icons and fermentation method diagrams
Infographic explaining sake bottle label components, including manufacture date, volume, alcohol content, ingredients, rice brand, specific names, rice-polishing ratio and SMV, illustrated by Masaomi Fujita
Two-page spread from Masaomi Fujita's sake handbook showing hand-drawn illustrations demonstrating etiquette for receiving and pouring sake, with numbered instructions on a pink background
Two-page spread from An Introduction to Sake showing history text on the left, photographs of a brewery and food, and a pixelated green map of Japan with a sake bottle illustration on the right
White cover of Masaomi Fujita's sake handbook featuring a simple line drawing of a bottle with a small glass and the word "KAMPAI
An open page from Masaomi Fujita's illustrated sake handbook showing the History of Sake with simple line drawings of figures working around wooden sake brewing barrels in yellow and blue tones
Multiple copies of An Introduction to Sake handbook featuring Masaomi Fujita's line illustrations of sake bottles, hands toasting, rice and mountains in yellow, blue and green
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