Dassai Sake Series: Benihana & Beyond

Event begins promptly at 7 PM. Please arrive by 6:45 PM. This event is only for attendees 21+.

The Dassai Sake Series is an ongoing lecture series pairing thought and business leaders from across the U.S.-Japan world together onstage with festive sake celebrations. The Dassai brand is built around the goal of bringing revolution to the sake industry, and the Dassai Sake Series is similarly focused around engaging conversations with U.S.-Japan leaders who’ve created their own revolutions—each concluding with celebratory networking receptions and kampai toasts to their success.

About the Lecture:
Join Dassai Chairman Hiroshi Sakurai and Keiko Ono Aoki, entrepreneur and CEO of Benihana of Tokyo, for a talk about the past, present and future of both organizations. Both leaders will engage in a dialogue around the themes of “Challenge” and “Innovation,” discussing how they blend yesterday and tomorrow with the goal of rising to the modern world. 

How are we defined by our history and what is our obligation to it? What are the realities of the U.S.-Japan world today and new dangers and opportunities within it? Is there a future without innovation? How can one create change within a historic organization? And what are the needs to create real revolution? We invite you to spend the evening with Hiroshi Sakurai  and Keiko Ono Aoki to hear their answers. 

About Hiroshi Sakurai:
Hiroshi Sakurai was born in 1950 in Yamaguchi, Japan. He graduated from Matsuyama University in 1973 and joined sake company Asahi Shuzo in 1976, overseen by his father. After his father’s passing in 1984, he rebuilt the business and developed the flagship Junmai Daiginjo sake Dassai. He is an internationally acclaimed business owner, winner of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in 2021 in Japan and a respected innovator in the sake industry. 

About Keiko Ono Aoki:
Keiko Ono Aoki is a seasoned Japanese entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience in New York. She was born in Tokyo and studied at the University of Hawaii before becoming the first Japanese woman to graduate from the Owner/President Management Program at the Harvard Business School. She first entered the fashion industry and led the successful launch of the Wonderbra in Japan and has a long track record in international business consulting. She has worked on a wide range of international projects, including Starwood’s entry into Japan, consulting for the Spanish government and projects with Bayer, Sarah Lee, Dassai Blue, Marukome, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan. After marrying Rocky Aoki, founder of the Benihana of Tokyo restaurant group, she succeeded him as CEO and promoted the global expansion of the restaurant chain, which operates in 16 countries. She has run multiple businesses, most recently running Chef Omakase, a chef dispatch business. She also serves as a director at the nonprofit organization Washoku Bunka to Omotenashi (Japanese Food Culture and Hospitality) and is an advisor to the nonprofit organization Sakura Collection, which promotes Japanese textiles around the world. In 2010, she received the Asian Women in Business Leadership Award. Her books include Non-Brand Japanese (Nikkei BP Publishing), Habits Nurture the Tree of Life (Yamato Shobo/co-authored with Dr. Hinohara Shigeaki, former director of St. Luke’s Hospital) and The Basics: For Japanese People Who No One Will Teach You (Discover Publishing).

About the Reception:
Following tonight’s discussion, all attendees are invited to join in a sake tasting featuring four different types of sake from Dassai Blue. All are brewed in New York State with Yamada Nishiki rice from Japan and Arkansas and water from the Hudson Valley. 

Reception will feature:

• Dassai Blue Type 23 – Tasting Notes: Complex aromatics of anise, pear and marshmallow develop into bright lemon chiffon, honeysuckle and stone fruit with a touch of minerality.


• Dassai Blue Type 35 – Tasting Notes: White peaches and ripe papayas with a soft, sweet fragrance. The taste is characterized by a subtle sweetness and refreshing acidity.


• Dassai Blue Type 50 – Tasting Notes: Licorice and cantaloupe give way to pineapple candy, lemon curd and vanilla with a hint of brine on the finish.


• Dassai Blue Nigori Sparkling 50 – Tasting Notes: A fruity aroma reminiscent of green apples and Japanese wagashi treats. Some sweetness, moderate fizziness and a refreshing crisp finish.

About Dassai:
Dassai’s aim is to craft great sake. Blending tradition and innovation, Dassai is the #1 in sales of Junmai Daiginjo sake in the world, and it commands a large market share of the sake business.

A haiku poet named Masaoka Shiki took “Dassai” (literally “otter festival”) as his pen name because he would often scatter his writing materials in much the same way otters spread out their fish. Shiki is known for revolutionizing Japanese literature during the Meiji era, and Dassai sake takes its name and inspiration from him. Rather than being composed around preserving tradition, Dassai’s focus is on crafting sake through revolution. 

One of Dassai’s most recent revolutions was the launch of Dassai Blue, a modern sake brewery just north of New York City. Combining Yamada Nishiki rice (the king of sake rice) from Japan and Arkansas with water from New York’s Hudson Valley, the goal for Dassai Blue is to brew a sake that surpasses Dassai’s sake in Japan. Named “Blue” in honor of the proverb of the indigo plant, in which its dye possesses a deeper blue than the very plant from which it originates, Dassai Blue is inspired to craft sake superior to any Dassai before it.

---

Header & Bottom Image © Dassai.

This event is co-presented by Dassai Blue.

Japan Society’s 120th anniversary initiatives and related programs are generously supported by Champion Sponsor, MUFG Bank, Ltd.; Advocate Sponsor, Mizuho Americas; and Friend Sponsor, Mitsubishi Corporation (Americas).

Japan Society programs are supported by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

Japan Society Food Events are sponsored by BALMUDA and Kikkoman Corporation.

Additional support for cultural programs is provided by an anonymous donor; Anime NYC; Sendon and BuyJapon; and the Sandy Heck Lecture Fund.