Story of Sake

04/10/2024

【2024年11月17日山形酒蔵マラソン開催 / Yamagata Sake Marathon on 17 November 2024】

2024年11月17日（日）に山形県酒造組合の協力の下、「山形酒蔵マラソン」のテスト大会を開催することになりました！天童市および山形市内の歴史ある酒蔵を巡りながら、ゴール後に日本酒を楽しむハーフマラソンです。当日は、マラソンコース沿道にある酒蔵がチェックポイントとなります。また、ゴール後は、普段入ることができない山形県酒造組合会館において、沿道の酒蔵のお酒を楽しめます。

私は「真の日本酒文化を、日本から世界へ」というミッションを掲げ、2021年に山形県山形市で株式会社酒物語を起ち上げました。日本各地で酒蔵ツーリズムを展開しつつも、軸足は山形に置き、山形で山形のお酒の良さを知ってもらうことで、山形酒、そして日本酒の海外展開の一助となれればと考えています。

フランス・ボルドー地方で行われている「メドックマラソン」のように、日本酒で海外から人を呼べるマラソン大会を立ち上げ、山形のお酒の良さを知ってもらう機会を作りたいと考えています。今大会は、来年以降の本番大会の開催を視野に入れた、テスト大会です。本当は、本場のようにレース中にお酒を飲める大会にしたかったのですが、諸事情により断念せざるを得ず…。ただ、楽しい大会にすべく全力でがんばります！

大会概要は以下のとおりです。
・大会名称：山形酒蔵マラソン大会
・開催日時：2024年11月17日（日）10時00分スタート、13時00分終了（予定）
・場所：天童市および山形市内の酒蔵を巡るコース（スタート地点：天童市中央公園、ゴール地点：山形県酒造組合会館）（予定）
・チェックポイントとなる酒蔵・酒販店（予定）：出羽桜酒造 / 水戸部酒造 / 寿虎屋酒造 / 秀鳳酒造場 / La Jomon（全てのチェックポイントが給水ポイントとなるわけではありません）
・定員：50名（招待ランナー10名を含む）
・参加費：無料
・申込締切：2024年10月31日（定員に達し次第、締め切り）
・参加条件：過去2年以内に5時間30分以内でフルマラソンを完走したことのある方または2時間30分以内でハーフマラソンを完走したことのある方、および②お酒が好きな方
・参加特典：沿道の蔵のお酒のテイスティングを、普段入ることができない山形県酒造組合会館にて。また、ささやかな記念品もあります

もしご興味がある方がいらっしゃれば、以下のURLからお申込みいただけますと幸いです！また、もし「参加はできないけど運営スタッフとしてなら手伝ってあげてもいいよ！」という方がいらっしゃいましたら、DMいただけますと幸いです！
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSepsGganD69IIaovTsJanE383Oyr-MMusGd90hS1jQ46werBg/viewform?usp=sf_link

(English)
In collaboration with Yamagata Sake Brewery Union, I am organising Yamagata Sake Marathon on Sunday, 17 November 2024. Passing through sake breweries in Yamagata, you will run a half-marathon and enjoy sake after finishing the race at the Yamagata Sake Brewery Union's headquarter which you cannot usually enter into.

I founded Story of Sake with the mission of "expanding the real sake culture from Japan to the world" an operating sake tourism business in Yamagata and throughout the country. I would like to create an opportunity to invite people to Yamagata, and believe that this sake marathon may play a role, like Medoc Marathon in Bordeaux, France.

Please see below the outline of the marathon.
- Name: Yamagata Sake Marathon
- Date: 9:45 - 12:45 on Sunday, 17 November 2024
- Venue: starting in Tendo and finishing in Yamagata
- Entry fee: free
- Deadline for entry: 31 October 2024 (or when capacity is reached)
- Conditions to entry: having finished a full marathon within 5.5 hours or a half marathon within 2.5 hour, liking sake

If you are interested, please could you fill out the form below. Please let me know if you have any questions.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSepsGganD69IIaovTsJanE383Oyr-MMusGd90hS1jQ46werBg/viewform?usp=sf_link

09/02/2024

Just posted a new blog article about the first tour in 2024. Please have a look!

Sake, food, snow - winter Yamagata has everything you want! We just welcomed the firsts guests from Singapore between 5 - 7 February 2024. The British-and-Taiwanese couple was the first guests for the Akasaka Sake Tasting in July 2023. They said that they would love to join our sake tour in Yamagata...

23/10/2023

Just posted a new blog article about the newly launched premium sake tasting session in Akasaka, Tokyo!

https://www.story-of-sake.com/service-page/tokyo-sake-tasting Story of Sake has launched the premium sake tasting session in Akasaka, Tokyo. While we think sake tourism is one of the best ways to deliver the story of sake, we understand that not many foreign tourists have time to travel outside the....

09/10/2023

Just added a new blog! Grateful if you could check it out

Story of Sake was founded in January 2021, and it has been two years and nice months since its foundation. Story of Sake has been in Yamagata, serving you all who are interested in sake. It has been a great pleasure to invite approximately 50 guests so far and to provide opportunities for delivering...

10/06/2022

New blog article to check out!

Japan has just started the application to welcome inbound tourists. It may take a little while until we can welcome you to Japan, but the time has finally come for the first time since Story of Sake was founded in January 2021. Sake brewing season will start in four months, which will be a good time...

18/05/2022

New blog article has been published! Japan is opening up the border soon, so...

Story of Sake successively welcomed groups of guests recently. We opened our first "sakura" (cherry blossom)" tour in April. Because in Yamagata sakura gets best approximately two weeks after Tokyo, you can enjoy sakura twice by coming to Yamagata from Tokyo. Thanks to the great weather, the guests....

17/01/2022

Please check out our latest blog article about snow!

In January 2022, we are having the joy of heavy snow in days and nights. Indeed, Yamagata is a snow prefecture, but we are getting more snows than past five years or so. Bad aspects Snow removal: as you see, the route from the entrance gate to my home is completely buried. I need to get it cleared (...

13/12/2021

Check out the new article in our website!

As another sake brewing season has just started, we welcomed another group of guests to Yamagata. Straight from Tendo Station, we took the guests to Mitobe Sake Brewery - one of our partner breweries. They started to brew their sake in November, so we were able to feel the dynamics of the brewery. W...

10/11/2021

Check out the article we just posted!

We have just welcomed fourth guests: three Japanese, one Korean, one Chinese/Germany and one Australian - so international. The request received was "we want to see beautiful coloured leaves!" Late October to early November is the best season for coloured leaves in Yamagata, so the trip was organise...

31/10/2021

Posted a new blog article. Grateful if you could spare 1 min to read!

Newspaper today said that Thailand will open the border for tourists from November 2021. Japanese government is also considering doing the same, but it is probably not going to happen within the coming months. The COVID-19-related numbers are looking much better now, but yes, we are conservative. Th...

23/09/2021

Is it time to come to Yamagata?

The State of Emergency in Japan will be over on as of 1 October 2021. We know that a lot of you would like to travel. Could Yamagata be a good destination for your first travel after the state of emergency? Yes, for a number of reasons. Yamagata is not crowded (at all) - good for this Covid era Food...