This year marks one hundred years since the renowned British potter Bernard Leach set up his pottery in St Ives, Cornwall, with “Living National Treasure” Shoji Hamada from Mashiko, the world-famous pottery town in Tochigi, Japan. The friendship between Leach and Hamada forged a link between the two towns, and two countries that is still celebrated today. The British Sake Association is delighted to commemorate this friendship at our Annual Sake Pairing Dinner. We are honoured to welcome the Japanese photo-journalist Mr Setsuo Kato, MBE as our guest speaker. Mr Kato interviewed and photographed Leach at his studio in St Ives in the 1970s; his book Bernard Leach and the Leach Pottery was published in Japanese in 2020.

The dinner will be an elegant shokado bento paired with specially selected sake provided by SanRan Brewery in Mashiko and Tengu Sake. The official kanpai toast will be with Awa, the flagship sake from the UK’s new Sparkling Sake Brewery. After dinner a festive cheeseboard including a ‘cheese’ made from sake kasu (sake lees) and artisan-made local cheeses from the West Country will be accompanied by Tamagawa’s Time Machine 1712 sake.

Tickets are £65 per person for members of the British Sake Association (anyone can join and become a member for £30 per year), and £85 for the general public. To book, please email events@britishsakeassociation.org. Ticket sales open to the public on Nov 19.