Tokyo is finally going to have a World Gin Day event: GinFest Tokyo is slated for the June 9-10 weekend! It’s being put on by a team directed by Takeaki Miura of Shibuya’s GOOD MEALS SHOP, which stocks some 200+ varieties of craft gin, so there’s clearly a lot of passion behind the event.
The format is different from most tasting events though. There are no advance tickets — GinFest Tokyo will be free to enter. Instead, you’ll pay 100 yen for a 10ml sample of any given gin. So far I count 36 from inside and outside Japan, and it seems like more will be announced later. The venue is also a new one: Tennoz Isle’s Tennoz Harbor Market. Bottles will also be available for purchase, so if there’s something you like, go for it! Other features include a bar with gin-based cocktails, and seminars and workshops, details of which should be announced soon on the event’s Facebook page.
As Tokyo warms up for the summer, drinking canalside gin & tonics certainly isn’t a bad way to spend the weekend! GinFest Tokyo runs 1PM to 8PM on June 9, and 1PM to 6PM on June 10.
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