Written the other night as I relaxed before bed.

I'm not a big drinker, but I do enjoy sake sometimes (usually called nihonshu 日本酒 in Japanese). If you've never tried it before, it has a wonderful smooth taste. Not as strong in effect as whisky, nor as strong in taste as red wine; a little stronger than beer, but smoother, with some hints of fruitiness which is always very mysterious to me given it comes from rice. That's something the koji adds, I suppose? (koji is the mold used to ferment the drink). It is usually translated as "rice wine", but since rice is a grain it's more of a beer than a wine. But the taste is more similar to a wine. All around great drink.

Whatever the case many be, it's a delightful drink. If you've never tried it before, see if you have a Japanese grocery nearby and if so go buy some. I'm not an expert, so I don't know well all the different types. My friend who is an expert told me to look for junmai daiginjo (純米大吟醸) or daiginjo (大吟醸), so those are what I always get. You might look for that too if you have a chance. But even the cheap stuff is usually pretty good. When I buy it I look for the good quality kinds that my friend suggested, but when my wife buys it for me she often buys these big 2 or 3 liter cartons that are only something like ¥1000. Cheap stuff, in other words. But even that is pretty good, so I have no complaint.

Although you may have read that some places serve it hot, it is best cold, so I'd suggest that.

I wrote the above haiku when I was having a cup at the end of the day. That particular day had been a little busy. Not bad, just busy and hectic so I was worn out. I always try to leave work at work and clear my mind of things. My zazen (Zen style meditation) helps with that and has conditioned my mind enough that I'm pretty good at leaving the world behind and living in the moment. That said, the sake does help with that, loosening my thinking just enough to allow the stress of the day to more easily slip away.

Like many many Japanese men say, I look forward to when my sons are of age so I can drink with them.

You may be surprised that sake is a kigo (season word). There are actually many kigo for sake of all different seasons. Reishu or hiyazake, words for "cold sake" would have been used back in the day instead of nihonshu. All three can be used as summer kigo. According to the traditional Japanese almanac which haiku follows, we just started summer a few days ago, making the summer kigo apt.

David LaSpina is an American photographer and translator lost in Japan, trying to capture the beauty of this country one photo at a time and searching for the perfect haiku.