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It is poor form to not appear drunk despite having consumed a big bottle of sake

When I was still attending high school, I heard this from my uncle. It dealt with training in sales talk for those business folks who might find themselves being dragged into attending a memorial banquet for somebody’s dear departed. It touched on the serious topic of how to drink any alcohol that was offered and how to implement a discussion at such times. Personally, under such circumstances, I don’t think it can be helped that those whose bodies are alcohol-intolerant and others who lack the ability to control their intake will initially have a bad experience. However, when I heard what my uncle had to say, my simple desire was to be able to go that far. To talk about my own circumstances, from a physical perspective, when I was young, I was not really in a position to drink that much. Then again, that did not stop me from any number of failures in my attempts to train my constitution because, if I remember correctly, I had more than one or two ambulance rides. Although after such incidents, I reflected on the error of my ways, I did not learn much. In that respect, the process by which potters practice and develop the required professional techniques is similar. My own thoughts are that the acquiring of skills requires repetition, and it is only through such means that the individual’s humanity is developed.


When learning both how to drink and how to achieve professional competence, certain basic skills have to be developed. However, much like the route by which the rank-and-file potter rises to master’s status, the road to connoisseurship in both cuisine and alcohol is fraught with danger. Personally, there was much that I learned when growing up in classrooms that happened to be Showa-era bars.


To touch on such establishments, my introduction to Showa-era drinking culture occurred in my 20s. Specifically, perhaps 20 or so young potters would be treated to a midday meal by our masters at a high-class French restaurant. When toasting the company, I stood up in response to my name being called, and I remember being singled out as “somebody who only drank sake.” Upon hearing that, with a glass of draft beer raised in one hand, I responded to the accusation by saying, “I have enjoyed my life due to such salubriousness,” and “through their comparative abstinence, I feel that some of my colleagues are missing out on half of theirs.” Such quick wits on my part saw me awarded “a get out of jail free card” for my failings as seen through the eyes of the amassed company.

It is poor form to not appear drunk despite having consumed a big bottle of sake

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