Tucked into a quiet street at the affluent Nishi-Azabu area, Osozakura – part liquor store, part wine bar – was created to promote Japanese wine. The store’s interior charmingly blends modern Japanese design touches like muted earth tones and timber and bamboo textures with homely traditional elements like daruma dolls, maneki-neko lucky cats and ukiyo-e paintings.
Take a seat around the horseshoe bar and choose from 15 sommelier-selected wines to drink by the glass, or more than 350 to drink by the bottle. An overwhelming 95 percent of the wine selection here is domestically produced. The tasting set is the best way to sample a few different varieties, priced at ¥1,500 for three glasses. If you’re buying a bottle as a gift, you can choose to have it wrapped in artisan-made furoshiki (wrapping cloth) for an extra-special, authentic Japanese touch.