Issue #40

Words by Cory Ohlendorf | Photography courtesy of Mori Bar Gran

When it comes to reimagining the familiar, Japan has a well-earned reputation for refining the details—never reinventing for the sake of novelty, but perfecting for balance. Then there are the occasions when reinvention is born out of necessity. The Gin Sonic cocktail, the country’s subtle evolution of the beloved Gin & Tonic, falls squarely in between the two situations. It’s a minimalist twist that’s become a quiet obsession among bartenders and drinkers who favor nuance over flash.

Ask anyone slinging drinks in Tokyo and they’re likely to point to the same man as the one responsible for the recipe: Takao Mori, known as something of an elder statesman of Japanese bartending. Now, Mori-san oversees the elegant Mori Bar Gran, the cool cocktail bar with seasonal plants, a calm atmosphere and a rooftop view of Tokyo’s Ginza neighborhood. But, back in the ’90s, he and his fellow bartenders were mixing drinks in a hallowed Tokyo drinking institution called Gaslight.

But there was a problem: Up until the mid-’90s, Japan had banned quinine—a natural compound from the bark of the cinchona tree that is the defining ingredient that gives tonic water its bitter bite. Thanks to that ban, most Japanese tonics were (and still are) just fizzy, sweetened water. Mix that with your gin and you end up muting every herbaceous nuance of the spirit.

But it was soon discovered that if you add a hearty splash of soda to the tonic, you allow the gin to shine—finish it with some fresh citrus juice and you achieve a certain refreshing balance. Mori-san found more and more bartenders would come and order it, trying to discover why his G&T was so delicious. Was it salt? Some mysterious secret ingredient? But since he wasn’t about gatekeeping and refused to take credit for the discovery, he’d happily share that the key was simply soda water.

Winter is coming, as they say, and you’re going to need some good boots to get through wet, chilly evenings and snowy days. Japanese brand NEIGHBORHOOD just partnered with SOREL, merging military precision, motorcycle culture and cold-weather performance. The boot is a sleek hybrid that fuses rugged, weather-armored performance with clean urban design. Crafted from full-grain oiled leather and canvas panels, it features twin lace options (rope or leather) to shift between rugged hillside and minimalist street-style. Under-the-hood, a waterproof GORE-TEX membrane keeps you dry, while a high-grip Vibram outsole ensures traction from city slicker pavements to out-of-town trails. And the all-black, tonal colorway looks cool as hell.

Kuidaore (食い倒れ) is a Japanese word that means to "eat oneself bankrupt" or "eat until you drop". It reflects a passion for food, often associated with the city of Osaka, and is part of the proverb, "dress into ruin in Kyoto, eat into ruin in Osaka". The word combines the verbs for eating (kuu) and collapsing or going bankrupt (daore). The term reflects a cultural attitude towards indulgence and enjoyment of food, even to excess. It speaks to the Japanese appreciation for culinary pleasures and the social aspect of dining, but also highlights the potential consequences of overindulgence.