Two Evenings at a Sake Bar

When I spotted the giant sugidama hanging outside an unmarked shop at St Francis' Yard, I was curious to know what's inside. Sugidama, which means cedar sphere in Japanese, was made with numerous trimmed cedar needles formed into a sphere-shaped decoration and often hangs outside sake breweries across Japan. Traditionally, it marked the beginning and end of the annual sake production in winter, as the color of the sugidama gradually changes from green to brown.