About me
Hi, my name is Weiwen. I'm a Singaporean food and wine journalist with 10 years of journalism experience. I’m always looking out for great food, top wines and the ultimate bowl of ramen.
How the book idea began
The first Japanese wine I had tried was a bottle of Koshu from Katsunuma winery—I had bought it from a wine shop in Tokyo Station in 2009. It was an easy-drinking wine. It wasn’t love at first sip but it was appealing enough to make me buy a couple of bottles whenever I was in Tokyo.
The seed for this book idea, however, was planted—rather unconsciously—in November 2015. I was at the Hong Kong International Wine & Spirits Fair, attending as a journalist. The Japanese wine exhibitors drew curious visitors, myself included. Some of their wines were decent, some had me going for seconds, and others tasted too fruity for my palate. I felt there was a story idea worth exploring there. But I filed the idea into my mental KIV box.
Two weeks later, I was in Japan for my yearly holiday in the country. I was in a pensive mood. I had been thinking of how to combine my love for Japan with my profession. I knew I’d like to write a book about Japanese food but I didn’t want to do one about sushi or sake—there are already hundreds of such books out there, written by authors who are more knowledgeable than me. What aspect of Japanese culture or food has not been published into a book yet? What’s new?
In between bowls of ramen, showers of autumn leaves, and glasses of beer and wine, the book idea crystallised. Japanese wines. Why not? I started doing my research…
Fast forward to early August 2016. I had left my job as editor of Wine&Dine magazine and was busy preparing for my two-month (mid-August to mid-October 2016) trip across Japan. My plan was to visit 30 wineries in Nagano, Yamanashi, Kyushu and Hokkaido, interviewing the winemakers at each stop.
I ended up visiting 36 wineries. Along the way, I was lucky to miss a few typhoons and escape some severe weather. In all, it was a great field trip.
What will the book be like?
This isn’t going to be a coffee table book, neither will it be a totally geeky book that delves into the molecular structures of malic and lactic acids. It will be part travel narrative, part educational wine book, with wineries grouped into their respective regions. It is my hope that this book will inform and entertain not just oenophiles but also those who are interested in Japan.
This will also be the very first English book on Japanese wines in the world of wine books! Your funds will help create a little history.
Book specifications: 13.97cm X 21.59cm, soft cover, approx. 200 pages* with text and full colour photographs.
The next five months will be spent transcribing hundreds of hours of interviews and writing the book. I will be self-publishing this book via Amazon’s CreateSpace publishing service. CreateSpace prints on demand, a method that keeps their printing costs low.
This book will be published by April or May 2017.**
*The number of pages is an estimation and may change once the content has been edited and finalised.
** Any change to the date of publication will be highlighted here and on the book's complementary Facebook page.
What will your funding cover?
Funds received for this campaign would go towards covering:
1) The costs already incurred for the hiring of translators and the accommodation arranged for translators during the trip. (Approx. US$3,180 (S$4,400) was spent on their services and accommodation. This figure does not include their meals).
2) The costs already incurred for my flights, accommodation and intercity rail transport during the two-month trip. (Approx. US$5,280 (S$7,300) was spent. This figure does not include my meals).
3) Production costs for the book such as design and image editing services. (Approx. budget of US$1,600 (S$2,300) )
I am looking forward to your support. Thank you! If you can't fund or back any of the perks, please share this page with friends whom you think would be interested. Please visit the Facebook page of my book! http://fb.me/journeyintojapanesewine
I would also like to thank Orihara Shoten, a Japanese wine & spirits importer and bar in Singapore, for supplying the wines for my perks. Arigatou gozaimasu!
Note: Because of the complicated nature of shipping booze to other countries, the Read and Sip combo perks (book+ bottle of wine) will only be delivered to addresses in Singapore.