By Philip Harper, Los Angeles Times Syndicate, 01/99

One sign of a serious sake establishment is how they treat their supply: Stock should be kept refrigerated and away from strong light. An additional headache for restaurateurs is looking after open bottles. Like wine, sake oxidizes once exposed to the air, so conscientious places do their best to avoid the accumulation of half-empty bottles. This is sometimes a problem where the shop has a bigger selection than they can really care for effectively -- not solely a question of numbers, but also of turnover.

It's a sad thing to fork over hard-earned cash, only to find yourself drinking sake that saw its finest hour days or weeks ago.

Life and funds being short, I have not, unfortunately, been able to do a nationwide survey of places to drink and buy sake, but here are three to get you started in Tokyo.

AKA ONI -- This area, five minutes from Sangenjaya Station, is a welter of (ITAL) izakaya (uqTAL) (Japanese-style ``snack shops),'' and watering holes of every description. It is a district that retains something of the flavor of the old days, with its narrow streets, the old-fashioned arcade on the main road, and the excellent rickety Setagaya line.

On a recent visit, I saw an elderly and unaccompanied Alsatian, clearly a local character, being greeted by a passerby, while waiting patiently for the light to change; the proprietor of a rice shop looks after business while playing a flute; and a ghostly pale, elderly lady cradling a clearly blind, alarmingly fat and obviously enormously contented mongrel in a kind of sling arrangement.

With all this in five minutes' stroll, it can be seen that this is a corner with more local color to the square foot than many. Perfectly at home here is Aka Oni.

The master of the ``Red Devil'' takes his sake seriously. Of course, you might think it's his business, but Takizawa-san is devoted above and beyond, to the extent of enrolling in Tokyo Agricultural University and graduating from the renowned brewing science department -- in his spare time.

There is a broad and varying selection of excellent sake from a stock numbering three figures, with (ITAL) nama (uqTAL) the focus. Prices for sake start at 600 yen (about $5US) per glass. It comes served in a slightly smaller version of the tasting cups with their characteristic pattern of blue circles in the bottom.

Food is lovingly prepared and various. Roasted Tuna Cheek sounds somewhat bizarre in English, but is succulent and delicious in any language.

I am fond of the delicacies listed in the old and battered menu under ``Red Devil Taste Treats.'' The excellent soba noodles handmade daily by the boss himself, I was surprised to hear, are currently most popular. It is not a large establishment, so it may be wise to book ahead.

2-15-3 Sangenjaya, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 154-0024. Tel. 03-3410-9918, fax 03-3487-6279. Hours: Mon.-Sat. 5:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m., closed Sun. and holidays. Nearest station: Sangenjaya, Tokyu Shintamagawa line. Around 5,000 yen (about $42US) per person.

DENGYOBO -- Sake is No. 1 here. So unbending is the policy that this is possibly the only restaurant in Japan with no beer. Those who like something fizzy to wash off the dust before getting down to serious sake business are met with a fragrant, carbonated cocktail of blended (ITAL) ginjo (uqTgrade of sake). Many of the wide range are custom-brewed and not for sale elsewhere.

The food, which arrives at a civilized and stately pace, is on a similar level. Order by course, from 5,000 yen upwards. If you choose the ``Clever'' course (10,000 yen plus sake) or the leave-it-to-us (ITAL) makase (uqTAL) course (15,000 yen plus sake) and call a halt before the last dish arrives, the difference (according to the number of dishes left untouched) will be deducted from your bill. Come with plenty of time and enough cash not to worry about the bill. 1-9 Yotsuya Wakaba, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0011. Tel. 03-5269-6696, fax 03-5269-6698. Hours: Mon.-Sat. 5 p.m.-11 p.m., closed Sun. Nearest station: Yotsuya, JR Chuo-Sobu lines and Marunouchi and Nanboku subways.

SAKE NO ANA -- I've been in some holes in my time, but ``The Sake Hole'' is definitely not one of them. It's smack in the middle of the Ginza, but not horrifically priced like many establishments in the area. Prices are by the (ITAL) ana (uqTAL), a mysterious unit of currency equal to 100 yen. A 180-milliliter serving of sake costs 5 ana for (ITAL) honjozo (uqTAL), 6 ana for (ITAL) junmaishu (uqTAL), 12 or 16 ana for (ITAL) ginjo (uqTAL). (ITAL) Nama (uqTAL) brews are served in 300-milliliter bottles at 1,200 yen or 1,500 yen (sorry, 12 or 15 ana).

The counter area is backed by air-conditioned shelves of bottles. You will be asked if you want your sake warm or cold. The cold stuff comes in a jug set in crushed ice.

Each place has a copper apparatus for warming sake. If, like me, you enjoy the shifts of flavor with temperature, this is a rare treat.

Reliable offerings from the Meimonshu-kaai, an association of producers and retailers, form the bulk of the range here. A number of the big makers (Kikumasa, Kenbishi, Kamozuru) are represented, which speaks for a welcome openness of mind.

Food is refreshingly inventive Japanese. These price levels of fare would be good news anywhere in Tokyo; in the Ginza, it seems miraculous. Their flexible style of serving sake is simply splendid, allowing play and study according to individual taste. A big hand for Sake no Ana.

Ginza Rangetsu, B1F, 3-5-8 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061. Tel. 03-3567-1133, fax 03-3562-5697. Hours: Mon.-Sat. 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m., Sun. and holidays 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Nearest station: Ginza, various subway lines.

(Philip Harper is the author of the newly released ``The Insider's Guide to Sake,'' Kodansha America, from which this article has been excerpted.)

(c) 1999, Philip Harper. Distributed by Los Angeles Times Syndicate.