Sante! French discover love of Japanese sake

PARIS, France: Toshiro Kuroda is a man on a mission. Over the past seven years he estimates he has introduced up to 50,000 people in France to the delights of the fermented rice drink sake with fans that include French actor Gerard Depardieu.

“When I started seven or eight years ago, nobody was doing tastings of the famous sakes. [Now] there is a growing interest and it’s partly thanks to me!” he told Agence France-Presse at a fair in Paris dedicated to the beverage which originated in Japan.