The Grand Prix / Hidetsugu Ueno

Meet Hidetsugo Ueno. Since earning his bartender license certificate in 1992, Hidetsugo has competed as a finalist at the Bols International Cocktail Competition, as well as the Takara Cocktail competition for no less than three years in row, and that's on top of the other numerous prizes that he's won over the years. Today Hidetsugu owns his own venue in Tokyo called the Bar High Five.

Last May in Cuba, Hidetsugu Ueno took part in the Grand Prix as a member of the judging team and also hosted a workshop on the Japanese "way-of-bartending", techniques and philosophy. He had already performed one presentation in front of crowds in Berlin and Paris in 2009, at Bar Convent Berlin and at the Paris Bar Show respectively.

“Nowadays the Japanese way of bartending is quite popular with Western bartenders. But I wanted to convey that it’s different. The most important thing is to concentrate on what you are doing behind the bar every day, not what’s happening in the Far East.

I showed them it’s worth learning the differences, but then again, bartending is about what you can do best, in regards to your own situation.”

Getting more in depth about those differences between the Western and the Eastern way of bartending, Hidetsugu confesses: 
“I know each country has its own philosophy and mentality. But bartending styles can be divided in two categories in my opinion, which are the Western and Japanese. Japan as you know is an island, which hasn’t been influenced by other countries for a long time. Japan develops its own style in many fields, not only in bartending, but also in tea ceremonies and flower arranging. I think Japanese bartenders (and maybe Sushi chefs) are very conscious for being watched by the guests in front of them based on those traditions. That’s the most different part of bartending. “It’s not special, it’s just different. You could describe us as 'old school' as it’s fair to say we’ve been unlike Westerns for a long time. The bartending comes from the U.S.A. starting in the beginning of 1890’s. As you know, Japanese are good at making things their own way, and we've never changed this! Generation after generation, the Japanese 'old way of bartending' still remains quite unusual, such as using of a block of ice or a cobbler shaker, which would seem strange for the today's generation of young Westerners.”