Text by Alethea Tan
Photo: Lawrence Teo
Daisuke Shibuya, the head sommelier at one-Michelin-star restaurant Italian-Japanese Terra, developed his deep interest in collecting drinkware — ranging from coffee mugs crafted by Japanese potter Ryota Aoki to a beer glass from his favourite craft beer haunt, Blacklab Brewhouse in Barcelona — after a spontaneous trip to Las Vegas over 20 years ago.
Then 22, Shibuya, who was studying Culinary Arts at Santa Barbara Community College in the United States, sought a memento to mark the memorable stay. That came in the form of a stainless steel mug bearing the motif of a bandana-donning skull from the souvenir shop of Treasure Island Hotel & Casino, home to the iconic pirate ship on the Strip.
Although the innocuous mug has seen better days (its motif has faded from frequent use), it remains significant. It sparked the 43-year-old Japanese’s interest in collecting drinkware, which spans nearly 200 pieces. The mug has also survived two decades with Shibuya, including two country relocations and six residential moves in Singapore, where he has been based since 2012.
He says: “This mug is filled with memories. It has been with me for nearly half my life.” And thanks to its stainless steel make, it has survived many drinking sessions, Shibuya admits sheepishly — a destiny some pieces in his collection, unfortunately, did not share.
Shibuya, who assumed the head sommelier role at the Italian-Japanese restaurant in November 2023, displays half of his collection in his home here, while the other half resides in his parent’s home in Hokkaido.
A table filled with an eclectic collection of vessels in a heady hodgepodge of colours and designs resides at Terra for this interview. Shibuya has painstakingly brought about 50 pieces of his drinkware over the past three weeks to the restaurant for the photoshoot.
On his collecting mantra, he shares that most of them were bought not for prestige but for nostalgia. “I rarely buy expensive cups,” he says. “The cups I have collected are selected because they mean something to me. I have a memory associated with them that I want to remember.” The down-to-earth collector adds that he is “an oddball who likes collecting things that don’t always make sense to people”.
Marking milestones
Walking through Shibuya’s vessel collection is like reading the chapters of his life. The Treasure Island mug represents his culinary school journey and the friendships he forged in his early 20s. In contrast, a pair of Kutani-style cups with intricate nature designs in brilliant green, yellow, red, purple, and blue hues represents his love for Ishikawa Prefecture, which he visited in 2005.
Photo Lawrence Teo
“During my time in the United States, I realised how little I knew about my own country,” Shibuya lets in. “The people I met in the US knew a surprising amount about Japan — sometimes even more than I did.” That inspired him to start saving and eventually go on a quest to learn more about his country.
Armed with just a backpack of essentials and train passes, the Hokkaido native visited 43 of Japan’s 47 prefectures over a month. He relied on the kindness of friends to shelter him and occasionally camped out. During those trips, Shibuya also started learning about sake on his own. “I would buy a little bottle in every prefecture I visited and taste them to find out how they differ. It was a lot of fun,” he says with a laugh.
Other highlights in Shibuya’s collection include kuksa, a lightweight cup hand-carved from birch that was procured from his travels to Finland with his wife. He also purchased a pair of textured cups, glazed to mimic the architecture of Casa Batlló designed by renowned Catalan architect and designer Antoni Gaudi, in Spain.
An egalitarian sommelier
On the other hand, his Baccarat crystal glasses were purchased as a rite of passage for his sommelier journey. “There’s no real sense of uniformity here,” Shibuya reveals, smirking and gesturing to the exhibit before us. “But one common invisible thread is that most of these items were purchased during my travels.”
In some ways, Shibuya’s eclectic cup collection mirrors his approach to wines. The chef-turned-sommelier shares that he is relatively egalitarian when it comes to labels. “I am not a label drinker,” he says. “I like to taste and experience new wines, but if I always drink specific labels, I will never learn about new wines.”
“In fact, one of my sommelier mentors advised me to drink cheap wines when I first started,” he shares. “He said I would learn much about wine-making this way.” Every sommelier will naturally learn about the winery greats, but it takes an eager mind and curious palate to nose out the underdogs.
“When I come across a nice, cheap wine, I get excited,” he says with relish. “Because it usually means that the producer has put in extra effort during harvesting or pressing. This makes the wine even more interesting to me.”
It is, therefore, not surprising to see small-batch niche wines on Terra’s wine menu. Some of Shibuya’s picks include Domaine Nakajima’s Cabernet Franc from Nagano, Japan and Domaine Takahiko’s Nana-Tsu-Mori Pinot Noir, which hails from Hokkaido.
For sake, Terra boasts an ultra-rare Junmai Daiginjo MiROC from Shizuoka Prefecture, which has only 1,455 bottles produced. Only six bottles of the exclusive sake are available in Singapore and housed in the restaurant’s cellar.
From chef to sommelier
Shibuya’s switch to the wine world was somewhat accidental. After completing his culinary studies in the United States, he found a job as a chef in an Italian restaurant in Tokyo. Its intimate bar concept meant that Shibuya often donned multiple hats as the chef, server and even sommelier when guests asked him for wine recommendations.
Photo Lawrence Teo
This exposure piqued Shibuya’s interest in wines, paving the way for him to pursue his sommelier certification with the Japan Sommelier Association in 2009.
Today, Shibuya is Singapore’s only Japanese sommelier with a Gold Diploma from the Association de la Sommellerie Internationale, an organisation established in 1969 that has been instrumental in the global advancement of the sommelier profession.
He is also well-versed in sake — in 2020, Shibuya was invited to sit on the panel of the International Wine Challenge, one of the most respected associations in the field, as a sake judge.
With his vast knowledge of wine and sake, curating the beverages to pair with Terra’s omakase menu, which changes every few days depending on in-season ingredients from Japan and Italy, the job keeps him on his toes. Terra’s menu is helmed by head chef Melvin Chou, who whips up dishes with Japanese and Italian ingredients and techniques. Star dishes include sea urchin pasta and claypot risotto.
“Every morning, I will taste all of the restaurant’s opened bottles to test the condition of the wines,” Shibuya says. “Then I will select the wines and sake based on the day’s menu.” Drinking vessels at Terra have also been carefully curated by Shibuya — Kvetna stemware for wines and cold sake and beautiful Nosaku cups made from pure tin for warm sake.
“I usually serve the same sake twice, once cold and once warmer, because the flavours of both are very different,” he explains, motioning to the sake cups and carafe sourced from Toyama prefecture.
Shibuya plans to expand Terra’s drinks menu to include Japanese whiskies and highball cocktails. For these, he will purchase Kimura glasses, prized among bar professionals for their ultra-thin walls. “Every product from Kimura Glass is crafted with exquisite artistry,” Shibuya says. Their glasses are skinny and delicate, yet they carry a sense of tenderness.”
For his collection, Shibuya will be making a trip to Okinawa later this year, where he has his eye on the region’s speciality, Ryukyu glass — characterised by thick walls and bubbles embedded intentionally within the glass. “Like the cups I cherish from Aomori and Ishikawa — featuring local traditional craftsmanship — I value items deeply rooted in their region’s culture and heritage.”
Collector’s picks
Daisuke Shibuya shares his favourite drinkware and the memories behind them.
1. Metal mug from Treasure Island Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, USA
Photo Lawrence Teo
This ordinary mug has accompanied Shibuya for more than twenty years. From the US to Japan and Japan to Singapore, this vessel encapsulates half of Shibuya’s life memories. He has probably drunk everything from it, too — beer, juice, whiskey, and, yes, even wine. The best part? It is virtually indestructible.
2. Handcrafted sake cup gifted by a customer in Santa Barbara, USA
Photo Lawrence Teo
Gifted by a Japanese customer who frequented the first restaurant Shibuya worked at in Santa Barbara, this handmade sake cup represented the learnings he gleaned from his first mentor — the owner of the Japanese restaurant — and his memories at the start of his cooking career.
3. Kutani-style cups from Starbucks, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan
Photo Lawrence Teo
When Shibuya embarked on his trip across Japan, visiting 43 of the country’s 47 prefectures, he fell in love with Ishikawa prefecture. However, being cash-strapped and constantly on the road, he couldn’t purchase any vessels.
This pair of Kutani-style cups was discovered when Shibuya returned to the region, this time with a wife in tow. He bought this set to commemorate his halcyon days.
