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This is a Jiuta piece in the Tegotomono style from the Ikuta Ryű school . Sasa no Tsuyu (aka Sake) is also known as: Sake. This piece was composed for koto by Yaezaki Kengyo . This piece was composed for shamisen by Kikuoka Kengyo .

History (from Tsuge Gen'ichi)
The title literally means 'Dew-drops on a Bamboo Leaf.' However, sasa in old Japanese was another name for sake, or liquor made from rice, and the title should actually be understood in the second sense. Therefore, this piece is often called 'Sake,' as the text is nothing but a song in praise of sake.

Sasa no tsuyu was originally composed as a jiuta by Kikuoka of Kyoto, a blind master of kiuta, around the beginning of the last century. Later Yaezaki (1766?-1848) of Kyoto, a renowned virtuoso of the koto, arranged it for koto and shamisen ensemble. This is a typical tegoto-mono piece of the Kyoto style, with extensive instrumental interludes, or tegoto, involving numerous responsorial patterns, and demands performance skill of a high order.

Poem (translated by Tsuge Gen'ichi)
The sage
Confucius said
The drinking of sake
Knows no bounds-
He must have been
A very good drinker.
The Lord Buddha
Admonished that
Drinking involves
Thirty-six evils-
He must have been
A very poor drinker.
Be that as it may,
Susanowo

The god of Izumo
Subjugated the eight-headed dragon
With the thick sake
Of eight-fold brewings.
He owed his victory
To the virtue of sake
Even the great rock (1)
Ran away humbly
Before the Emperor's
Staggering drunkenness.

Empress Jingu (2)
Brewed sake
Auguring the return of her son.
This sake: Drink deeply!
Sasa, sasa!
This exclamation
Has been handed down
To us, and so
Drink up! Sasa!
Drink up! Sasa!

Liu Ling (3) and Li Po (4)-
Without sake
They would have been
Ordinary men.
Yoshino blossoms and Tatsuta leaves-
Without sake
They would be
Ordinary places.
Yoi, yoi yoi no
Yoiya sa!

(1) Refers to an episode in the Kojiki ('Record of Ancient Things,' the oldest extant book in Japanese, completed in 712), Vol. 2. The Emperor Ojin, drunk on wine brewed by a Korean named Susukori, rejoiced by walking along and singing a song. As he walked, he struck a large rock in the middle of the path with his staff whereupon the rock ran away.
(2) Refers to another episode in the Kojiki, Vol. 2 When the Crown Prince Honda Wake no Mikoto went back to the capital, his mother Okinaga Hime no Mikoto (Empress Jingu) brewed machi-zake ('waiting wine') - wine made while awaiting the return of a loved one - to be drunk after his arrival.
(3) Liu Ling (221-300), one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. Liu was chiefly known as a great drinker.
(4) Li Po (689-762), one of the most famous of Chinese poets, often wrote of the pleasure of wine and the beauty of nature.

Sasa no Tsuyu (aka Sake) appears on the following albums:

Album	Shakuhachi	Koto	Shamisen
Fujii Kunie Sokyoku Jiuta No Sekai 3  (Listen)	Yamaguchi Goro
Sasa no Tsuyu - Ikuta Ryu Sokyoku Tokusen - Vol 4  (Listen)
Seiha Hogakkai Play Favorites 03 - Kikuoka Kengyo  (Listen)
Sokyoku Jiuta Taikei 31  (Listen)		Nakanoshima Kin'ichi	Tomiyama Seikin V