Nov 6, 2010

Warmed sake and autumn leaves

Now that it is November, high atmospheric pressures are coming in series from the Asian Continent to Japan to cover the archipelago, and we are being favored by good weather lately. So, on November 5, I went on a hiking to Mt. Takao in Hachioji City, Tokyo.

This time, I took a ride of the chair lift to quickly gain elevation, and then reached the summit via the No. 2 and 3 trails of the Takao Nature Study Trails. Then, I walked farther westwards to the point called Icchodaira, which is located within about a 30-minute walking distance from the summit.

It seemed that the culmination of autumn leaves of Mt. Takao was yet to come, but along the ridge trails connecting the summit of Mt. Takao and Icchodaira, leaves of cherry trees and some other trees were turning into yellowish and reddish colors. In the spring, these cherry trees charmed us with beautiful sakura blossoms, and now in turn they were entertaining our eyes with autumn leaves.

Well, this time, I enjoyed drinking warmed sake over these beautiful autumn leaves. I had brought some snacks to eat with sake and put them on a table placed at Icchodaira. Then, I boiled water and put sake cartons in the hot water to warm them. In a few minutes, the sake was warmed nicely.

Incidentally, I prefer futsushu (regular sake) to high-end sake such as junmai or ginjo sake for warmed sake in a case like this since futsushu can be drunk more casually than high-end sake.

No comments: