SAKE, KIMONO, and TABI

Looking back on 2011 (September to December)

2012-01-04T13:47:00.001+09:00

Yes, I know,it's already 2012, but I must finish this post before writing somethingsuitable for the New Year.

September

There is asmall settlement in the Mine district in the Okutama area of Tokyo. This settlement is a so-calledmarginal settlement, suffering depopulation and aging of its residents. On one Sundayof September, three-lion dances were performed at Hanaire Shrine in thisdistrict.

My car drovealong the north shore of Okutama Lake, tuned left halfway, went northwardalong the Minedani River, and then went upthe narrow road on the slope on the left. This was a quite steep slope. Around8:30, I got the Mine Seikatsu KaizenCenter (Life Improvement Center).

This place isat 760 meters above the sea level. There is a small field full of whitebuckwheat flowers. I saw red dragonflies flying here and there (this species isseen only on highlands in this season).

According toan old villager, there were only 15 households in this district, while one bandof three-lion dance consists of 16 people. There were only few people, so it isvery difficult to maintain this performing art. Actually, some performers arenow living in other towns or cities and they return to this district on theperforming day for the performance. However, there are not enough people forthe performance and they do not have members who play bamboo fifes. So, theyneed to play back taped fife music when they perform dances.

These liondances could successfully and uneventfully be performed this year, but howabout next year? I am afraid that they are on the verge of discontinuation.

October

October 1 isthe sake day, and I attended an event called "Tokyo Sake Train" onthis day.

In this event,a monorail train on the Tama Monorail line was chartered and sake drinkingparty was held on this train. The train left at the northernmost terminalKamikitadai, running southward to reach the Tama Center,the southernmost terminal, and then went backward to reach Tachikawa-KitaStation.

The TamaMonorail line is not a long line and the train ran just short distances in thisevent. If you take a train and ride on it along the same course as above, ittakes only 55 minutes. So, first I was afraid that we could not drink very muchbecause of short time. No problem! The train stopped at Tama Center Station forabout an hour. During this stop, we could continue talking with people andenjoying drinking. In addition, President Ishikawa from Ishikawa Brewery in Fussa Cityplayed harmonica for us (he is a good harmonica player).

So, we couldget friendly with fellow passengers and have a nice raucous drinking party.

Our saketrain was approaching to the final destination of Tachikawa-Kita Station, andit was already after dark. Suddenly, the lights in the train went out, and thecity lights in turn gained their luminosity. Viewing a nightscape from arunning train in this way was a quite rare and fantastic experience.

November

I attended a soba (buckwheat noodles) making classheld in Ome City.

The place ofthe class was facilities where visitors can enjoy a BBQ. So after the class, wehad a BBQ party, of course with sake.

I brought aspecial sake gadget called kandouko(sake warmer using charcoal) and used it to prepare warmed sake. I used the kandouko also for grilling mushrooms andother foods. It was also interesting to warm a food can on the grill of the kandouko.

We tried anew way of eating grilled mushrooms; grill some mushrooms; warm a shellfishcan; dip grilled mushrooms in the shellfish soup; and eat them. However thesoup was too sweetish!

December

I went to theamusement park Yomiuriland, where an electric spectacular event called Jewellminationwas being held. However, my purpose was not seeing these LED ornament butdrinking. In this amusement park, they had set up temporary food stands, whichwere collectively named the Jewel Hot Dining, and one of the food stands was carryingsake, and other alcohol beverages. Actually, one of my drinking friends is akey person of the park and had been engaged in this food service since itsplanning stage. He seemed to have been exercising his power to realize hisideal izakaya in the park. There werefive food stands and one carried a menu quite looking like that of an izakaya specialized in jizake (local sake). Besides sake, therewere, draft beers, whiskies, wines, shochu,and others. Moreover, snacks and foods selected by him made good pairing withthe drinks.

Looking back on 2011 (May to August)

2011-12-29T14:22:00.002+09:00

May

May is theend of spring or beginning of summer. Some days, we have moderate weather, andsome days, we also have very hot weather like in summer. One day, we had a walkalong the riversides of the Tama River in Okutama area.Rivers in summer days are beautiful.

June

On June 2,the ruling Democratic Party had a gathering before the parliamentary meeting.The then prime minister Naoto Kan stated his resignation inthis gathering. So, many of the lawmakers of the party decided not to voteagainst the no-confidence motion against the Cabinet to wait for the voluntaryresignation of the prime minister. As a result, the no-confidence motionagainst the Cabinet was voted down in the parliamentary meeting. However, onthe following day, Kandid state his intention to remain at his post. This was the first time to seesuch a cunning prime minister who deceived people in this way. I was very angryand I sent a protesting e-mail message to the prime minister's office. Hatoyamawas certainly a loopy man but still looked quite a good person compared with Kan at this time.

This monthstarted with such an offending political drama, and when I was in such anunpleasant mood, I would rather like to see something tranquilizing such as anold building. Anyway, as we had planned before, friends and I went to visit anold Japanese house in Machida City. This house iscalled "Buaiso," where Jiro Shirasu and his wife Masako lived before.I went through the front gate, saw a big persimmon tree behind the gate, andthere was a nicely maintained garden in front of the main building. This was anice house! The main building was a big thatch-roofed house. We enjoyed seeingthe interior and furnishings of the house showing the taste of Masako, who wasquite at home in antiques.

July

I often travelin summer with friends. This summer, we went to the Aizu area in Fukushima Prefecture. Tohoku areas had greatlybeen stricken by the earthquake and nuclear plant accident in March, and peopleand business in these areas were quite devastated. We had heard that visitorsfrom other prefectures decreased in number compared with the same season of ausual year. So, we just wanted to visit one of these areas for the sightseeingbusiness of the area.

In Kitakata City, we visited Yamatogawa Shuzo SakeBrewery. "Kasumochi Genshu Yauemonsake" was sweet sake, which used koji about twice as much as usual sake.

August

Chiefly insummer, in the Okutama, Ome, and Akiruno areas in Tokyo,the Chichibu area in Saitama Prefecture, and otherKanto areas, they perform "sasara-shishimai" or"sanbiki-shishimai" lion dances dedicating to Shinto deities ofvarious shinto shrines. This year, we could visit and see sasara-shishimai lion dances at Suwa Shrine in Saitama Prefecture.These dances were familiar to enthusiasts of lion dances of this type.

These dancesare performed as prayers for bountiful harvests, lasting peace of the nation,prevention of epidemics, etc. So, when our nation is suffering like in thisyear, it is meaningful to perform such dances.

Looking back on 2011 (January to April)

2011-12-24T11:40:00.000+09:00

January
At the beginning of this year, I visited Sawanoien, the rest station operated by Ozawa Syuzou brewery and bought a fukubukuro (lucky bag). I expected that this year would be a happy year. Of course, I never dreamed at that time that our country would suffer that big earthquakes and subsequent fatal accidents in the nuclear plant in Fukushima.

February

I often played with wild birds. I needed about three months to tame this Japanese great tit, and it finally became to feed directly from my hand. I set a birdhouse on a tree in front of my house. I could also shoot video of birds with a camera set in the birdhouse. Some of my video works show how the birds hatched eggs and brought up chicks. You can access my Youtube channel to watch these works.

March

Niigata-Sake-no-Jin (Niigata Sake Festa) was one of the biggest annual sake events for me. I was to attend the event and have test of Niigata-Seishu-Tatsujin-Kentei (Niigata Sake Expert Test) there. On March 11, I was practicing sake tasting in the morning in preparation for this test, and the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred in the afternoon on the same day. Inevitably, the sake festa event and test were cancelled.

April

In this season of a usual year, you can see people having outdoor sake drinking parties under cherry trees in full blossom. However, they were not very willing to have such upbeat parties when it was just about a month after the catastrophic blows caused by that series of the earthquakes and fatal accidents at the nuclear plant. I even thought that the word jishuku (voluntary restraint) would be selected as a one of the most popular words of the year when event organizers were cancelling various happy upbeat festivals, parties, and other gatherings. When people were in such a negative devastating mood, some sake breweries in the Tohoku Area (disaster-stricken area) made a move. They created some video streams and uploaded them to Youtube, The video said, "Please drink sake while admiring cherry blossoms." I felt like I was cheered up by people in the Tohoku area.

Sake restaurant for stylish ladies

2011-12-13T15:45:00.003+09:00

I would liketo write about a sake restaurant Mamiana in Tachikawa City,Tokyo. Unlikemany izakayas in Japan, thisrestaurant is quite sophisticated and it is easy for a woman to enter thisrestaurant even when she is alone (many people in Japan still tend to thinkthat an izakaya is a place for men ordrunkards, and woman's entering such a restaurant alone gives an impressionthat she is quite a heavy drinker or another negative impression).

Now that beerand other types of overseas alcohol beverages have gain in popularity in

Japan

,consumers, especially young people, do not lately drink sake very much. One ofthe reasons why sake is not popular among young people is that they have theprejudice that sake is not "sophisticated" or sake smells"bad." We have been watching scenes on TV and in movies in whichsenior and middle-aged men drink sake in tatami-flooredrooms in old houses, at messy izakayas,at food stands on streets, and in other cheap settings. In brief, thesesake-drinking people do not look very cool, and probably, these scenes havehelped people conceive negative images about sake.

Well, howsuch prejudice like that I described above can be wiped out from young peopleto usher them to the wonderful world of sake? I feel Mamiana is showing ananswer to this question.

In Mamiana, lightlilting music is playing. The interior of the restaurant gives a clean, freeand easy impression, creating a somewhat urban atmosphere. Working women ontheir way home may feel free to drop in at this restaurant and enjoy some sakewith nice foods.

I think, fromthe video works provided below, which I made before, you can see the atmospherein this isakaya.

The woman inthis video seems to have a habit of straightening her index finger when she holdsa sake cup. It is good that this is not her middle finger.

If she comesinto this izakaya alone, she willprobably drink sake like the way in this video.

Sake-lovingmen shall take their girlfriends, wives, partners, etc. to this izakaya to introduce them to a stylishway of drinking sake. This, I think, will contribute to expanding the sakemarket in Japan.

Amusement park where a sake sommelier resides

2011-12-05T14:53:00.004+09:00

If you plan to stay in the Tokyo area in this winter and want to have some special sake experience, I would recommend you to visit the amusement park Yomiuriland. The park is now holding a limited-time event named Jewellumination. This is an electric spectacular event, which ornaments the park with LED lights of seven jewelry colors.

And, you must think what this illuminations event has to do with sake? Actually, one of my drinking friends is a key person in food service of this event. They have set up food stands named "Jewel Hot Dining" on the park premises under his instructions. However, he is not an ordinary manager, but he is a kikisake-shi (sake sommelier) and a great sake drinker. So, naturally he demanded the restaurant serve his selection of sake bottles and other favorite alcohol beverages as well as foods to be paired with these drinks. The Jewel Hot Dining consists of five food stands, and one of them is, thus, providing alcohol beverages and foods. There, you can enjoy wonderful electric illumination with nice sake, beer, whisky, and other beverages.

The menu includes the following sake names:

Sake:
  Dassai (獺祭)
  Houken (宝剣)
  Oroku Kei (王祿の渓)
  Okunokami (屋守)
  Kamoshibito Kuheiji (醸し人九平次)
  Jikon (而今)
  Ugo-no-Tsuki (雨後の月)
  etc.

Warm Sake:
  Daishichi Junmai Kimoto (大七純米生酛)
  etc.

Other alcohol beverages on the menu include local draft beers, wines, cocktails, whiskies, shochu, awamori.

You know, this is not an izakaya restaurant specialized in sake, but a mere food stand temporarily set up in the park!

Besides, the sake sommelier did not fail to give consideration to one thing especially important for drinkers. He demanded there should be public lavatories close to the food stands, and actually temporary facilities have been set up for these food stands. So, we drinkers can continue drinking at ease.

I asked a waitress at the food stand whether she likes sake, and she said she had not been drinking sake before, and have not known sake was so nice. I am pleased if young people like her become more familiar with sake and understand the virtue of sake.

Access:
  Get off the train at Keio Yomiuriland Mae on Keio Sagamihara Line.
  Take Sky Shuttle Gondola to the main gate.

Jewllumination & Jewel Hot Dining Operating Period:
  November 11, 2011 to March 11, 2012
  (For operation days, check the calendar:

Increasingly, Ichibay big into kandouko (sake warmer)

2011-12-02T14:44:00.001+09:00

I wrote about the kandouko sake warmer in a post little time ago, and recently I bought another kandouko in an Internet auction. So, I have two such articles now, and since each one has a sake serving capacity just for two or three drinkers, having two probably allows me to hold a home drinking party for five to six people (I often drink in a group of five or six drinkers).

Anyway, I carried out a test run of my new kandouko.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, I shot video of this test run and made a short movie.

I, who want to introduce warmed sake culture to people all over the world, give explanation of this kandouko in Russian in this movie. One of the preconceptions about Russians prevailing among people is that they are heavy drinkers. So, this time, I decided to make a movie in Russian language so that Russian-speaking people could learn some knowledge about sake. As a matter of fact, the language is not a big issue about this video, which is a good point of many video works. You know, this video is quite comprehensible. You would understand what I am talking about even if I were speaking in Spanish, Thai, Japanese, Chinese, or whatever language in this video.

By the way, I made a successful bid for this beautiful, tasteful article with an old wooden box only for JPY 3900. I think I was very lucky.

This kandouko has rather a shallow brazier with a relatively large caliber, burning charcoal well and heating sake quickly beyond my expectation. Probably, the rounded shape of the device cuts the water capacity, contributing to shortening of the time for warming water and sake. This is an easy-to-use kandouko.

Outdoor warmed sake

2011-11-21T14:36:00.002+09:00

Last week, I thought it would be nice to go to Okutama Lake and see autumn leaves. So, my friend and I went to the lake.

If you go westward along the road on the north lakeside, across the Minedani-bashi Bridge, and through the tunnel, you will find a float bridge on Okutama Lake. The float bridge connects the north and south sides of the lake. We got off the bus at a bus stop on the lake and got to the north end of the float bridge. It was already past noon.

Formerly, they used oil drums as floats of this bridge, which was, therefore, called "Drum Bridge." Now, they are using float made of some plastic material. Because they discontinued using drums or for another reason, this bridge is not called "Drum Bridge" any longer. Instead, it is called just "Mugiyama Float Bridge" (Mugiyama seems to be a name of a place). To me, "Drum Bridge" sounds nicer, but actually no drums are used for the bridge. So, maybe there is no longer a reason to include "drum" in the name of this bridge.

We walked on this interesting shaky bridge to the opposite side. Then, we walked for about an hour along the trail on the south shore, to reach "Yama no Furusato Mura," which is facilities, where visitors can have lunch at the restaurant, learn about nature of the Okutama area, enjoy camping, and do other activities.

As to autumn leaves, it was still early for seeing the most beautiful colors. Maybe, this weekend will be fine? Anyway, while hearing chirping wild birds, and walking on rustling fallen leaves is quite relaxing and refreshing.

At the restaurant of "Yama no Furusato Mura," we had a late lunch. The fried Okutama Yamame Trout was nice.

After the lunch, I used my portable gas stove to boil some water outside the restaurant. I placed a small bottle of sake in the warmed water to make warmed sake.

The table and benches were in the warm afternoon sunshine, and staying there was cozy. However, when it was close to three o'clock, the sun moved to behind the western mountains. Then, suddenly, it became cold. We realized we were in mountains, and it was good that I had prepared my equipment for warmed sake.

Ichibay lately big into kandouko (sake warmer)

2011-11-19T14:12:00.002+09:00

The portable kandouko is a cute and tasteful sake warmer. Since I got a small one in an auction on the Internet, I have often used this device to enjoy warmed sake. It is not such a large device for sufficient and steady supply of warmed sake for five or more drinkers, but it is a cool device for two or three drinkers. Low priced sake such as regular sake, junmai sake, and honjozo sake is good enough with this device.

You pour some water in a kandouko, and place burning charcoal in the brazier in this device. The heat of the charcoal warms up the water. So, you put a flask or another vessel containing sake in the warmed water and wait. Soon, the sake becomes warm.
(For details about the kandouko, see this post: "Finally got a kandouko (sake warmer)!"

The kandouko is not merely a sake warming device, but it also serves as a tiny hibachi. You can set a grill on the brazier and cook some food while warming and sipping your sake. You can grill dried fish, shiitake mushrooms, and other foods. This way of drinking may look somewhat poorish, but it is folksy, and I feel like I can flatter myself that I am a bearer of sake culture.

Lately, I am practicing a new way of using my kandouko; I warm canned food on the brazier

If you are interested in warm sake, how about getting a kandouko?

Shoot a target and get canned food!

2011-11-11T10:25:00.002+09:00

(Sequel to the previous post)

After drinking at Sawanoi-en until early afternoon, we moved to the BBQ facilities Rengado Akatombo.

Rengado Akatombo has a large roofed BBQ site. On this day, it was rainy and food stalls were set up under the roof. A performance stage was also placed under the roof (the stage is set up outside in usual years, but it was a rainy day). On the stage, music, funny dances, Japanese traditional performing arts, and other performances were presented.

However, not being interested in such performances very much this time, we were busy drinking and chatting.

Almost all the seats were occupied at the large roofed BBQ site. However, there was another building across the yard beside the roofed BBQ site. In this cabin-like building, there were a few tables with seats, some of which were still vacant. In this place, visitors could enjoy a shooting game. A player of this game was to mount on a machine horse back like one known as the brand name of Rodeo Boy. This machine, moving up and down, right and left, and back and forth, makes it difficult for a shooter to aim at a target. You can shoot three times for 300 yen. If you hit a target, you will be given a can of food.

By the way, I saw an acquaintance when we left Sawanoi-en, and she recommended wasabi croquette sold at Rengado Akatombo. So, I bought it and ate it.

This croquette was like a usual potato croquette but it included wasabi stems and leaves. In addition, the woman at the shop spread a lot of green wasabi paste on it before giving it to me. The croquette was spicy and tasty.

At the table, while eating the wasabi croquette and drinking Ichiban-gumi Nigori, which was a special version of Ichiban-gumi and sold only at this place, the president of the brewery appeared. Since I often go Sawanoi-en and attend various sake-drinking events held by the brewery, I have acquaintance with him. So, he kindly brought us some delicious gyozas. By the way, these gyozas were sold by a restaurant, which is usually operating near Okutama Terminal Station on JR Ome line. Once, I went to this restaurant, but all the seats were occupied at that time and I couldn't eat any. So, I was happy that I could eat these gyozas this time.

Also, women sitting in the place just beside me kindly gave us a food can, canned mackerel boiled with miso soybean paste. They said they tried a shooting game, successfully hit a target, and won this can. Thanks!

We ate this canned food after boiling it directly with a spirit lamp. Hot boiled mackerel was nice with Sawanoi sake. Maybe, I want to try this style for myself later.

"Ichiban-gumi" and "Shiboritate"

2011-11-01T20:28:00.001+09:00

I got to Sawanoi-en at around 10 o'clock. It was a bit rainy.

On October 22nd, Ozawa Syuzou, the brewer of Sawanoi sake, held an open-brewery event. Many people who love Sawanoi sake gathered at brewery for the brewery's sake including this year's new brew.

Since I saw many people getting off the train at Sawai Station and they were undoubtedly heading for the brewery, I expected the brewery would get crowded soon. I knew many of these people would first buy tickets for the sake tasting. They could enter a brewery's building, where every type of Sawanoi sake bottles was placed on tables so that they could taste the sake. However, I decided to skip the sake tasting this year. I passed by the ticket selling place, headed for the Sawanoi-en rest station, bought a small bottle of warmed sake and oden, and occupied a table, because I anticipated that my friends would join me later.

Warmed sake with oden was a good starter for this day's long lasting "drinking party."

It is a bit cold and warmed sake is especially nice in such conditions.

Soon, the rest station began crowded. People, apparently a family, came to my table and asked if they could share the table with me. When a drinking place is crowded, people must make mutual concessions and have a good time over sake. So, of course, I let them sit at my table with pleasure. Saying they were from Mitaka City, they were admiring a beautiful Tama River running by the pavilion of the rest station. Actually, the water was murky due to the rain and it was not very beautiful to me. I somewhat in a roundabout way said, "In fine weather, the river is clearer." Nevertheless, the young woman, seemingly a daughter of the middle-aged couple, seemed to be satisfied with the sight, saying, "The river is beautiful all the same."

I thought maybe they were great lovers of nature.

Later on, my friends, acquaintances, and those who came with them joined me. Now, we were five people and our table became crowded and lively. The place was a bit cramped for room but it was pleasant to drink with many people.

On this day, we chiefly drank Shiboritate and Ichiban-gumi. Both were non-pasteurized new sake. Many said that they liked Ichiban-gumi better than Shiboritate, but I preferred Shiboritate. However, as we continue drinking or as we got drunk, the difference between them became insignificant.

（To be continued）

Tokyo Sake Train

2011-10-24T15:42:00.001+09:00

The Tama Monorail line, crossing JR Chuo line at right angles near Tachikawa Station, runs north to south. It is quite a short line and, actually, it takes only 36 minutes to travel from Kamikitadai, the north end station, to Tama Center, the south end. The event of "Tokyo Sake Train 2011 Autumn," which chartered a monorail train of this line, was held on October 1. The participants could enjoy the ride of this train while drinking various sakes brewed in Tokyo. I was among the participants on this day, the sake day, a perfect day for enjoying sake!

My friend and I, after going through the acceptance procedure At Kamikitadai Station, got on the train, found our specified seats, and got seated. The cars were just ordinary commuter cars having long benches on which passengers were to be seated their backs facing against the windows. However, this time, tables had been brought in each car, and arranged between the benches. Placed on the tables were bottles of Tokyo sake.

After leaving Kamikitadai Station, the train was to go to Tama Center Station, and it was to turn back and reach Tachikawa Kita Station. Then, the event was to be over. The travel time between Kamikitadai to Tama Cneter is 36 minutes and Tama Center to Tachikawa Kita is 24 minutes. So, actual time of our ride was only 50 minutes. Don't you think this time length is too short to enjoy sake to your heart's content?

Actually, this train had a long stop of 55 minutes at Tama Center. During this stop, the participants could continue drinking at their seats, visit other cars to find any good sake or people to talk with, or get out of the train to move onto the platform. On the platform, a live concert by President Ishikawa of Ishikawa Brewery, the producer of Tamajiman Sake, was being held. So, this event was more enjoyable than I expected. When the train was stopped, we could easily walk around in the cars and had no difficulty to pour sake

After dark, somewhere before Tachikawa Kita, the lights in the train were turned off, and we could enjoy the nightscape from the train running on the raised monorail track. It must be a rare opportunity to look down the nightscape from the inside of a dark train.

After having a look at the Saru-hashi Bridge, I want to drink Gokyo.

2011-10-08T22:09:00.000+09:00

September 9, 2011. Heavy rainfall that was brought by Typhoon 12 to various areas in Japan had changed the water of the Katsura River, which I suppose usually is a clear stream, in to a murky torrent. The flow was crushing with roaring sounds into rocks and cliffs of the gorge. Above the torrent, against a background of a clear blue sky, is some elaborate structure connecting the cliffs on both sides. This is a bridge called Saru-hashi, one of the Japan's three unusual bridges.

The Saru-hashi Bridge is a wooden bridge spanning the Katsura River running through the Ohtsuki City, Yamanashi Prefecture. This bridge has uncommon structure. The following explains how this bridge was constructed:
1. Holes were bored on the cliffs on both sides of the river.
2. Square timbers were inserted in the holes so that the timbers jutted out from the cliffs slightly upward.
3. The second timbers were laid on the first timbers jutting to the air. At this time, the second timbers jutted farther into the air than the first timbers.
4. Then, the third timbers were laid on the second so that the third timbers jutted farther than the second.
5. Thus, timbers were laid on timbers, and the jutting structures on the both cliffs grew close to each other.
6. When the jutting structures become close enough to each other, the upper part of the bridge was placed on them.
7. In this way, this bridge was constructed.

This beautiful wooden bridge has tiny roofs on each of its beams and timbers to protect them from rain, boasting elaborate and splendid architecture.

By the way, when watching this bridge, I naturally came across the question that what are the rest two of the Japan's three unusual bridges. So, I conducted investigation and learned that one is the Kintaikyo Bridge in Iwakuni City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. As to the other, there seem to be several assertions. Some say it is the Shinkyo Bridge in Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture, others say it is the Kazura Bridge in Tokushima Prefecture.

Anyway, it seems that at least the Kintaikyo Bridge is counted as one of them. This bridge has four bridge piers, and three small wooden arches connect these four piers. Another two wooden bridges connect the outer-most two piers with the banks on both sides of the river. Thus, a total of small five bridges are connected, forming one long bridge. I have ever seen this bridge on TV, but I have never visited there to see it. Some day, I want to see it.

By the way, did you know that the Kintaikyo Bridge is also called Kintai Gokyo (Kintai Five Bridges)? Did you know sake named Gokyo produced in Iwakuni City was named after this bridge?

So, my thought started at the Saru-hashi Bridge and finally came to sake! Suddenly, I wanted to drink Gokyo. Yes, yes! I really wanted to drink it while thinking of that beautiful Kintaikyo Bridge.

I went out to the liquor shop nearby and got this sake.

Izakaya restaurant where there are many women customers

2011-09-27T14:00:00.003+09:00

Before, customers of general izakayas were mostly men. Any special attention for ladies was not paid in the interior or service of a typical izakaya, which was not decorated very elaborately. Men seemed to be happy as long as they could drink nice alcohol beverages and eat good foods at reasonable prices. Lately, however, izakaya restaurants that have factors of beautifulness in interiors, spiffiness, cuteness, etc., which attract attention from women, are increasing in number. Such restaurants are easier for women customers to enter.

Asedaku Shinsuke in Tachikawa City may fall under the category of such izakaya restaurants.

This restaurant is operating at a small plot ten-odd meters off from a lively street. When opening a sliding door at the front, you are ushered into a space, which is furnished with a light-tone-veined woody counter and tables, creating a unified and cozy relaxing mood. When my friend and I were there, two men were working behind the counter and two or three women were working as waitresses.

After getting seated at the counter, an Italian-style bagna càuda was brought as an otohshi appetizer (an izakaya usually takes cover charges and gives you a small dish).

We could not find many names of sakes on the menu sheet, but when we asked whether they carried any sakes other than those on the menu, we knew they carried interesting sakes. At this time, we ordered Yamada (brewery unknown), Konaki Junmai (Chiyomusubi Shuzo), and Aki-tombo (Izumibashi Shuzo) and two dishes. Their foods used good-looking plates and dishes and were beautifully arranged on them, which seemed to be liked by women.

During my drinking, I suddenly notice that, to my little surprise, most customers were women and there were just two men, I and the other one, who was with a woman.

During my drinking, I suddenly notice that, to my little surprise, most customers were women and there were just two men, I and the other one, who was with a woman.

To change the subject, recently my YouTube channel, to which I have been uploading my video works since May of 2007, has reached the playback count of 200,000. Since I have uploaded a total of 611 works until as of today, this number may be no wonder. However, I am happy to see increase in the number of my channel viewers. Thank you, viewers. The video below was not shot at the izakaya Asedaku Shinsuke I described above but at Oumi, which I haunt. This time, my camera was out of order and could not record my and friend's voices, so I added a sound track that was provided by the YouTube site.

Sanbiki-shishimai--three-lion dance (2)

2011-09-20T23:14:00.001+09:00

This is the sequel to the prior post of "Sanbiki-shishimai--three-lion dance."

Usually, a three-lion dance is performed by three men (they dance wearing headgears looking like monster heads while beating drums tied onto their waists) and four sasara players (hanagasa dancers) (they may be men, women, or children wearing headgears with imitation flowers and they dance while playing sasara instruments). In addition to these members, there are those who dance and shout for the lion dancers to be encouraged and some harlequins or clowns wearing funny masks. Some clowns dance with somewhat obscene objects in their hands such as one resembling a big penis. Also, there are bamboo fife players and singers. However, such an organization described above is a basic organization and there may be variations. The three-lion dances in every district vary in dance, music (fifes, drums, etc.), costumes, and other elements. I believe that knowing such differences adds to the pleasure of watching these lion dances.

This time, I will write about the lion dances inherited at the following shrines and a temple in three districts:
Aoki Shrine in the Ohtaba district in Okutama Town, Tokyo
Jofukuin Temple in the Kami-nariki district in Ome City, Tokyo
Suwa Shrine in the Shimo-naguri district in Han-noh City, Saitama Prefecture

At Aoki Shrine, their three lion dances are performed in late August and the Ohtaba district, where Aoki Shrine is located, is in the eastern part of Okutama Town, sharing a border with the east, adjacent city of Ome. Actually, there is a mountain path that runs from this place to the Kami-nariki district via Nasaka Pass (this route is also called Tokyo Metropolitan Route 202, Kami-nariki Kawai Line).

In the Kami-nariki district, there is a temple named Jofukuin. To the south west of this temple is Mt. Takamizu. Near the summit of this mountain stands the Fudo-do, a temple building dedicated to Fudo Myopo (Acala Vidyârâja). Every year, on the Sunday of April that is closest to April 8, which is believed to be the birthday of Buddha, three-lion dances are performed in front of the building. So, these dances are probably more widely known as three-lion dances of Mt. Takamizu than as those with the modifier of Jofukuin Temple or Kami-nariki. The ridge lying in the north of the Kami-nariki district borders Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture, and people in the Kami-nariki and Shimo-naguri districts in olden days intercommunicated with each other via Kosawa Pass on the ridge (modern people can drive cars to come and go through the Kosawa Tunnel that runs under the pass).

At Suwa Shrine in the Shimo-naguri district, three-lion dances are performed on Saturday and Sunday close to August 25. They perform their dances as rehearsal on Saturday and then real thing on Sunday.

These 3 three-lion dances are said to be in the same bloodline. The dances of Aoki Shrine were first started about 350 years ago. Then, the dances were brought over Nasaka Pass into the Kami-nariki district and handed to Jofukuin Temple in the place. Later, they were in turn brought over Kosawa Pass into Shimo-naguri district. So, they are like brothers and have many similarities. However, the dances of each district have acquired their own individuality in the course of time. I think it is interesting to compare the dances of these three districts.

Last year, I went to Aoki Shrine in the Ohtaba district to see their dances, the eldest among those of the three districts. At that time, a dance of Mt. Takamizu and dance of Suwa Shrine from Shimo-naguri were also performed as special performances. Since the dances of the same program "San-byoshi" from the three different districts were performed, the audience could watch these dances and compare them. Unfortunately, I was late for these programs and could not watch them.

Nonetheless, I visited these thee places at separate opportunities to watch dances, and shot video of these dances. So, I can now watch and compare these dances.

Among many programs of three-lion dances, "Mejishi-gakushi," or hiding of the female lion, is one of my favorites. This usually lasts for about two hours and is one of the longest programs. In the story of this program, the two male lions scramble for the female lion. First the younger male successfully takes the female to his place and gets her alone. Wondering where the female is, the older male looks for her to find what is happening. Then, he tempts her to join him, and he successfully takes her to his place and gets her alone. Then, in turn, the younger lion finds what is happening and tempts her. In this way, they scramble for the female.

Especially, I like scenes where a male tempts the female and I consider these scenes to be important high points. The female, who first hesitates to go with a new male, is gradually moved by the new male, and finally leave the old male to go with the new one. I think these scenes well express a woman's mind that is not easily settled between two males.

I have picked up such scenes from those different three programs and have got together them in one movie. So, please watch and enjoy the three-lion dances of Aoki Shrine in Otaba, those of Mt. Takamizu, and those of Suwa Shrine in Shimo-naguri.

Ge-ge-ge no Nemurizake

2011-09-17T16:34:00.002+09:00

Recently, when I went to Yamanashi Prefecture for picking grape in a grape farm, I dropped in Sasaichi, a sake brewery in Ohtsuki City. There, I bought a bottle of sake named "Ge-ge-ge no
Nemurizake" (the bottle has a label on which a picture of the Japan's cartoon or anime hero Ge-ge-ge no Kitaro is drawn). Sasaichi is selling several types of sake that have characters from anime, movies, TV programs, etc. on their labels. For example, there are Ken-oh (an alias name of Raoh from the action anime "Fist of North Star"), Alien Baltan (an alien who has a head resembling a cicada and big claws like a lobster from Ultraman, an SF TV drama), and others. It is interesting to me that I can see such characters on sake labels.

Well, "Nemurizake" literally means sleeping sake, so will I get sleepy if I drink this? Or, was this named so because it had been sleeping? Actually, this junmai ginjo sake had been sleeping in a wine barrel for aging (Sasaichi is also producing wine and they used their wine barrels for aging sake).

By the way, one of my problems is that I often get sleepy when I drink sake, even when I was with a good-looking lady. It doesn't mean I drink too much and get sick. I am just having a doze for a short break. Usually, I will get awake in 30 minutes to an hour, and become able to continue drinking normally. I remember my grandfather, who was a heavy drinker, also had a similar drinking style, often having a doze when drinking, and starting drinking after a while. So, maybe, I inherit my grandfather's drinking style.

Now, I will write about my experiences that somewhat troubled me due to my being prone to have a doze while drinking.

The first story I am telling you occurred when my friends and I were drinking in an izakaya. At that time, I got sleepy as usual, while the others were enjoying chat over sake. I was sleeping comfortably with my head in my arms at the table, faintly hearing the friends enjoying sake.

According to my friend, the izakaya mistress came to our table while I was sleeping and said,
"Oh, this man is sleeping."
One of my friends answered,
"He is all right, just having a short break, and we will continue drinking here and order other foods and sake." (She was suggesting that we did not intend to use this restaurant just as a sleeping place and were willing to order additional foods and sake.)
Then, this mistress insisted,
"A person who falls into a doze while drinking tends to get sick badly, so you should leave this place with him now."
In this way, we were driven out of this izakaya, although we had not drunk enough. I feel sorry for those who were with me at that time. Anyway, the izakaya had to be more generous to allow me to have just a short doze, hadn't they?

At another time, I went to another izakaya for some sake with a lady. We sat at the counter and started drinking. Then, I got sleepy as usual. Although I felt sorry for her, I had just a short doze.

It seemed that she, being bored having no one to speak with, ordered various foods and sake, and drank and ate and drank and drank.

When I woke up, I knew she had completely got drunk and couldn't make even a step. It took maybe more than 20 minutes to reach the station dragging her while it would take just a minute or so under normal conditions. So, I had such a hard time then. And, I learned I should never make a lady drink alone in some ways.

Anyway, as to this Ge-ge-ge no Nemurizake, in my personal opinion, I felt it was somewhat gaudy in taste and not easy to drink. Maybe, there is a good food pairing or good way of drinking for this sake.

Sanbiki-shishimai--three-lion dance

2011-09-08T15:10:00.004+09:00

Sanbiki-shishimai, or three lion dance is a form of local performing art that is usually performed to pray for bountiful harvests, security and prosperity of the nation, protection from disasters and epidemics, etc. in precincts of shrines and temples as offering to Shinto gods or Buddha. This performing art has been handed down from generation to generation for several hundred years.

In Japan, especially in the Kanto area, there are many districts, where three lion dances are performed. Tokyo also has such districts and many of them are in the western part in mountainous places such as Okutama Town, Ome City, Akiruno City, Hinohara Village, and so on.

A typical three-lion dance band consists of three persons wearing headgears resembling lion heads (actually they do not look like lions, but people in olden days, who had never seen the lion, used their imagination to make these headgears), four sasara players (a sasara is a musical instrument made of bamboo and is used to make rubbing sound), several to over ten bamboo fife players, and clowns, and other members. However this constitution is a typical example and a slight or significant variation may be seen according to the band (e.g., six sasara players instead of four).

Now, let's see how these dances are performed:

You can see there are various costumes, various types of music, and various movements.

August is probably the high season of three-lion dances in Tokyo. Actually, I visited three places to see theses dances last month (August). And, August is the hottest month of the year, and they perform these dances with heavy headgears. This must be very, very hard work! Anyway, August is over now, the summer heat has been softened, and a new sake season is just around the corner. Now, the cooler it becomes, the more delicious sake becomes, and I suddenly want to have warmed sake.

Four Tokyo Sakes

2011-08-31T22:55:00.001+09:00

Recently, I drank four types of sake that come from my neighboring three cities of Fussa, Akiruno, and Ome. The sakes are Tamajiman (多満自慢), Kasen (嘉泉), Kisho (喜正), and Sawanoi (澤乃井). They are all namazake (nonpasteurized sake) of honjozo or tokubetsu honjozo.

These sakes are those I often drink without paying any special attention, but this time I compared them with each other, and could find differences between them. Interesting.

Ishikawa Brewery Tamajiman Namataro (石川酒造多満自慢生太郎) Honjozo Namazake
Tasty sake with a rich namazake flavor, slight sweetness, and meaningful taste

Tamura Shuzoujou Kasen (田村酒造場嘉泉) Tokubetsu Honjozo Nama
Dry sake with a flinty clean-cut taste. It also exhibits a flavor of koji, giving a bold impression.

Nozaki Syuzou Kisho (野崎酒造喜正) Honjozo Nama
Sake with a flavor of namazake and meaningfulness. Impressive sake.

Ozawa Syuzou Sawanoi (小澤酒造澤乃井) Honjo Nama
A dry and clean taste with acidity.

I don't intend to say which one is nice or which one is bad. However, in terms of my preference, I would choose Kisho. I myself usually do not think of pairing with foods and just drinking sake without food is also O.K. with me. In such a case, flinty clean dry sake with rather strong acidity like Sawanoi Honjo Nama may not be suitable for drinking it singly. However, such sake is maybe nice when you are eating various foods.

Yamatogawa Shuzouten and Grilled "Basashi"

2011-08-10T17:56:00.005+09:00

Recently, my friends and I visited to the Kitakata City, Fukushima Prefecture. We stayed at Hotel Fujiya located in the Atsushio-Onsen district, which we could reach after driving the car northward from the center of Kitakata City for about 10 minutes. The hotel was a typical Japanese onsen ryokan, where we ate, drink, and slept in tatami-matted rooms, wearing yukata, and enjoyed onsen hot spring.

We arrived at the hotel quite early at around 11 o'clock. Someone from the hotel was to bring us to Yamatogawa Shuzouten (大和川酒造店) in Kitakata City.

After leaving our car keys with the hotel, Mr. Takahashi, front desk clerk, gave us a ride to Yamatogawa Shuzouten. On the way to Yamatogawa, however, we wanted to have lunch. Kitakata City is famous for its Kitakata ramen, and, in addition, there seemed to be anything to eat that could be recommended.

We didn't need to waver in our decision, and decided to eat Kitakata ramen at Kiichi as recommended by Mr. Takahashi. According to him, Kitakata ramen generally uses soy-sauce based soup. However, he recommended Sio Ramen of this restaurant, which is salt-based. He said they were using special salt, which was contained in the hot spring waters springing somewhere in the mountains beyond the Atsushio-Onsen district.

After being seated at the counter, I ordered Sio ramen according to his recommendation, and Sio ramen came after a while. To my surprise, the ramen included five slices of pork in spite of the fact that it was not a char-siu-men but a mere ramen (char-siu-men is a ramen topped with sliced roast or boiled pork, while an ordinary ramen usually includes one or two slices). "Just a ramen includes five slices. Then, how many does a char-siu-men of this restaurant?" "Fifteen? No way! I don't think people want to eat that many. Maybe, special pork?" These thoughts were my light-minded guesses. Anyway, this ramen was nice. The rather thick curly noodles well caught the salty pork-based soup, and the noodles and soup came together in balance to my mouse.

After lunch, Mr. Takahashi took us to Yamatogawa Shuzouten. This brewery is making sake under the brand name of Yauemon (弥右衛門). I had already drunk this sake and I knew it was rich in taste with a flavor of koji.

To be precise, the place we visited was "Yamatogawa Hoppou Shiryokan" (大和川北方風土館). These facilities were once used for sake production but are currently used as facilities for sake brewery study tours for visitors and a concert hall. The facilities also include a sake tasting corner and souvenir shop. According to the guide, their sake production place has been moved to another place, which is called Iide-gura (飯豊蔵).

The guide woman ushered us into the facilities, giving us a routine explanations about their brewery and sake making. The building was divided into three major parts: Edo-gura, Taisho-gura, and Showa-gura. In the oldest Edo-gura, the thick, long pine beam supporting the roof seemed to be something they boasted of. Anyway, her courteous and comprehensible explanation during this tourism-focused sake brewery tour was somewhat boring. However, this was a necessary time for us to undergo before reaching the sake tasting corner, where we could try various types of sake from this brewery for free. Thus, finally, long-awaited tasting time started.

Kasumochi Genshu Yauemon from this brewery was brewed by using almost twice the amount of koji rice than average sake, and its rich graceful sweetness deriving from the koji rice left a quite pleasant impression. However, I didn't want to drink sake with such sweetness too much. Instead, I rather prefer Junmai Karakuchi or Honjozo Chohkarakuchi. And, I bought Muroka Junmai Ginjo Nama Omachi as a souvenir.

By the way, Mr. Takahashi wrote a blog article about our visit to Yamatogawa Shuzouten.

After returning to the hotel, we took a hot spring bath, and then gathered in a small room, where our dinner had been prepared. The hotel kindly allowed us to bring sake bottles that we got this day in the room and we could enjoy our favorite sake with the foods. I had heard Aizu was famous for basashi (raw horse meat), and the hotel, knowing we were heavy drinkers, prepared basashi for us. However, I am not very good at raw meat, and I asked our waitress to grill my meat. They kindly accepted my request.

In addition, of course, that bottle of Muroka Junmai Ginjo Nama Omachi that I bought several hours before was completely emptied on the same day.

Drinking party in Tachikawa City

2011-07-28T08:10:00.000+09:00

Our first beer garden party of this year was held at the open terrace of a restaurant of Tachikawa Washington Hotel on July 9.

Only I was wearing kimono in spite of the fact that this party was planned by my kimono friend and the party was intended for kimono lovers. Anyway, we can enjoy beer whatever outfits we are in.

We were anxious about the weather at first because of an open-air terrace. However, it was the day when the Meteorological Agency announced the end of this year's rainy season of Tokyo, and the weather was not so bad. The sky was somewhat cloudy, but it never started to rain. And, although we expected a humid evening, it was cool on the evening open terrace.

In addition to beer, this restaurant also carries other various alcohol beverages. You can reserve a seat with the all-you-can-drink course for two hours at 2000 yen per person (prices for foods are not included).

Since the all-you-can-drink course includes four Tokyo sake brands from the Western Tokyo, which is to say Sawanoi (澤乃井), Kasen (嘉泉), Tamajiman (多満自慢), and Chiyozuru (千代鶴), sake lovers can enjoy nice sake as well as cold draft beer. Nevertheless, beer is of course a main attraction of a beer garden.

With a concept of "local consumption of local foods," the restaurant uses delicious vegetables harvested in the vicinity of Tachikawa. Local vegetables are basically boiled or steamed and served to garnish main foods, scarcely seasoned, but fresh and rich in taste.

After leaving the beer garden, we dropped in an izakaya, Wagaya Uobei for some sake.

A waitress ushered us to an upstairs table, from which we could look down the hall over the railing.

The red paper lanterns hanging down from the ceiling were lightening the hall dimly and softly. In a good relaxing mood, I could see waitresses moving briskly from table to table to treat customers. They were wearing short kimono. The bottom edges of their kimono were as high as their knees. They were pretty in such outfits.

This restaurant has a fairly sufficient number of sake brands. On their menu, I found the sake names of Kokken (国権), Kid (紀土), Murayu (村祐), Denshu (田酒), Juyondai (十四代), Urakasumi (浦霞), Shichiken (七賢), etc.

Besides the menu, I found a brochure, which has an article about Kamoshibito Kuheiji (醸し人九平次). So, I thought this restaurant might carry Kuheiji. Then, a member of our group asked a waitress whether they had Kuheiji, and in turn the waitress asked her which we liked, "Omachi" or "Yamadanishiki." This was a nice response of the waitress, wasn't it?

Well, I myself enjoyed the tasting set of Juyondai, Kokken, and Kid.

The foods of this restaurant, which use fresh seafood as main ingredients, were nice. Incidentally, the appetizer was prawn grill. The fresh skewered prawns were actually live, jumping on the grill while they were being grilled.

Beer restaurant Neu Frank

2011-06-30T15:41:00.000+09:00

In a series of sizzling, muggy days like these days, even I, who usually prefer drinking sake, want to go for some cold beer once in a while.

So, my friend and I went to beer restaurant Neu Frank in Kunitachi City, Tuesday.

It was a small restaurant that had about 20 table seats and several seats at the counter. They are carrying various types of beer from Belgium, Germany, and other countries. I think I like German beer in this hot season.

We ordered sausages, souerkraut, baguette and patty, salad, etc. and drank different beers. Beers came with different glasses or mug that had original shapes and designs for each brand.

Maybe, when I suddenly want to have some beer, this is a good place to go, because there are counter seats. While nibbling baguette with patty, I would drink alone.

Today's Sake
Kamikokoro Tokubetsujunmai Tokagen (Kamikokoro Shuzo)
This is rich, full-bodied sake. I can discern a flavor of koji in this sake. It can be enjoyed at a room temperature, or with warmed or a bit cooled down after being warmed.

Tani-izumi party

2011-06-28T16:44:00.004+09:00

Last Saturday, friends and I visited izakaya Hakobune in Shinjuku Ward to attend the Gathering for Surrounding the Brewery Head of Tsuruno Shuzoten, the maker of Tani-izumi brand sake.

Tsuruno Shuzoten, operating in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, uses a fune-shibori method or fukuro-shibori method to press sake, instead of using a modern yabuta sake pressing machine that is widely used by sake brewers in the country. According to Mr. Jinichi Tsuruno, brewery head, it is impossible to make sake that exhibits such round sweetness as Tani-izumi sake does if they use a yabuta.

That figures! Having a mouthful of the sake, I discerned that delicate, tender sweetness rippled to permeate my tongue. Especially, the mild and rich taste of the regular sake of this brewery was very uncommonly impressive. (Moreover, every participant was given a one-cup regular sake when returning home. So, I can enjoy the Tani-isumi regular sake again later.)

And, when I drank the nama-genshu sake, of course my tongue felt that pleasant waxy sensation, which is peculiar to the non-pasteurized sake. If you are a big namazake fan, you would like it. I drank this genshu paired with charcoal-grilled Japanese wagyu steak, and I would have had some difficulty to stop drinking this sake if there had been enough steak.

The nigori sake was also nice. It was quaffable with a flinty, sweetish taste.

This time, they had prepared various types of Tani-izumi including the regular sake, honjozo, genshu, daiginjo in plenty, and the participants could drink to their heart's content. Also, foods to be paired with were also gorgeous. So, I was quite satisfied.

Visiting Buaiso, the Former House of Shirasu's

2011-06-27T12:01:00.003+09:00

On one Saturday in June, I visited Buaiso (武相荘), the former house of Mr. and Mrs. Shirasu. Mr. Jiro Shirasu was a prominent personality who played an important role in the Japan's negotiation with the General Headquarters of the Allied Powers over various post-war processes, in the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace with Japan, and in other critical tasks that had a great impact on Japan after the war. Mrs. Masako Shirasu was an essayist and loved antiques. The house stands at a distance of an about 10-minute walk from Odakyu Tsurukawa Station.

After paying for my admission and entering the premises, I found a building that looked like a stable or garage. There was a black-bodied vintage car, Paige Fleetwood Six-38, in the stable. The car is a collection of Wakui Museum, a classic car museum in Kazo City, Saitama Prefecture, and had been brought to this place for exhibition.

I hear that Jiro was given a car of the same model of this exhibited car by his father and was driving it around when he was still a junior high school student. Equipped with the wooden steering wheel, rear seat with an enough clearance for the passengers' knees, black-leathered interior, and other beautiful parts, there were stateliness and an inspiring aura about this car.

After seeing the car, I went through the front gate of this house, and found a big persimmon tree behind the gate. This tree was said to be as old as about 200 years. The main house was seen beyond the gate. This thatch-roofed house has the structure that was quite common to general farmhouses in old days. The roof appeared to have been thatched recently, because the edges of the eaves looked so sharp against a background of the cloudy June sky that I could discern the clear shear cut of each stem of pampas grass used for thatching.

On the east end of the roof ridge, inscribed was the kanji character "寿," which means to celebrate auspiciousness. Incidentally, on the west end, they inscribed the character "水" (water), a charm against fire disaster, at which I missed having a look.

　

The main house was open to public and you can enter the inside to see the interior and exhibited items, but unfortunately taking pictures is forbidden inside. I went into the house from the entrance on the right of the south-facing building, and I was in the guest room, which had formerly been a space called doma (earthen floor). Mr. and Mrs. Shirashu laid a floor and converted this space into a Western-style room. When you face west from the doma, there were a room with an irori hearth on your left and another room on your right. And, there are two other rooms beyond these rooms. This is a typical floor plan of a farmhouse in old days.

One of the basic characteristics of old-days Japanese houses is that rooms are not connected by corridors but they are partitioned by thin sliding doors made of wood and paper. And, I could see how Mr. and Mrs. Shirasu had been adding their taste to the house based on this simple structure of the building so that they could make the house convenient and enjoy living. I think that it is enjoyable that I can adjust my living environment flexibly by reforming the interior or newly adding new items to the house according to my needs that change as I live there, instead of designing my house plan fixedly and defining specific use for each room from the beginning. Also, I will become more attached to my living environment if I have such a way of living.

In the front garden, several types of flowers such as gillyflowers are in bloom. The gray, cloudy sky finally began to shed its tears. The rain, which didn't seem to stop so soon, was wetting flowers and grasses, and the comfortably moist space extended to the bamboo grove behind. Hearing raindrops on persimmon leaves and looking up, I saw leaves and young persimmon fruits, which appeared freshly glistening with rain. Visiting Buaiso was a pleasant experience even in a rainy, damp season.

Today's Sake
Yamahai Junmai Katanozakura Muroka Nama Genshu (Yamano Shuzo)
I recently found this sake at an izakaya in Tachkawa I frequent. The sake has a meaningful taste with moderate acidity. This is definitely one of my favorites.

Recently tasted sake--Sawanoi, Aramasa, Tenryo

2011-06-15T09:20:00.003+09:00

Sawanoi Junma Ginjo Namazake Nigorizake (澤乃井純米吟醸生酒にごり酒)
Usually, I don't drink nigorizake very often since I think nigorizake is somewhat sweetish and I don't like the sweetness in sake very much. However, this sake is quaffable and OK with me. It is slightly fizzy.

Tokubetsu Junmai Aramasa Rokugo Namazake (特別純米新政六號生酒)
This sake is dry sake and, at the same time, meaningful with a rich taste and clean bouquet. Sweetness, slight bitterness, and moderate acidity exist in harmony. I drank this sake in big gulps.

Daiginjo Tenryo Koshu (大吟醸天領古酒)
A 720-ml bottle of this daiginjo sake is sold at the price of 1,575 yen, which I think is a reasonable pricing. And, I am satisfied with the quality of the sake. The word koshu makes me to think of yellowish to amber-colored sake with a special fragrance, which results from aging and somewhat resembles the Chinese Shaoxing rice wine. However, this Tenryo Koshu, a product that has been aged at a low temperature for three years, hardly has little aging bouquet. This sake has a very pleasant taste, which is mild, smooth, and moderate. I like this sake.

Mitake Ravine Walk and Sawanoien

2011-05-28T11:51:00.001+09:00

In the upper reaches of the Tama River, friends and I enjoyed walking along a ravine in verdancy.

We started at JR Mitake Station, walked across the Ome Kaido Street in front of the station, and took the path beside a ramen restaurant to go down and pass through under the Mitake Bridge. Then, we walked upstream along the walkway on the left side of the river.

Fresh greenery, sunshine and shade, bright dry riverbed, green pools, bubbling water in white, and dark shallows. The ravine in May is really full of beautiful things.

Anglers, kayak guys challenging the torrent hard, young people enjoying bouldering on huge rocks here and there on the shore, BBQ people, and a couple having a nap on a rock, all such people are having a good holiday. I think it is certainly true that humans should sometimes play with the nature to refresh both mind and body.

Well, we walked along the walkway for about 20 minutes and walked across the Kamiji Bridge to get to the opposite side of the river. The Kamiji Bridge, literally meaning a bridge of a god road, has been constructed on the way to the front gate of Mitake Shrine. Actually, you would see a big red torii gate of Mitake Shrine across the Yoshino Kaido Street, if you walked across this bridge and went up the slope connecting to the street. However, this time, we took a trail leading downstream just immediately after crossing the bridge. This was a narrow trail on the right bank of the river.

Unlike the walkway on the left bank, which was relatively flat and full of a lot of sunshine, the trail on the right bank went up and down somewhat like a mountain path, and was in the shade of trees on the whole. However, we once walked on the sandy ground on the riverbed at a point when we passed near the building of hydraulic power plant. We quickly walked across the sandy ground, which was heated by the direct sunlight, to take sanctuary in the shade, feeling relieved. Then, we went through under the Mitake Bridge again but on the opposite side of the river at this time, and passed in front of the Gyokudo Art Museum to get to the restaurant Imotoya for lunch.

I had Okutama-yamame-trout Sushi for lunch. The Okutama-yamae is a triploid female of the yamame-trout. This female fish, created by the use of biotechnology and raised at a fish farm, never spawns and it grows very big and tasty without consuming its energy in growing roes and spawning.

Probably having been seasoned by being sandwiched between kelp sheets, slightly pinkish Okutama-yamame fish was firm and elastic, and tasted very nice. When you have a chance to visit JR Mitake Station or its vicinity, I recommend you to have a try of Okutama-yamame sushi.

After leaving the restaurant, we walked across the Mitake-kobashi Bridge to the left bank again. If we want to, we could walk to Sawanoien run by Ozawa Syuzou, the brewery of Sawanoi sake, in about a 20-minute walk downstream from this bridge. And, of course, we wanted to go there. Actually, Sawanoien was, if anything, our original destination, and the walking was something like a lagniappe.

I had beer Sawabii, which was quite nice after sweating a bit from the walking.

And, after drinking this bottle of beer and taking a break for a while, we together enjoyed Sawanoi sake, Junmai Ginjo Soten Name (純米吟醸蒼天生酒) and Junmai Namazake Sawane (さわ音).

Enjoying shishimai lion dance over sake

2011-05-17T17:23:00.002+09:00

At Yakumo Shrine in the Kawai district of the mountain town of Okutama, sambiki-shishimai or three-lion dances are dedicated annually on May 5. I visited this shrine to see these lion-dances and had nice time there last year. So, I invited some acquaintances to this event this year.

We, four people including me, started walking at JR Kawai Station toward Yakumo Shrine. Although it was May, the weather was cool or rather chilly. Soon, we left Route 411 (Ome Kaido) to take a minor winding road leading to the shrine. Festival andons (lampstand with a wooden frame and paper shade) had been set on the side of the road here and there on the way to the shrine. We saw a picture representing a monstrous beast, stag beetle, or any other childish motif was drawn on each andon. Probably, these pictures had been drawn by local grade school pupils. We also saw festival paper lanterns with the crest of mitsudomoe (three comma shaped figures arranged to form a circle) on them at the porches of some houses. As we got closer to the shrine, two long poles standing high and flying shrine banners in the wind came into our sight. While feeling such an atmosphere of the festival, we enjoyed an about-10-minute walk until finally getting to Yakumo Shrine.

The style of the lion dances dedicated to this shrine is the one called sambiki-shishimai or sasara-shishimai, which is popular in various districts in the Kanto area including Okutama, Chichibu, Ome, Akiruno, and other cities, towns, and villages. And, these dances of Yakumo Shrine in the Kawai district are especially recommendable.

I think I need to give some explanation on the architecture, setting, and atmosphere of Yakumo Shrine so that you can understand why I recommend the three-lion dances of this shrine.

The front approach to the shrine is a flight of stone stairs. If you look upward from the base of the stairs, you will find a two-story gate in the dimness of the cedar tree grove. The approach goes through under the gate leading you to an open space beyond it. This two-story gate, designated as a tangible folklore cultural property of Tokyo, has a unique structure; standing on the mountain slope, the front appears to be a two-story building while the back looks like a one-story building.

The upper floor of the gate on the back side serves as a stage for plays, dances, and other performing arts. However the three-lion dances are not performed on this stage but in the open space in front of the stage. The front approach leads to this center square, across which there is another flight of stone stairs. At the upper end of these stairs is the front shrine.

Another noteworthy point of this Yakumo Shrine is that there are several stone-walled tiers on both sides of the stairs. These tiers serve as spectators’ seats so that visitors at this shrine can enjoy watching a play, dance, or any other performance art performed on the stage or in the center square. High-standing cedar trees surrounding the spectators’ seats, center square, and theater provide good shade for performers and spectators, and usher a comfortable energy flow into the precincts, producing a sacred atmosphere of a realm protected by some mysterious power.

As I described above, this shrine has a good atmosphere as a place for oblation of three-loin dances while the stone-walled tiers provides the spectators with comfortable seats where they can enjoy watching dances over sake and foods in a relaxing mood. For these two reasons, I recommend the lion dances of this shrine.

Thus, I planned a picnic theater party, and we brought foods and drinks including sake. We occupied some place on a stone-walled tier, set our foods and drinks and everything ready, and started enjoying lion dances.

The sakes we brought with us today were all Sawanoi bottles from the local sake brewery Ozawa Syuzou: Kamekuchi-shu, Soten Namazake, and Hanami-shinshu.

Matchmaking soba making?

2011-05-11T21:06:00.003+09:00

It was nearly a month ago when I attended a soba (buckwheat vermicelli) making class held in an establishment in Ome City.

Among the participants of this class were Hachi san, Tarosaku san, and Hide san, with whom I often have a good time with drinking sake. K san, who I often saw at Sawanoien and other sake-related events or establishments, also attended the class. These friends of mine seemed to have gathered not for making soba but for drinking sake.

Actually, these members are hard drinkers. And to boot, the president of a certain sake brewery was among the participants. Naturally, we could expect that he had brought us some good sake.

Anyway, this was a soba making class, and not a sake drinking party.

Among the participants of the class, there are single women who had been invited by Tarosaku san, and single men who had been invited a man called E san.

This E san, who was a very obliging person, or busybody, was plotting to make this gathering a kind of matchmaking party! (Later, I understood the reason why he was asking us a lot of questions including, "how old are you," "are you married," etc. at the beginning of the class). However, most participants seemed to be indifferent to the matchmaking, but quite interested in the soba making. Of course, they were so because the soba making was actually very interesting.

The president and an employee of his brewery had brought bottles of nice sake including daiginjo from their company. We sipped the sake while making soba. Sake is also called sobamae (meaning a drink before eating soba). Since we were later to eat soba made by the soba-making master who was teaching us how to make soba, the sake was literally sobamae.

While being taught by the soba-making master, each of us made our own soba, which we could later bring it home. After the class, we all were treated to soba made and cooked by the master. The soba was served with tempura of wild vegetables and shiitake mushrooms. Very nice! We could hear bush warbler chirps at the venue located on the Tama River which began to be flanked by tender verdurous leaves of trees.

After most of the participants left for home, those still staying were Hachi san, Tarosaku san, the president, soba master, a potter, and I. Until this time, we had been drinking quite much, but still we continued drinking Sawanoi Hanami Shinshu.

This Hanami Shinshu is a honjozo namachozo sake, to which post-bottling pasteurization has been applied. It smells like wood, but is it a smell of namazake? Anyway, this is dry and easy to drink.

The photo below is a picture of the soba I made and ate on the same day for supper. Later, I heard from other participant that their soba was broken into pieces when it was being boiled. However, my soba was all right, and tasted good with a nice al-dente texture. I thought maybe I have a talent for making soba. :)

Tsukinowa, sake from Iwate

2011-05-09T17:38:00.000+09:00

Among the breweries in the Tohoku area (Northeastern areas except Hokkaido) of Japan, there are many of those that have been stricken by the Great East Japan Earthquake. Around the end of March, people in Japan were in a mood of voluntary restraint about enjoying themselves with various amusements including hanami (cherry blossom viewing). Since people usually drink alcohol beverages during hanami, it was thought that reluctance of people in having parties under cherry blossoms would negatively affect the consumption of sake, and eventually it would affect the Japan's economy.

At that time, some breweries in Iwate Prefecture made several movies and placed them at the YouTube site. These movies were to encourage us to drink sake without cancelling our hanami party plans.

Those who had their families or relatives in disaster-stricken areas must have been very anxious about them and it must have been very difficult to have hanami parties merrily. So, although I understood the voluntary restraint mood would adversely affect Japan's economy, I also understood their feelings. Maybe, each of us should have thought about whether to refrain from having a hanami party or to what degree to make a fuss at such a party and determine our own stances.

Recently, I dropped in a nearby liquor shop and found they were running a campaign for supporting breweries in the Tohoku area and sufferers of the disaster, carrying several sake brands from the area. The brands included Uragasumi, Tsukinowa, and Daishichi. So, I bought Tsukinowa, which I had not known about until recently.

Soon after the first sip of this junmai sake, I had an image of expansive rice paddy fields in my mind, and I could see golden rice ears waving in the breeze there. This sake had the rich and full-flavored sweetness of rice with acidity characteristic of junmai sake that makes you secrete much saliva.

I can't taste sake in olden days and I don't know what it tasted like, but I guess, without any good foundation, this junmai sake tastes like sake in earlier times.

Cherry blossoms at the Hamura Diversion Weir

2011-04-09T10:19:00.001+09:00

Thursday, the weather was too tempting to lock myself in the house and work all day. It was a warm and comfortable day, or a perfect day for viewing cherry blossoms.

So, I went out with a bottle of sake Ginjo Shiroyama-zakura (brewed at Nozaki Syuzou), which I was keeping in the refrigerator, for afternoon cherry blossom viewing at the Hamura Diversion Weir.

After the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake Disaster that hit the Tohoku and north Kanto areas in Japan, a voluntary restraint mood was spread across the country and people are hesitating in making a fuss in a buoyant mood due to an unprecedentedly heavy toll of human lives from the disaster. In a usual year, you can see people spreading ground sheets under cherry trees and sitting there to drink beer, sake, and other beverages and eat fried chicken, yakitori, sushi, and whatever they like. However, you cannot find such scenes this year at all. There is an opinion insisting that excessive voluntary restraint on amusements and other recreational activities deprives vitality of Japan's economy and hinders Japan's revival. While I certainly agree to this opinion, it is also true that I felt somewhat pleased this year since I could view cherry blossoms in a quiet environment.

Maybe this is a good opportunity for us to reconsider how people enjoy cherry blossoms viewing, reconsider the way we make a big fuss under cherry trees and then leave behind piles of garbage.

Well, finally, I will mention the sake Ginjo Shiroyama-zakura, which I enjoyed. This sake is brewed in a small brewery called Nozaki Syuzou Brewery in Akiruno City. Sakes from this brewery are sold only in the city and peripheral towns and cities and difficult to purchase in other places. They are not well-known nation-widely, but I think the sakes taste generally quite good. This Shiroyama-zakura gave me the impression that alcohol and taste were still not harmonized, but I am sure this is sake that becomes better as the aging goes on.

Drinking even in this tragic Japan

2011-03-29T17:49:00.001+09:00

The series of earthquakes and tsunami waves that hit an extensive area along the Pacific coast of the northern Japan on March 11 threw the area into an awfully wretched situation, and this situation still continues. In addition, the incident at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture has not settled yet, and the situation seems to even be getting worse according to news reports.

In many sake breweries in the Tohoku area, their brewing facilities were damaged or totally lost and many people were killed in this disaster. I wonder how much sake the brewers in the Tohoku area will be able to produce in the next brewery year. I am very concerned abut it.

Thinking of people in trials and tribulations in the afflicted area, it is difficult to drink sake in a carefree mood. However, if sake drinkers refrain from drinking sake, it is not good for the sake brewing industry and food service industry. Furthermore, such a voluntary restraint mood will adversely affect the economy of Japan, hindering the recovery in the afflicted area.

The voluntary restraint mood is spreading among organizers of festivals, shoes, and other amusing events, and many planned events are cancelled or postponed. Many sake tasting events and other sake events are also being cancelled or postponed. Some people support or tolerate such movement while others insist such events should not be cancelled without careful consideration so that the economic activities will not sag further.

Recently, one of my acquaintances held a drinking party, titled "Drinking party in the hard time" at an izakaya, and I attended it. Friends and I had a good time, happily drinking and making a fuss at that time, but later I felt kind of guilty for having too much fun when thinking about this fuss in retrospect.

When people drink sake, liquor shops and sake brewers make money and some money in turn goes to the Japan's government as liquor tax or consumption tax. Thus, we can somewhat contribute to the finance of the country, and eventually money will be spent for the restoration of the afflicted area. However, this is merely a logical way of thinking and humans sometimes do not act according to logic since they sometimes feel guilty even for their logical activities. Anyway, probably, I won't decrease the amount of sake I will drink, but maybe I cannot but drink more quietly and secretly for some period of time from now.

What stance do you think you should take on drinking sake when many compatriots are devastated and suffering?

(This video was taken February 26.)

Tokyo Sake Site update

2011-03-28T11:45:00.002+09:00

I run the website called Tokyo Sake Site.

There are around 10 sake breweries in Tokyo. Local sake and breweries making such sake have been closely connected with their local communities, and I consider sake breweries have been contributing to forming the local culture and custom. Thinking of such a thing, I as a citizen of Tokyo want to do some favor for local sake breweries in Tokyo. So, I have established Tokyo Sake Site, which expresses my intention to cheer up them and back up their sake.

However, I cannot achieve so great a job by myself, but only add some stuff to the contents of the site occasionally.

The following are the recent update:

Gadget for enjoying sake -- kandouko sake warmer

酒蔵見学解説英語 (kura study tour explanation in English, Japanese site only)

Especially, the web page of 酒蔵見学解説英語 (kura study tour explanation in English) presents English expressions that are likely to occur when someone gives English-speakers explanation on sake brewery facilities, sake making process, sake making tools and machines, and other stuff during a study tour at a specific sake brewery. This page contains Japanese sentences with corresponding English sentences. Originally, I intended to prepare this for myself in anticipation of a case where I need to take some English-speaking friends or acquaintances to some sake brewery, but I thought this might be useful for those who need to take their English-speaking friends to sake breweries or for sake brewers who need to accept English-speaking visitors.

Therefore, I decided put this on a page at my website. Anyone can access this information. Please feel free to use it. If necessary, I will revise or expand the contents upon readers' request or opinions. So, your feedback is always welcome.

By the way, my friend and I visited a sake brewery on March 19. This was the first-time leisurely outing since that earthquake and tsunami disaster on March 11. We got there around at noon and had some beer (this sake brewery also brews local beer) and kamekuchi nama sake fresh from the brewery. Toast in hope of the early recovery of the disaster-stricken areas and Japan!

Three-point pulse check method

2011-03-12T17:45:00.005+09:00

In the yesterday's evening, the cancellation of Niigata Sake no Jin 2011 (Niigata Sake Festival 2011) and postponement of the Niigata Sake Expert Test were announced on the Internet. Also, the organizer of the test called me this morning to tell the postponement of the test. Needless to say, the cancellation and postponement were as the results of the series of enormous earthquakes that hit Japan in the afternoon yesterday.

It is regrettable that the Niigata Sake Expert Test was postponed since I had been preparing for the test by training my tongue and nose for long. However, I feel such decision is inevitable in consideration of the circumstances. In addition, the service of the Joetsu Shinkansen is still suspended as of the noon today, and I'm not sure I can travel to Niigata by tomorrow for the test even if the test will be held.

I would like to express deep sympathy for those in the quake and tsunami hit areas. I watched the TV to see how the tsunami destroyed coastal towns. Cars, boats, houses, and other things are like garbage pushed toward the inland by enormous power of the sea. The tsunami easily caught up a running car, engulfed it without the slightest hesitation, and absorbed it as a part of its wide-spread body. As I saw these horrible spectacles, I was thinking that similar disasters had occurred, were occurring, or would soon occur at several other places along the pacific coast of Japan, and I could not help but really recognize how small human power was against the rage of great nature.

It is the wisest that you stay away from such rage of nature. If you can predict such grave danger and avoid it, you need not to lose your life for nothing, but how can you predict such danger?

Fortunately, there is a practical method called the three-point pulse check method (三脈の法: sammyaku no hou), which has been handed down from ancient times. It is said that the human subconscious can detect grave danger or peril that will occur within the period of a few hours to a day and that will have something to do with one's life. With this three-point pulse check method, you can take out subconscious information as conscious information.

This method varies a little bit depending on whether you are male of female. If you are male, while taking your pulse on your left wrist, take your pulse on both carotid arteries with your left thumb and index finger. If you are female, while taking your pulse on your right wrist, take your pulse on both carotid arteries. If the beats felt at the three points of both carotids and the wrist are synchronized, you are safe and no imminent peril is expected. However, if these beats are not in sync, it means that a grave peril is expected within about 24 hours.

If beats that are out of sync are observed, you should change your activity planned in the immediate future (for example, use a car instead of train, cancel your flight, etc.). Then observe your pulse again to check whether the beats become normal. Continue to change your planned activity until the beats become in sync.

Actually, I was taught this method by the trainer of waterfall training when I was practicing such training. Waterfall training is a dangerous activity because of a heavy load on your heart and risk of hypothermia due to cold water. You may stumble on a slippery rock or riverbed. What if a stone or driftwood flows down from the top of the waterfall and hits your head directly? Having been told so, I was quite scared. So, I would very seriously practice the three-point pulse check method before standing under the waterfall.

I am not sure how effective this method is. However, I can say one thing. Since this method costs not a penny, you will lose nothing even if this method does not work. However, if this method works, you will save your life!

Preparing for sake tasting exam

2011-03-11T14:31:00.002+09:00

As I wrote in the previous post, Niigata Sake no Jin will be held for two days starting tomorrow.

On Sunday, I will be going to take the exam for "Kin no Tatsujin" (Gold Expert), in which the examinees will taste 10 sakes and how many they can identify will be checked. So, in the final preparation for the exam, I trained my tongue and nose today.

Actually, I took the same exam last year, and failed. Since there were as many as 10 sakes to taste, I was confused in the exam. In the training I had today, I tasted 5 sakes, which is far less than the real exam, but I managed to tell all the sakes. So, I feel relieved a bit.

For the Sunday's exam, I am going to use the following tactics based on the self-examination about the exam last year:

1. Stay calm during the exam.
2. First, roughly determine the type of each sake, and then find difference between similar sakes.
3. Do not try very hard to find characteristics of sake, but focus only on distinct characteristics.

Niigata Sake Festival just around the corner

2011-03-04T17:31:00.001+09:00

Niigata Sake no Jin 2011 (Niigata Sake Festival 2011) will be held on the next weekend (March 12 and 13). I had been attending this event every year, and also have been taking exams for Niigata Sake Expert since 2008.

Last year, I took the exam for "Kin no Tatsujin" (Gold Expert). In this exam, the examinees tasted 10 sakes and how many they can identify was checked. Actually, it was very tough for me, and I could identify two out of 10. Of course, this miserable result meant that I failed in the exam.

Also this year, I am going to take the same exam, so I have been preparing for the exam through the training of sake tasting since quite before. However, it does not seem the training yields significant results. I am now pessimistic about my development in sake tasting. How can one who could only identify two sakes out of 10 develop his tasting ability so that he can identify 7 or 8 out of 10? Anyway, I train myself hard and will do my best.

Well, all my friends in Niigata, I will visit Niigata soon. Let's have a fun time together. Those in the Niigata sake brewing industry, please let me drink nice sake also this year!

The video below is nothing to do with the above description. Lately, a couple of wild birds visit the tree by my room and they are quite tame. Especially, the female bird takes food even directly from my hand. I named this female bird Hiyori, and I am petting her.

Closed-door party at an izakaya

2011-02-28T14:04:00.003+09:00

A sake drinking party was held at Izakaya Oumi in Tachikawa City. This party occupied all seats and ordinary customers could not enter this izakaya.

This izakaya carries reasonably priced sake. They have, I think, probably 30 brands or more of sake (later, I was informed that there were at least 45 bottles). Since they sell sake also in units of half gou (90 ml), you can try many different brands for comparison. The staff are only two guys of chef and server.

There seem to be many frequent customers of this izakaya, and it often happens that you visit there several times and get acquainted with some customers. And soon you will have many new acquaintances who haunt there. One of such people planned the party this time. The number of the participants grew so large that all the seats were reserved.

I am often approached by someone who is a stranger to me, but she/he later turns to be a reader of this blog or watcher of my Youtube video. Also at this time, the person who sat next to me said to me, "Ichibay san, I believe?"

He is also a blogger and he owns a pottery hibachi, with which he warms his sake and grills snacks to be eaten with sake. In a nutshell, he seemed to have a nice drinking environment.

【日本酒】家呑み時々外呑み【焼酎】

Well, let's continue with the topic of this party. This was basically an all-you-can-drink party, and we can drink almost all the bottles (except for some unopened for aging) kept in the refrigerator of this izakaya. The entry fee was only 5,000 yen.

Since this was an all-you-can-drink party, I drank various types of nice sake.

There were also other bottles of which I missed taking pictures.

Finally got a kandouko (sake warmer)!

2011-02-25T16:23:00.006+09:00

Before, I wrote about an article about kandouko, and I said that I want a one for pleasure of sake life. Later, I checked net auctions, but it was difficult to find a good item, or I didn't succeed in the bidding of such an item. Even when I succeeded in the bidding of a small kandouko once, I had to return the item I had received because it had water leakage. I mean I could not get any kandouko in spite of my efforts. So, my enthusiasm for owning such an antique item had gradually been shrinking until recently.

However, one day recently, an incident occurs at Sawanosuke.

Sawanosuke is an izakaya set up on the premises of Sawanoien run by Ozawa Syuzou. This small tavern has only an L-shaped temporarily set up counter, and is operating only on weekends until the end of February (for details, read the post about Sawanosuke). About two weeks ago, I was enjoying warmed sake at Sawanosuke. I saw there was a beautiful nice kandouko inside the counter.

By the way, in my understanding, there are two types of kandokos. One type is used as a standalone device, and the other is used in combination with a nagahibachi (box-shaped wooden hibachi used for heating) or irori (square fireplace fixed on the floor in a room). The mechanisms of these two types are roughly illustrated as follows:

Standalone type

Type used in combination with a nagahibachi or irori

In use of either type, charcoal fire heats up the water in the vessel surrounding the fire, and the heated water warms up the sake in a sake flask placed in the water vessel.

The one kept in the Sawanosuke tavern was not the type used with a nagahibachi or irori but the standalone type. However, it was just placed there and not in practical use. This was an exhibited item in the bar.

Anyway, I was enjoying various types of warmed sake there while admiring this artifact. Then, the president of Ozawa Syuzou appeared. We had some conversation, including the following dialog:

Writer: "Hey, president, that's a nice kandouko."
President: "We are not using it any longer. I will sell it to you for 6,000 yen."
W: "O.K. I'll take it."
P: "Aah, O.K. 8,000 yen on the second thought."
W: "Why you raised the price?"
P: "Because this is an auction."

This was a strange auction, where there was only one bidder but the price went up. In short, it didn't seem he wanted to sell it. :-)

However, once you are shown a beautiful thing right in front of you, and you are told you can buy it at a reasonable price. And just immediately after you are told so, you learn you can't obtain it. In that case, you probably crave to own it more strongly than before.

Thus, this incident added fuel to the dying fire, and I relapsed into my kandouko-craving disease. Later when I was checking the Internet for auctioned kandoukos, I found a nice item priced at 4,900 yen. So I bid it for 5,000 yen, and I could soon succeed in this bidding. This kandouko is the standalone type.

I selected the standalone type because I don't need to prepare a nagahibachi. The other reason is because, in case of a kandouko used with a nagahibachi or irori, the former is very heavy and difficult to move and the latter is permanently fixed on a floor and impossible to move from one place to another.

After receiving my kandouko, I made a test run of this new toy for the sake drinker. The taste of the sake warmed with this was quite mild.

Although it looks small, it holds a lot of water, maybe 2 litters or so. I prepare hot water in a kettle and poured the hot water in the kandouko, and set fire to some charcoal and put the burning charcoal in the brazier inside the kandouko.

The temperature of the water did not rise up to the boiling point but to a point hot enough to prepare warmed sake. A small amount of charcoal was unexpectedly enough to warm the water and sake. Above all, the amusing point of the kandouko was that I could grill some snacks on a grill while sipping warmed sake.

I think the kandouko is a wonderful gadget for sake lovers. Two or three of such people can use this to share a delight of warmed sake while grilling dried fish or squid or other foods and nibbling such foods at an easy pace. So, you readers who love sake, if you find this kind of gadget in a Japanese antique shop, in an Internet auction, or in any other chance, don't miss getting it.

Sake Drinkers' Bus Visited Shizuoka

2011-02-24T07:27:00.004+09:00

Last Sunday, I attended a bus tour to Shizuoka Prefecture. This was a tour planned and held by Izakaya Mamiana operating in Tachikawa City. Sake lovers haunting Mamiana got together and started for Shizuoka.

I myself do not go to Mamiana very often, but fortunately there were vacant seats because several people had canceled their participation. So, I could join the tour.

When people who gulp sake like a whale got on the same bus, then what will happen?
No problem! A sake embargo was imposed until the bus got on the express way on the return path.

The itinerary of the tour includes:
- Lunch and shopping at a fish market (Shizuoka has several famous fishery harbors with fish markets)
- Study tour at Suruga Shuzojo Brewery
- Seeing the exhibit of a MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM
- Shopping at Sake Shop Okitsu

Lunch and shopping at a fish market

Rice Bowl of Negitoro with an Onsen Egg had a creamy taste.

Study tour at Suruga Shuzojo Brewery

The brewery has several brands of Tenko, Haginokura, Sogatsuru, Chuumasa, etc.
The brewery was originally making Chuumasa brand sake.
Later, it inherited the brands of Tenko, Haginokura, and Sogatsuru from another brewery, and started as a new company at the current place in Shizuoka..
I took some video of the brewery.

Seeing the exhibit of a MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM

A big statue of GUNDAM was exhibited near JR Higashi-Shizuoka Station.

Shopping at Sake Shop Okitsu
This liquor shop owns two namazake tanks in the store.
The generous-hearted owners let all of us (39 people) drink their sake.
Each of us could drink quite a lot.
Please watch the video below to see how the shop was.

The sake was so nice that I felt an impulse to drink directly from the tap of the tank.

Izakaya where you can drink various warmed sake

2011-02-16T09:46:00.002+09:00

In Sawanoien, which is run by Ozawa Syuzou, Izakawa Sawanosuke is now operating on weekends until the end of February. A temporarily L-shaped counter has been set up in the rest station on the premises of Sawanoien. Maybe 7 or 8 people can sit at the counter, and if too many people want to sit there and drink sake, maybe other tables in the rest station will be used. Anyway, this is a small and simply built izakaya.

Last Sunday, I went to this Sawanosuke.

On the counter were bottles of Sawanoi sakes, and these sakes are apparently types that would taste nice when warmed. These sakes include Genroku, Honjizake, Iroha, Kuramori, Ginjirushi, etc. (元禄、本地酒、彩は、蔵守、銀印など). You can order any sake you like, and the chef-cum-server behind the bar will warm it for you soon.

Snack menu they provide are simple foods including toasted dried-squid, yakitori, vegetable pickle, smoked tofu, etc., but what is noteworthy here is that you can try the all types of sake as warmed sake. I think it is not easy to find such an interesting izakaya.

One of my favorites there was warmed Genroku (元禄), which was sweetish and rich. I enjoyed with smoked tofu this sake that tasted somewhat like the skin of baked sweet potato.

While I was drinking, Mr. Ozawa, president of Ozawa Syuzou, appeared, and came to the counter. He had friendlily had an idle chat with us and chef-cum-server, and finally joined us as a drinker.

Then, the president bought Junmai Daiginjo Mizu-no-kioku (純米大吟醸水乃記憶), which was not listed on the menu, at the souvenir stand, and handed it over to the chef-cum-server. He kindly treated us to a warmed version of this junmai daiginjo. Although I knew that this sake had been designed so that it was also good when warmed, I drank this sake warmed for the first time. I hadn't imagined it was so good. A ginjo aroma, touch of sweetness, .... I surely realized that warming up this sake incredibly adds to its fascination.

By the way, I hear this Mizu-no-kioku will go out of the market soon, but the same sake will be sold under the more generic name of Junmai Daiginjo.

Today's Movie -- Namachozoshu chocolate and Daiginjo chocolate
On February 14, the Valentine Day, I ate sake chocolate!

Start of spring

2011-02-08T21:08:00.000+09:00

February 3 was the day of Setsubun (the day before the calendrical beginning of spring). On the day of Setsubun, people scatter beans to drive away bad luck and call in happiness. Of course, my family practiced bean scattering this year as usual. Beans are sold at supermarkets or grocery stores. We bought beans and put them on the shelf of Shinto god altar built in our house, and skewered the heads of sardines on skewers. Actually, we didn't have good bamboo skewers so we substituted old sharpened cooking chopsticks for skewers. The sardine heads were then toasted on the gas burner. These skewered and toasted sardine heads were displayed with holly leaves at the front door. This is a custom called yakkagashi (or yaikagashi).

Speaking of Setsubun, people are apt to think of nation-widely known ehoumaki, a big rolled sushi, which is eaten in hope of good luck. This was a custom originally practiced in Osaka or Aichi Prefecture, but it later became known to people across the country by some chance. In the meantime, how about the above mentioned custom yakkagashi? I'm not sure it is practiced nation-widely. Anyway, we are observing this practice instead of ehomaki.

And, the next day of Setsubun is Risshun (the start of spring, this year it falls on February 4). Oh, speaking of Risshun, there is sake named Risshun Asashibori. This year, 38 sake breweries in the country pressed this special sake in the very morning of the Risshun, and it was shipped as non-pasteurized non-diluted sake on the same day. Of these 38 breweries, the one closest to my place is Ozawa Syuzou, which is making Sawanoi.

For ordinary sake, the timing of pressing is determined by judging the conditions of the fermenting mash. For Risshun Asashibori, however, it is destined to be pressed in the morning of the Risshun. So, the fermentation process must carefully be controlled and adjusted in order that the sake can be pressed in good conditions. I hear attentive care is required for this process.

On the Risshun day (February 4), I happened to have a chance to drink with friends, which was the birthday of one of them. So, I wanted to send something to him, and went out to a nearby sake shop to buy a bottle of Risshun Asashibori as a present. At the sake shop, they were unloading from the truck cartons of this sake they had just brought in. I asked whether I could buy some bottles of this sake to a shop clerk unloading cartons. However, I was told that I couldn't since all the bottles were sold on a subscription basis. So, I went back home empty-handedly.

Nevertheless, shortly I wanted to buy something instead of Asashibori for the friend, and revisited the sake shop. I found that they were selling this sake under a tent in front of the shop. If I remember correctly they were selling Asashibori not under a tent but on the shelf in the shop last year and the year before last. So, I told one of the shop clerks under the tent to make my doubt clear, "I think I could buy this sake last year at your shop without a reservation?" He told me that they would sell this sake on the ordinary shelf after several days or a week if they had remaining bottles. So, I thought I needed to visit this shop again, maybe a week later.

Well, this post is just saying I couldn't buy Risshun Asashiori on the Risshun day and maybe not very interesting. But, you have read to this point anyway. Thank you for reading. The photo below shows the last year's version of Risshun Asashibori.

Home drinking, daiginjo taruzake, and Katsuho

2011-02-02T09:20:00.002+09:00

If you want to drink your favorite sake to your heart's content while sharing its pleasure with friends in a relaxing mood, the best way to do so is to hold a drinking party at someone's house. You know, preparing foods and drinks by yourselves does not cost too much, everyone can bring one's favorite sake or any special sake in which she/he has found significance, and everyone can enjoy the party without caring for the time.

The question is who kindly offers a good room or place. A desirable room or place should be big enough to accommodate the guests, and everyone should be able to enjoy the party there without feeling too great a delicacy about the presence of family members of the host. After all, I always reach the conclusion that using the irori cabin is the best solution.

The irori cabin, built by my father just for amusement in the yard of our house, has the interior having a raised floor and an earth floor. The raised floor is furnished with an irori fireplace and has a space enough to place two low tables beside the fireplace. In addition, being equipped with an extractor fan, we can discharge smoke when we make some fire in a table-top hibachi etc. Beside the cabin, there is a small kitchen with gas and water supply, allowing us to cook some simple foods. Also, hot water supply from the flash water heater is convenient for washing dirty dishes and tableware after the party. In a nutshell, the irori cabin seems a perfect facility for a home drinking party.

Last Saturday, I invited friends to this irori cabin and held a sake drinking party.

At first, I planned that we would leisurely drink sake while grilling some dried fish and vegetables on a shichirin brazier. However, since someone said he would kindly bring some lamb meat, so I prepared a tabletop BBQ hibachi.

We used the shichirin brazier and BBQ hibachi to cook dried salmon, shiitake mushroom, green onion, komai fish, etc. Also, we cooked some lamb meat and oysters on the BBQ hibachi.

As to sake, there were Kirinzan, Ofuku-masamune, Yoitashuu, and Katsuho from Niigata Prefecture, Daiginjo Bon Bingakoi, Daiginjo Taruzake, and Oomiki from Sawanoi of Tokyo, and Kikuhime Nigorizake from Ishikawa Prefecture. In addition, someone brought us some mysterious white liquid (I can't tell details of the contents for some reason, though).

By the way, what was the Daiginjo Taruzake? Normally, they fill regular sake or other low-priced sake in a wooden sake cask to make a taruzake. After several days, the sake will take the scent of the cedar used for the cask and make sake with a fresh cedar scent. So, it is quite strange to use aromatic sake such as daiginjo for making a taruzake.

Anyway, if there is sake in front of us, we cannot help but drink it. Each of us, of course, had a try of this special sake. After a sip of it, the taste was not bad but with a strong scent of cedar cask. According to the lady who brought this sake, this daiginjo taruzake seemed to have been prepared by a sake shop from curiosity. Wow, they are quite an adventurous sake shop! However, we all agreed that using expensive daiginjo for taruzake was wasteful.

By the way, I must tell Tsubame san in Nagaoka City, Niigata, "Thank you for the bottle of Katsuho, we all enjoyed your sake. It was very nice."

Japanese coiffure, soba and sake

2011-01-26T17:38:00.004+09:00

Bunkin-takashimada is one of the most magnificent Japanese coiffures, which is known as a hairstyle of the bride at a wedding.

I heard that Mrs. Akiko Sekiba, who is working as hairdresser of Japanese coiffures, would hold an event in which she would demonstrate the hairdressing of the traditional Japanese coiffure of bunkin-takashimada at Koedo Kurari in Kawagoe City. So, the other day, I visited the city to see the demonstration.

According to Mrs. Sekiba, many of the Japanese-style hairdressers are not working on natural hair but on wigs. She said natural hair includes hairs with various lengths and its hairdressing work is troublesome. She has made some of her tools for hairdressing by herself. Thus, working as a Japanese-style hairdresser does not seem very easy.

In the demonstration, Mrs. Sekiba parted the hair of a model into several locks and combs each of the locks beautifully. Then, these parted locks become the back tress, side tresses, and front tress, drawing graceful lines towards the top of head and joining the root tress. These tresses together make up a thick chignon on the top of head. Hana-kogai, kanzashi, and kushi are inserted in the hair as finishing ornaments, and then the hair is wrapped with pure white cloth called tsuno-kakushi. Thus, an art work using human hair is completed.

Here is video I took on the day. See how the hairdresser works on the hair (play list including 8 video works)

By the way, Koedo Kurari, where the demonstration of this hairdressing was given, is in the place where Kagamiyama Shuzo sake brewery (corporate body different from the current Koedo Kagamiyama Shuzo) was operating before. There are still the buildings that were formerly owned by this defunct company in this place. The commercial establishment of Koedo Kurari was opened last year by using these buildings. The demonstration was given in a rental gallery of this establishment.

Kurari has a building named Makanai-dokoro, which was built in the early Taisho Period (1912 - 1926). In this Makanai-dokoro building, the restaurant Hasshuutei is operating. This restaurant, based on its policy of local production for local consumption, provides its food service for customers, and it serves of course the Kawagoe's wonted Kagamiyama sake. The local sake can usually be paired well with local foods, so one will easily make a good match in pairing local sake with local foods. Therefore, I drank Kagamiyama Junmai Shiboritate and local Sayama-cha soba (soba using powder of green tea, which is also a local product in the vicinity).

Cocoon balls and sake warmer

2011-01-20T14:31:00.007+09:00

My city was once known for its flourishing sericulture, and people had a custom of displaying mayudama (literally "silkworm cocoon balls") on January 14. They cut a small tree that had a trunk diameter that fitted in the hole of the stone mill, and inserted the trunk in the stone mill so that the tree could stay standing. They made a lot of dumplings from rice flour, and stuck them on twigs of the tree, which was then displayed in the house. In this display, the rice dumplings were used to resemble the cocoons of silkworms. This custom represented the people's wish for a good yield of cocoons and good harvest of crops.

When I visited a restored Japanese house of old days, which had been built in Musashi-murayama City for exhibition to the public, in January last year, mayudama was displayed in this house. Then, I felt nostalgic at the display of the mayudama and a homely and cozy taste of the smoky interior with burning fire in the irori fireplace. So, I visited this house this year again. And, also this year, the fire was burning. The smell of smoke and sounds of popping firewood made me relaxed for no special reason.

An ensemble of kimono with a beautiful pattern was hung on a lintel over shoji doors. The texture of this kimono is called Murayama Ohshima, which used to actively be produced in the vicinity of the place of this restored Japanese house, and the material of this kimono may have been woven from silken threads produced also in the place.

In the inmost room of the house, a nagahibachi (old Japanese-style hibachi designed to be used indoors) and kandouko (sake warmer) were displayed. I could imagine how people in old days drank warmed sake on cold days while putting their cold hands over the small fire in this nagahibachi. I tend to grumble about cold weather these days, but warming yourself with such an old classy furniture piece is a joy that is added to by the coldness. In the future, I would like to get a nagahibachi and kandouko via a net auction or from an antique shop, and invite friends home to treat them to warmed sake in a relaxing mood.

Talking of the kandouko, I wrote about it in a past article, and I recently received a comment for this article from a man living in Philadelphia. He is a dexterous man and makes various things by himself for nothing. To my surprise, he made a kandouko after reading my post about this device. Read his article (Kandouko) to learn how he made his kandouko and enjoyed warmed sake with friends.

Sake cake

2011-01-19T09:15:00.002+09:00

When I visited Ishikawa Brewery, which is making Tamajiman sake, for collecting stamps for the Sake stamp rally the other day, I bought "Daiginjo Cake" at the souvenir shop there. On the carton box, there was a description saying "the cake was aged after being infiltrated by daiginjo sake."

A delicate bouquet well matches the elegant sweetness of the cake.

Today's Sake
Kirinzan Junmaishu (Kirinzan Shuzo)
These days, I often train myself for a sake expert test (sake tasting test) to be held in Niigata in March. I select sakes from the junmai, honjozo, and other similar classes, and sample and compare them. Among them, this Kirinzan Jumaishu is nice, having sweetness of rice.

Hot bath on a cold day

2011-01-17T13:08:00.003+09:00

Now, Japan is in the coldest season of the year. With cold hands and feet, it is difficult to fall asleep in bed.

In that case, I like taking a hot bath.

Recently I used the bath agent "Hakutsuru no Sakeburo" (白鶴の酒風呂＜大吟醸酒配合＞). This is a bath agent that contains some components of daiginjo sake.
I can pour some 200 ml of sake in the bathtub, but I feel reluctant to use sake for bathing. This is because I, of course, prefer drinking it to using it in the bath. So, this bath agent, which one of my friends kindly gave to me, is just for people like me.

The sake bath, which has moisturizing and conditioning effects of your skin, warms up your body, and relaxing you, makes me quite comfortable, finally finding myself singing a sanguine song.

Today's Sake
Funaguchi Kikusui Ichibanshibori (Kikusui Shuzo)
When I was unfamiliar with sake and I had just poor experience of namazake and genshu, I drank this sake (at that time, the sake was contained in a yellow can) for the first time on a Shinkansen bullet train from Niigata. At that time, I was impressed by the sake very much and realized what namazake was. Maybe, this was the experience that ushered me into the world of namazake.

Sake in which Sea Monkeys hatch?

2011-01-14T17:00:00.002+09:00

When I was a schoolchild, Sea Monkeys (small arthropod resembling a shrimp: Artemia salina) were sold by mail order. I hear that the actual product was a breeding kit including dried spawn of this creature, necessary feed, etc. I often saw advertisements for this product printed on the back covers of juvenile weekly magazines, but I'm not sure how popular it was among children.

The company selling this product hyped the Sea Monkey as a mysterious and monstrous creature, but it just looked like a tiny shrimp and never looked like a monkey in spite of its product name "Sea Monkey."

These days, I hardly hear the word "Sea Monkey," but I recently happened to get this word for the first time in long years.

At that time, I was drinking sake with friends at a table of the rest station run by Ozawa Syuzou. First, we get warmed regular sakes at the shop and shared them. Later, one guy opened the 1800-ml bottle he bought at the souvenir shop, and he gave us the sake. This sake was Sawanoi Kameguchishu Junmai Ginjirushi.

When we were drinking this sake, the guy who gave it to us said, "They look like Sea Monkeys!" The winter sunlight was penetrating into the sake bottle placed on the table. This sake was sparkling namazake (unpasteurized sake) and a lot of small bubbles was slowly rising up in the sake and shining in the sunlight. He meant that they looked like Sea Monkeys. Actually, I have never seen this creature with my eyes, but Sea Monkeys probably look like these small bubbles.

Taruzake and fukubukuro

2011-01-11T17:43:00.001+09:00

During New Year's Holidays, Japanese have various special events. Among such events, I will write about two things relating to sake: taruzake and sake fukubukuro (casked sake and sake lucky bags).

Taruzake means sake contained in a cedar cask. Usually low-priced regular sake is used for taruzake. After having been stored in a cask for an appropriate period under pertinent conditions, the sake takes the scent of cedar, and turns into a beautiful sake due to the magic of the cedar scent.

People bring a cask of sake to a party or gathering which is to celebrate some happy event, for example, some couple's wedding, the opening of a new store, people's happily welcoming the New Year, etc. They crack open the cask, ladle the sake out of it, and make a toast.

On January 9, Ozawa Syuzou welcomed visitors at the Sawanoien rest station with taruzake free of charge. The dry Sawanoi regular sake had added to freshness in the cask, and people must have enjoyed a refreshing sensation.

In front of the souvenir shop of Sawanoien, fukubukuros were displayed on cedar casks. A fukubukuro, meaning a lucky bag and being sold during New Year's days, is a commercial custom that is said to have been started in the Edo period by a major long-established department store in Japan. A fukubukuro contains commercial goods and is usually sold at a lower price than the total prices of the contents.

Sawanoien was also selling fukubukuros. What are the contents? Of course, bottles of sake.

Actually, I bought a 10,000-yen bag. The bag itself was a piece of Sawanoi commercial goods, a tote bag with the company's logo printed on it, containing a small wooden sake cup and three 720-ml little bottles: Daiginjo Bon Tobingakoi Nama, Daiginjo Genshu, and Junmai Ginjo Soten Genshu. The contents were quite satisfactory for me.

Sake stamp rally

2011-01-10T15:43:00.002+09:00

Seibu Railway Co., Ltd. is hosting a sake stamp rally until January 18. In this event, attendees collect stamps placed at specified sake breweries that are located near railroad line of this company. After collecting a specified number of stamps, you can send the sheet on which collected stamps have been affixed to the company to apply for various gifts.

There are 10 specified sake breweries, and if you collect 10 stamps at these breweries, you can apply for a two-daiginjo bottle set and two tickets for lunch at Shinjuku Prince Hotel.

My friend and I had already collected seven stamps by January 7, and, on this day we went out to visit the last three breweries.

The last three breweries were Tamura Syuzoujou (Kasen), Ishikawa Brewery (Tamajiman), and Nakamura Syuzou (Chiyotsuru). These are all located in the neighboring citis.

Tamura Syuzoujo, the first destination, is known for its brand name of Kasen (嘉泉). The brewery is about a 10-minute walk from JR Fussa Station, but it seemed to me a long walk in a cold north wind.

Magnificent kura buildings with whitewashed walls stood on the premises of Tamura Syuzou. At that time, there were no visitors except us and the place was quiet. In this brewery, there was only a small unattended exhibition hall. There was neither direct selling shop nor free sampling corner. So, we didn't sped a lot of time there, and left the brewery for Fussa Station after getting the stamp in the brewery office.

The next destination was Nakamura Syuzou, which is about a 10-minute walk from Akikawa Station on JR Itsukaichi Line. This brewery is making Chiyotsuru (千代鶴) sake. Among their products, personally, I like Tokubetsu Junmai Okutama.

After putting the stamp of Chiyotsuru on the stamp sheets, we sampled several sakes. They were still selling Tokubetsu Junmai Hiyaoroshi, and this tasted better than when we tasted last autumn, having increased richness in its taste. This sake seemed still getting better.

After leaving Nakamura Syuzou, we returned to JR Akikawa Station and got on the train to trip to Haijima Station. Then we went to the next destination, Ishikawa Brewery, which is known for its brand name Tamajiman (多満自慢). From Haijima Station, we took a taxi to the brewery because it was very cold and we didn't want to walk to the brewery. The brewery was not very far and the taxi cost just as much as the fare for the minimum distance.

There was a shop in Ishikawa Brewery. They had the stamp in this shop. I told the shop clerk that this brewery was the 10'th brewery, and she was amazed and celebrated our achievement with applause.

Ishikawa Brewery has a Japanese restaurant and Italian restaurant on its premises, and the Japanese restaurant was not operating at the time of our visit. So, we entered the Italian restaurant and had some beer there. We wound up our sake stamp rally with seasonal blueberry ale beer and cheese assortment.

Here is a video work to show how I visited these sake breweries. I hope you will enjoy my video.

Sake Shop Kodama--the place to visit for sake lovers traveling in Japan

2011-01-03T13:45:00.002+09:00

Sake Shop Kodama (地酒屋こだま) is just a 5-minute from JR Otsuka Station on Yamanote Line. It is on the opposite side of the street from a post office.

Usual liquor shops in Japan have various kinds of sake including sake, beer, shochu, and other alcoholic beverages. However, Sake Shop Kodama carries only sake (日本酒). This is a unique liquor shop.

In May of last year, this shop started its operation as a successor of the liquor shop Tsunaya, which had been operating at the same place. Actually, I have been acquainted with the shopkeeper of Sake Shop Kodama and I had wanted to visit him at the shop, but there hadn't been an opportunity for visiting there. On December 28 last year, I was to have a year-end party with some of my friends in an urban area of Tokyo, so I decided to drop in at this sake shop before attending the party.

I came to the front door of the shop. Through the door glasses I saw the shopkeeper Takeya Kodama (I call him Take-san) dealing vigorously with his customers in the shop. I was happy to see him, wanted to cheerfully enter the shop to give him a friendly and surprising greeting, and pushed the door, which wouldn't open. Feeling puzzled, I then pull the door handle, and the door did still not open.

After trying the pushing and pulling of the door, I finally remembered that these doors were sliding doors, opening right- and leftward. As soon as I got in the shop, Take-san said to me, "Please do not break the doors! :-)"

This is a great shop. If you enjoy drinking sake or are interested in sake, and you are traveling in Tokyo, I strongly recommend you to drop in at this shop. I will show you five reasons below why I recommend you this shop.

First, of almost all the sakes in this shop, you can sample any of them. It is virtually impossible to pick out specific sake that matches your taste from among a lot of brands you have never heard of until you actually sample them. So, this shop offers free sampling of any sake you want to try, and you can buy your favorite sake after confirming its taste with your tongue. For example, a woman came to this shop, telling she herself was not quite at home in sake and was going to prepare fugu-nabe (globefish with vegetables in a pot). Take-san selected several bottles that he thought could be good pairing for her food, and recommended her to sample them. She sampled those sakes, could find her favorite bottle, and happily went home with it.

Second, this shop is making sincere efforts to keep good storage conditions of sake. For example, Take-san uses ultraviolet ray-free fluorescent lamps in his refrigerators in order to prevent the damage to his sake, and always keeps the sake under the temperature of 0 degrees centigrade. I understand his intention to treat with great care sakes that the brewers have painstakingly made, and I think the brewers can feel secure about entrusting their products to this shop.

Third, the selection of sake of this shop is very unique. The sakes in this shop are selected arbitrarily by the shopkeeper. So, in this shop, famous brands are hard to find but you can expect new findings. This is exciting. Among the sake selection, there is even the brand named Azumazuru which is brewed by a very small sake brewery in Saga Prefecture (this brewery produces only about 4,500 litters of sake). Of course, the small scale of a brewery is not always a good point, but at least Take-san selects his sake regardless of the sizes of breweries but according to his own standards (if he thinks sake is good or will become good, he will select it). Therefore, if you expect a dramatic encounter with a new sake brand, you should visit Take-san at this shop.

Fourth, there is a pay sampling corner, which starts around 5 p.m. Sake Shop Kodama is not an izakaya but a liquor shop. So, off course we must behave well and enjoy sampling quietly. However, when there are some brands you want to try more in quantity, you can use this corner.

And above all things, I was impressed by Take-san's heartful courtesy to his customers. When I was drinking at the pay sampling corner, customers kept coming. When Take-san deals with his customers, he always smiles and explains his sake in a respectful and ardent manner, helping them selecting right sake. I felt this shop is just wonderful. Customers can enjoy shopping and Take-san also enjoys his business. And, each time a customer left the shop with her/his sake in hand, the shopkeeper made a deep bow. You must feel happy and satisfied when being treated very politely in such a way, and want to visit this shop again to buy sake.

Reading the above description, you may think I complimented this shop too much because I am acquainted with the shopkeeper. However, I really think Sake Shop Kodama is a great sake shop. I have never seen such a sake shop and I believe it is worth visiting for every sake lover.

Finally, I must present to you one IMPORTANT WARNING. The front doors of Sake Shop Kodama are sliding doors. Never forcibly push or pull the door handles to open the doors. Doing so may damage the doors. :-)

Izakaya serving sake from five Tokyo breweries

2010-12-31T14:52:00.002+09:00

Yesterday, my friend and I went to an izakaya named Tenku (天空).

What is special about this izakaya is that this izakaya serves sake from the five sake breweries in Nishitama area (western area of Tokyo). These breweries are Ozawa Syuzou (Sawanoi), Tamura Syuzoujou (Kasen), Ishikawa Brewery (Tamajiman), Nozaki Syuzou (Kisho) and Nakamura Syuzou (Chiyotsuru). Since I was backing up Tokyo sake and Tokyo sake breweries, I thought I had to visit this izakaya at least once, and I tried to enter this izakaya about 20 days before. However, all the seats were occupied and I could not enter there then.

In this izakaya, the tables are arranged on both sides of the entrance door, and in the recesses was the kitchen surrounded by the horseshoe-shaped counter. Two young men were working busily there. Since it was a weekday and I guessed the restaurant was not so crowded, but there were actually many people there. Some who got to the restaurant later could not enter it.

Well, when we were seated at the counter, we ordered warmed Sawanoi Karakuchi. However, the waiter served it cold. My friend asked him to warm it, and we needed to wait for another several minutes. Finally, our warmed sake was served. Maybe, we should have ordered cold sake or beer as the first drink so that we did not need to wait very long.

I am glad to say that, as to foods, flatfish and tuna sashimi was nice and reasonably priced and sake was also sold at low prices.

There, I drank the following Tokyo sakes:

Sawanoi: Dry and quaffable regular sake. We drank this warmed first.
Kisho: Mellow and rich Junmai Ginjo. I like sake from this brewery.
Kasen: We drank Tamura this time, which has something sophisticated.
Tamajiman: Tama-no-Yorokobi has a soft and tender taste.
Chiyotsuru: Junmai Ginjo. I felt even a freshness of namazake. Is it due to good pasteurization technique?

Preparing for the Niigata Sake Expert Test

2010-12-30T18:32:00.003+09:00

In March of 2008, I went to Niigata to attend the Niigata Sake no Jin (Niigata Sake Festival) and took a Niigata Sake Bronze Expert Test there. Since then, I have frequently been visiting Niigata.

The Niigata Sake Expert Test has three levels of certificates: the easiest Bronze Expert, the second easiest Silver, and the most difficult Gold Expert. To take the test for a certain level, you must have the certificate of the one-level lower than the target. For example, only holders of the Silver certificates can take the test for the Gold Expert.

In my case, I passed the Bronze in 2008, and Silver in 2009, and I took the test for the Gold this year, but, to my disappointment, I failed in it.

The tests for the Bronze and Silver Experts are paper tests, while the examinees for the Gold Expert are evaluated by their short essays and sake tasting ability. This sake tasting ability test is a so-called 10-item matching sake tasting test. (In this test, you taste 10 sakes in group A, and then taste the same 10 sakes in group B. The arrangement of sake bottles is different between group A and group B. Then, you must match each sake in Group A to the same sake in group B.) For a paper test, all you need to do is to study hard to increase your knowledge, but I think it is difficult to increase sake tasting ability.

Can the taste sensation and olfactory sensation be enhanced? I think these types of ability are inborn and difficult to improve. However, there might be room for improvement in terms of knacks and techniques.

After having thought the above, I am planning to again challenge to the Gold Expert certificate, which I have almost given up before. So, I think I should become more familiar with Niigata sake, and I started the sake tasting training in preparation for the test in March next year.

Walking around in Kawagoe

2010-12-25T16:50:00.003+09:00

On December 23, I went to Kawagoe City. At the location where the defunct Kagamiyama Brewery was operating before, there are some buildings with whitewashed walls, which used to be used by the company as facilities of sake brewing. These premises have been converted to a commercial establishment named Koedo Kurari. In this sophisticated place, you can eat food at the restaurant or enjoy shopping.

I think, already having the beautiful street flanked by kura buildings and other old buildings and the Kashiya Yokocho (Confection Side-street), Kawagoe will be more interesting city due to the start of its operation of Kurari.

Well, I thought I would visit Kurari at the next chance, and I headed for Cafe Elevato. This cafe is often used as a meeting spot for us when we come to Kawagoe. Two friends of mine were already having coffee or tea when I enter the restaurant.

I ordered some vegetable chips and pastrami and draft beer, Coedo Beer Kyara, which was Kawagoe's beer I enjoyed after a long time. Naturally, the friends also ordered beer and we enjoyed drinking each drink.

Then, we moved to Kamonrakuza, a direct selling sake shop of Koedo Kagamiyama Shuzo. There, I purchased Kagamiyama Junmai Shiboritate Nama (pure rice, just-pressed, unpasteurized sake).

Around this time of the year, several types of just-pressed, unpasteurized sake including junmai ginjo and junmai are displayed and sold in the refrigerator. In the same refrigerator, there were bottles labeled as "Mutoka Nama Genshu," but I wondered what difference was between "Muroka Nama Genshu" and "Shiboritate." So, I asked the shop clerk about the difference. She answered that "Muroka Nama Genshu" was made from rice harvested last year. I thought this meant that the sake was made at the end of last year or early in this year and aged until this winter. However, I was wrong.

When I was asking further details about the sake, a worker of this brewery happened to come in the shop, and kindly gave me a clear explanation.

He explained that they kept rice harvested in the autumn of last year in their refrigerator and used it in this autumn to make this sake. Koedo Kagamiyama Shuzo is a very small brewery and they do not have a sufficient refrigerating installation, and they do not age winter-made sake over the summer season until the next autumn. A small microbrewery has its own challenges to overcome, which larger companies do not have.

Then, my friends, who were all women, headed for a kimono shop Tsuruya, while I decided to have a sole walk along the Taisho Roman Yume Dori Street and Crea Mall, since I was not interested in shopping in the kimono shop very much.

On the Taisho Roman Yume Dori Street, I was interested in a coffee shop. This coffee shop named Taishokan serves home-roasted coffee. From the outside, I saw two women in decent white-and-black uniforms were working in the coffee shop, which has an old-fashioned atmosphere.

I came in the coffee shop and ordered Ishigama coffee. There were a few customers and I could enjoy a cozy time. The home-roasted coffee was nice. Above all, a warm smile of a waitress made me relaxed. After killing some time there, I got out of the coffee shop and started walking toward the Crea Mall.

I got to the kimono shop Tsuruya and stayed there for a short time, and then moved to Cafe Pachanga. It was around three o'clock, when the Christmas gathering of kimono lovers was just about to start.

Kagetora from Miyagi and Urakasumi from Niigata

2010-12-14T14:44:00.002+09:00

Recently, my friend and I went to an izakaya located in Akigawa City, close to JR Akigawa Station. Initially, we intended to drink at "Tenku," an izakaya, which is one-minute walk from the station, and this article would have told you that this izakaya carried Tokyo sake and we enjoyed sake from five sake breweries of Tokyo if there had been two vacant seats there.

Thinking we will visit Tenku at the next chance, we walked around in the vicinity of station looking for another izakaya to enter. When I walked around there before, it was daytime and izakaya and other watering places were difficult to find, but those in the evening were like light traps and we were attracted to their lights easily like night moths. However, we needed to visit several izakayas to find vacant seats for us. The izakaya finally we were accepted to enter was located on an alley secluded from the main street.

As soon as I got seated, I looked at the sake menu, which listed "Masumi," "Kagetora," "Urakasumi," "Dassai," .... Thinking they had a good assortment of sake, I looked closer to determine what to drink. And, I found that there is a description of "sake from Miyagi Prefecture" on the left of "Kagetora," and "Niigata Honjozo" on the left of "Urakasumi"!! (Actually, there is sake named Koshino-Kagetora in Niigata Prefecture while Miyagi Prefecture boasts its prestigious Urakasumi.)

Well, I ordered "Kagetora" and drank it, and it actually tasted like sake from Niigata.

Oh, No! Forget about where sake is made. Just enjoy it. It's all right if the sake is good.

Surprised he should drink it undiluted!

2010-12-09T11:13:00.001+09:00

Okutama Yuusui-jikomi is a regular sake of Sawani from Ozawa Syuzou, and this is one of their low-end products.

The genshu (undiluted version) of this sake is sold around in May and June to be used for making umeshu (plum wine).

"Making of umeshu by using sake"

You can make umeshu from this sake much faster than you make one from shoshu. Actually, you need to wait for two or three months before you can enjoy good umeshu if you use shochu, while sake-based umeshu makes nice enough as quickly as about a week or two. You don't need so much sugar to make sake-based umeshu as you do for shochu-based one. So, the made umeshu will have a flinty and smooth taste.

By the way, this guy is drinking this genshu as it is.
I am surprised he should drink this undiluted! This is too strong since the alcohol content is 20 to 21%.

In addition, Okutama Yuusui-jikomi is also sold as Karakuchi Nigorizake (nigorizake version) around this time of the year. They are sake the sake from the same tank as different products by arranging it differently according to the seasons. Recently, I was given the Karakuchi Nigorizake by a friend. She also gave me radish pickled in sweet sake.

This radish picked in sweet sake is also a Sawanoi product. And I heard this is in short supply, and they ship this product to limited liquor shops only during December. Even Sawanoi-en, a shop directly operated by the brewery, does not sell it.

The Karakuchi Nigorizake was nice. Although I guessed this was a bit fizzy, which I am not very good at, it tasted mild. And, although it includes a lot of lees, it was a smooth and flinty, quaffable sake.

I am drinking Karakuchi Nigorizake with radish picked in sweet sake

Gleaming sake!

2010-12-06T13:27:00.003+09:00

November 27, my drinking friends and I met BBQ facilities in Ome City, Tokyo. We brought sake bottles (one or two bottles for each) there and had BBQ & sake party.

This place is, to our delight, very convenient because they provide guests with various tools and tableware. They had tokkuri (pottery flasks), choko (small sake cup), and kettles, so we could even prepare warm sake there.

We made warmed sake using the leftmost bottle (Nagaokajo from Hasegawa Syuzou) and the tall brown bottle (Junmai Ginjirushi from Ozawa Syuzou) in the photo above. Both of these two bottles are nice when warmed.

In the video below, I drink Daiginjo Bon Genshu, which is a limited product of Ozawa Syuzou.

My jolly drinking friends and I are performing a skit in the video below. We had a 30-second arrangement talk and were filmed without rehearsal. Don't you think we were good actors?
The message on the back label of this sake bottle says, "This sake gleams in the mouth. See how it gleams.

At this time, I drank very much and fell asleep. While I was sleeping, these ladies ... !

Pleasure of warmed sake

2010-11-30T09:18:00.002+09:00

Lately, it seems that sake is gaining in popularity outside Japan. I sometimes read blog articles about sake written by non-Japanese people. Reading such articles, I think that they tend to prefer ginjo sake, junmai sake, and other premium types of sake to regular sake and other low-priced sake types. This is probably because, in other countries, sake is not so popular as in Japan, they do not conceive it to be a beverage consumed on a daily basis, and they may think sake is something special and it should be enjoyed with sashimi or tempura in a fancy Japanese-style restaurant. Of course, it is a nice way to enjoy sake, and I don't deny it, though.

Needless to say, sake is an alcoholic beverage Japanese people have been drinking since old days. It have been drunk in ritualistic scenes such as wedding ceremonies, funerals, religious festivals, etc. Maybe I can say that, for Japanese people, sake is a part of their life. However, people can't afford high-end sake such as ginjo sake as a daily drink.

When people call it a day and then go back their own houses, they drink sake while feeling tiredness as an evidence of their satisfactory hard work. Looking back on the day or increasing their motivation for tomorrow's work, they drink sake in a relaxing mood. This has probably been a typical way of banshaku, or evening drink, for many of the Japanese. I guess they have been drinking sake in this manner on a daily basis since the Edo era or maybe earlier.

In my opinion, non-Japanese people would be able to have a wider range of opportunities to enjoy sake if low-priced table sake including futsushu (regular sake), which can be drunk on a daily basis casually at home, gains in popularity as widely as sake drunk during formal dinners or sake paired with decent Japanese foods.

As I thought in the way above, I am trying to introduce kanzake (warmed sake) to people in the world because kanzake is one of the casual ways of drinking sake, and usually people warm relatively low-priced sake to make kanzake (high-end sake tend to lose the balance of taste when warmed). And, here I provide the following movie:

The message of this move is "Boil some water in an electric pot, and place a flask filled with sake to warm it. This is an easy way to prepare kanzake, so I recommend this way to you!"

This movie seems to have a number of viewers from the United States and other countries. One viewer gave me a message to tell that he had even purchased an electric pot to use it for warming up sake. I am happy to receive such comments.

I want people in the world to know there are various ways of drinking sake. If you have never tried warmed sake, I want you to have a try.

South American folklore music and sake

2010-11-25T09:36:00.004+09:00

It was September of 2008 when I first visited Toshimaya Syuzou sake brewery. On that day, a managing director of the company showed us their facilities such as the rice washer, rice steamer, fermentation tanks, bottling line, etc.

(This movie was taken September 9, 2008.)

At this time, we sampled some sakes of this brewery, and I drank Juuemon for the first time. The full-bodied bold taste of this junmai sake impressed me strongly.

By the way, Toshimaya Syuzou held an open brewery event last Sunday, on November 21. And, I went to the brewery for this event.

I got on a train and reached Higashi-Murayama Station at around 11:35. When I started walking to leave the station, someone called me from behind, and it was one of my drinking friends. So, we together reached the brewery.

At the brewery, we had sample this year's new sake, kamekuchi sake, etc., purchased bottles of junmai ginjo jukusei nama genshu, a limited item specially sold in this event, and then walked around in the venue to see whether some of our friends were there and to find no one. So, now, all we must do is to buy some sake and foods and enjoy them.

Since we heard the toji, master brewer of the brewery, and his company performers would start performance of South American folklore music from 12:30, we went to the square where a stage was set up. A lot of sake bottle boxes were arranged there so that visitors could use them as tables and stools. However, almost all the seats were occupied.

We were walking around in front of the stage for music performance while taking video and pictures and talking. Then, luckily two seats suddenly became vacant, and we could sit down just in front of the stage. I bought some foods and we had sake and foods while enjoying merry folklore there.

My friend bought a bottle of Juuemon Nakadori Nama Genshu, which we drank there. The toji was playing music with zampoña, quena, bombo, etc. while we were drinking his sake. That is to say, the toji amused us doubly.

Drinking various sake with right sake vessels

2010-11-18T11:19:00.003+09:00

Recently, I bought four sake vessels at the pottery market in Mashiko Town, Tochigi Prefecture.
(Play list of movies regarding the Mashiko Pottery Market）

I know that drinking a specific type of sake with a right drinking vessel enhances good characteristics of the sake. So, I tried choosing vessels according to several types of sake, and drank the sake. However, I may have been dogmatic in deciding on these combinations of sake and vessels described below, and some people may have different ways of combining sake and these vessels.

Vessel (1)

The first vessel is a tall one, which can hold as much as about 140 ml of sake. When I filled about 60% of this cup with ginjo sake, the aroma rose up from the inside of the cup. I set the thin brim of the cup to the lip and tilted the cup. The sake flew into the mouth from the cup smoothly, and I felt a pleasant touch of sweetness first. It seems that this cup accentuates the clear taste and fragrant aroma of ginjo sake.

Vessel (2)

The next vessel is also tall (this time, I bought three tall vessels). The capacity is about 90 ml. The marks on the cup look like hieroglyphic characters. They also look like dancing people with horny headgears on their heads. I also noticed that one of the marks looked like a kanji character of "笑," which means a laugh. The general mood of this cup is that of an unearthed ancient item. So, the idea that hit me was "Let's fill this cup with long-aged sake."

Vessel (3)

This tall cup has a white outer surface, on which line drawings have been scratched. The brownish color of the foundation mud is exposed as a result of the scratched lines. So, I am sure that two types of mud are used to make this cup (brownish mud is used for the foundation with white mud coated on it). The outside surface of the cup does not seem to have been glazed, while the inside surface has been glazed and has a layer of thin glass. I drank fresh chilled namazake with this cup.

By the way, the line drawing shows giant robots, or Mobile Suites (Gundam). So, this is a very unique sake vessel and I liked it at first glance.

Drinking "Tenranzan" on Mt. Tenranzan

2010-11-15T16:28:00.003+09:00

Last week, I went for a hike in the vicinity of Han-no City, Saitama Prefecture. I walked along the following course:

Higashi-han-no Station on JR Hachiko Line -- Igarashi Shuzo Sake Brewery -- Mt. Tenranzan -- -- Koma Pass -- Kinchakuda Paddy -- Koma Station on Seibu Line

I started walking at around 10 o'clock at Higashi-han-no Station, and ended the walking of this day at Koma Station at about 2:30. If I had not taken the detour for visiting Igarashi Shuzo for sake, my walk would have been shorter by about one hour. However, in that case, I can't write an article for this blog, which deals with sake, so I walked the longer way.

An easier way to get to Igarashi Shuzo is to walk from Han-no Station on Seibu Line, but the map showed me that walking from JR Higashi-han-no Station to the brewery did not make a big difference in terms of distance, so I decided to walk from Higashi-han-no Station. However, I was not very sure whether I was on a right track, and I walked approximately southward by making a guess. And, finally I reached the street that runs along the Koma River. I was sure that the Igarashi Shuzo was located on this street. Actually, I have a good sense of geography, and I can usually manage to find a right way to the destination in such a case. However, it was a bit long way.

Igarashi Syuzo (arrival at 11:20)
Anyway, I could get to Igarashi Shuzo, and the shop there was selling their sake. When I entered the shop, the salesclerk was busy with some paperwork at her desk. She confirmed that I was not driving, took out some bottles of sake from the refrigerator, arranged them on the table, offered me sample sips of sake, and then went back to her desk to resume her work.

After sampling all types of the presented sake, I purchased a bottle of aged sake Koten and a 300-ml bottle of namazake and put them in my rucksack. According to the salesclerk, it takes about 20 minute on foot to Han-no Station, and the starting point of the trail to Mt. Tenranzan is farter beyond the station. Well, I had known that since I looked the map, and I thought she told me roughly correct time to the station. However, I don't like a 30-minute or longer walk on a paved road very much. I hoped that I could walk on unpaved trails soon and I tended to be at a trot.

The starting point to climb Mt. Tenranzan was near the Noninji Temple, and I walked the trail that passes beside the temple. It was a very short way to the summit, and actually it took only about 10 minutes for me to reach the summit. The part of the trail just below the summit was somewhat steep, but I think even kindergarten children can walk to get to the summit.

Tenranzan summit (arrival at 12:30)
Mt. Tenranzan stands 195 meters high. There is a robust concrete structure on the summit. This is a viewing platform, from which you can look down the town of Han-no City. Also, you can have a panoramic view of Okutama mountain area. In the past, Emperor Meiji watched his warriors hold military exercises from this point ("Tenranzan" means "a mountain from which Emperor watched something").

I drank some of Tenranzan namazake on the summit as I planned, had lunch there, and then started walking again for Koma Pass. I took about one hour to the pass, and the trail was broad and comfortable.

Koma Pass (arrival at 1:40)
It was somewhat dim on Koma Pass. I could not have a good view from there. From this point, I walked for about 30 minutes to reach the Kinchakuda Paddy.

Do-re-mi-fa Bridge (arrival at 2:00)
The Do-re-mi-fa Bridge is a small submerging bridge spanning the Koma River that runs meanderingly around the Kinchaku Paddy. I walked across this bridge and reached the Kinchakuda Paddy.

The photo above on the right was taken from the Do-re-mi-fa Bridge. I tried to take picture of swimming fish in the water, but can you see them?

Kinchakuda Paddy (arrival at 2:10)
I think the best season to visit the Kinchakuda Paddy is late Sempember, when flowers of the cluster-amaryllis are in full bloom. The photo below on the right was taken in late September, 2008.

Views from the Shikanodai Bridge
I left the Kinchakuda Paddy for Koma Station. On the way to the station, I walked across the Shikanodai Bridge over the Koma River. The photos below were taken from this bridge.

Pleasant pottery market

2010-11-08T15:28:00.007+09:00

Selecting a sake drinking vessel according to the type of sake you drink, how you like it, or your frame of mind -- this is one way of enjoying sake. I already have so many drinking vessels that I often hesitate about which drinking vessel to use when drinking sake. Therefore, I did absolutely not need to purchase any additional sake vessel in the pottery market held in Mashiko Town, Tochigi Prefecture, on November 3 to 7.

Anyway, on November 3, I went to the market in Mashiko Town with two drinking friends since they wanted to visit there and buy something.

At around 9:00 in the morning, we parked the car in a parking lot somewhat far from the venue. There, we could park the car free of charge. Then, we walked for about 10 minutes to reach the main street of the town, which extends from Mashiko Station to the east.

As we walked along the main street eastward, the street got busy and crowded with more and more cars and people. After we passed the intersection named Jonaizaka, I began to feel an all-out brisk atmosphere of the pottery market.

On both sides of the street, there were many shops and tents, where various types of pottery were sold. There were also tent shops on backstreets and alleys, in squares, and in parks. Besides pottery, folk handcrafts were sold. There were also food stands selling snacks such as hot dogs and beverages such as beer and sake.

As I own a lot of sake drinking vessels, I intended to buy the least possible number of sake cups, but, in fact, I bought these four cups. There were so many nice works there.

Warmed sake and autumn leaves

2010-11-06T16:43:00.003+09:00

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.

I want a sake warmer!

2010-11-01T15:18:00.006+09:00

As the autumn advances and it gets colder, delight of warmed sake increases. I like drinking warmed sake while grilling dried fish on a shichirin (small desk-top charcoal brazier) and nibbling it.

However, it is bothersome and spoils the pleasure to bring back an empty sake flask to your kitchen to make another helping. So, you need something that allows you to continuously enjoy your drinking without leaving your seat, or some device with which you can prepare warmed sake at the table. More specifically, it can be a douko (sake warmer used in a nagahibachi) and nagahibachi (brazier used indoors for heating). Otherwise, it can be a household-purpose small-sized sake warmer. Incidentally, a commodity called mini-kansuke uses just hot water to warm up sake and does not have a heating system, so it may be useful if you do not drink sake very much and you don't need to make many helpings of warmed sake. However, it is not very useful for heavy drinkers since the water in the mini-kansuke soon cools down.

Of all types of such sake warming devices, what I want to get is a copper kandouko (sake warmer) sold by Daikokuya. The kandouko holds some amount of water in it, warms the water with heat of charcoal fire also burning inside this device, and warms sake with the warmed water. While warming sake, you can also cook some foods such as dried fish on the grill placed over the charcoal fire. It seems perfect for my requirements, doesn't it? However, it is priced at 126,000 yen, and I am hesitating about whether to purchase it.

Mechanism of a kandouko

The combination of a nagahibachi and douko also seems a cool setting for enjoying warmed sake. They function by the same principles as Daikokuya's kandouko mentioned above. The douko is placed on the burning charcoal in the nagahibachi so that the water contained in the douko can be warmed and, subsequently, the sake in a flask sunk in the water can be warmed up. Maybe, I can buy them through an Internet auction less expensively than Daikokuya's kandouko. However, a nagahibachi is big and heavy and it is not very convenient to use it on a table.

Combination of a nagahibachi and douko

For now, I use a small electric pot to warm up sake. Although it is not so elegant as a douko, nagahibachi, etc., but it is anyway useful.

Yesterday, I used this electric pot to warm up a sake carton as shown in the movie below. I jut put the sake carton in whole and drank it. This is maybe a rude and wild way for preparing warmed sake, though.

(Later, in February of 2011, I finally bought a kandouko. So, I wrote another artilce about the kandouko after the test use of it. Here is the post: "Finally got a kandouko (sake warmer)!")

Arabashiri, but this is not a sake term

2010-10-29T12:49:00.003+09:00

When moromi (fermenting liquid of sake) is pressed and is separated into liquid part and solid part, the liquid is called sake. The part that is pressed in the first stage of pressing is called "arabashiri." Then, "nakadori" is pressed, and "Seme" is finally squeezed. So, even if moromi is fermented in the same tank, the taste and aroma of sake vary depending on in what stage it is pressed.

Probably, the same thing can be said regarding coffee brewing. When you brew coffee with a coffee dripper, the very first dripped coffee is different from the later dripped part of coffee in taste and aroma.

In case of sake, nakadori sake has a better taste and aroma than arabashiri. However, in case of coffee, I feel that arabashiri coffee is better than nakadori coffee.

Today's Sake
Sawanoi Honjozo Shiboritate (Ozawa Syuzou)
Actually, I am not very good at new sake because it is somewhat burning on my tongue and a bit difficult to drink. Of such new sakes, this new sake is easy to drink and, at the same time, has a rich taste. I think we can expect much of this season's Sawanoi sake.

Sawanoi Open Brewery Event

2010-10-25T17:41:00.004+09:00

On October 23, Ozawa Syuzou (sake brewery making Sawanoi sake) held an open house event on their premises and at their related restaurants and facilities. My friends and I went to the brewery, sampled various types of sake, attended interesting activities, and then of course got drunk.

When we got to the reception desk set up in the parking lot beside the brewery, President Ozawa and Employee A were busy there in selling sake-sampling tickets and welcoming visitors.

As soon as we got the sampling tickets, we went for sampling sake inside the kura building. Various types of sake, including daiginjo, junmai, koshu (long-aged sake), and of course shinshu (new sake), were prepared for sampling.

As the lady says in the video, this year's Honjozo Shiboritate was very nice. Unlike a new sake, this sake has a mild and well-balanced taste.

The brewery was open from 9:00 a.m., but some of us were already there by 8:50, and had occupied a table in the rest station for friends, who would join us later, by 9:30. Then, we started a long-time sake drinking party which changed places and lasted until 10:00 p.m. lol

NINE and sake with a self-heating system

2010-10-19T17:03:00.004+09:00

NINE -- this is the name of sake. This sake is brewed with the method called bodaimoto, which is a very old method for preparing yeast starter.

From this name of bodaimoto, I thought that the flavor of the sake was old-fashioned and crude. No, this is very sophisticated sake. It is very rich in taste and, at the same time, delicate. I like the moderate sweetness of this sake. This is hiyaoroshi sake, which means the sake has been pasteurized once. However, I hardly feel anything caused by pasteurization, and the flavor of this sake gives me a crispy and brisk impression of namazake.

By the way, here is another sake product, which is completely different from NINE. It is called "Kanban-musume." This is canned sake, but not an ordinary product. The can has a heat generation system, which use quicklime and water. Chemical reaction of quicklime and water warmed up sake contained in the can!

Although this product is a bit more expensive and heavier than ordinary canned sake, it is an interesting product. Please watch the movie below to see how to I enjoy the warmed sake.

As I recall, I bought a lunchbox at JR Sendai Station before. It was rice with sliced and baked beef tongue. This had a string coming out from one side of the box, and when I pulled it, the lunchbox became hot. It was cold winter season then, and I was happy to be able to each hot lunch on the train.

No Special Event on Sake Day

2010-10-03T16:23:00.001+09:00

October 1 is Sake Day (Nihonshu no Hi) in Japan. The brewing year stated on October 1 before, and this seems one reason why this day is designated as Sake Day by Japan Sake Brewers Associations.

Anyway, at this time of the year, whatever October 1 is called, sake breweries ship various hiyaoroshi sake, and are busy in advance sale of new sake by means of such as direct mail advertisement to their customers. Several weeks ago, we were sickening of excruciatingly hot summer days. However, after we felt sudden cool air of autumn, our appetite increased suddenly. Now, we crave nice sake so badly.

Besides hiyaoroshi, the taste of namazake becomes better after the summer season, so I am lately buying namazake bottles from breweries in Tokyo and enjoying them.

And, to me, there was no special event on sake day, but I was happy with Sawanoi Honjo Nama in that evening.

Today's movie -- Recently, I climbed a mountain in the Okutama area in Tokyo. Then, I found some mushrooms. I cooked them and ate them with cup noodles at the lunch time. Mountains in autumn are enjoyable.

Attraction of Taruzake (Casked Sake)

2010-09-30T18:16:00.001+09:00

Recently, I checked old video data I took before, and found footage of kagami-biraki (ceremonial way making a toast with sake). Since I thought this can be a good movie, I edited the data and uploaded it to the Youtube site.

The movie I presents in this post was taken when we had a Christmas party for kimono lovers in 2008. A generous sales person from OZEKI Co. Ltd. (famous and big sake brewery in Japan) kindly prepared a big cask of sake for us, and we could have this wonderful experience.

The Japanese often celebrate happy events with kagami-biraki. In kagami-biraki, a wooden cask filled with sake is prepared. People crack open this cask and then make a toast with the sake.

A cask for kagami-biraki is usually filled with inexpensive regular sake, and regular sake is in many cases light and quaffable. Actually, I do not easily become tired of drinking regular sake. So, although I usually like rich and bold sake like muroka nama genshu or full-bodied sake such as yamahai, I sometimes feel inclined to drink regular sake.

Since the cask is made of cedar, the sake takes scent of cedar in the cask. Magic of cedar scent turns the cheap sake into something completely different.

Regular sake drunk as casked sake is fresh, flinty, and crispy, and gives you briskness. This is due to the scent of cedar that the sake takes while it is prepared in the cask.

Oh, after watching my video, I became to deliriously crave casked sake.

No 720-ml bottle, but a 1800-ml bottle

2010-09-24T14:49:00.003+09:00

If you visit a liquor shop in Japan, you will find various sake bottles being sold there. And if you a great sake lover, you may want to buy as many bottles as possible so as to try as many types of sake as possible. In my case, I usually prefer 720-ml bottles to 1800-ml bottle to buy because smaller bottles allow you to buy many types of sake at lower cost and you don't need to continue to drink very much of the sake of one bottle before moving on to another bottle.

On the premises of Ishikawa Brewery, which is making Tamajiman sake, the company is operating the sake shop "Sake Cellar" (酒世羅). I often see bottles of Junmai Ginjo Muroka Nama Genshu "Koryu" (紅龍) are displayed on a shelf in the refrigerator at the shop. And every time I see these bottles, I want to buy one, but this sake is sold only in 1800-ml bottles. So, I have been somewhat hesitant about buying the sake.

This summer, I found this sake was served in an izakaya in Tachikawa city, so I ordered a glass of this sake. This sake gave me a bold impression and I liked it.

So, recently I drove my car to the brewery and bought a 1800-ml bottle of this sake at the sake shop there. I had probably been thinking of this sake for more than a year, and finally I bought it.

Having been made from 50% polished Gohyakumangoku sake rice, this junmai ginjo sake was sweetish with a clear taste. Although I felt the sake was still young in its taste, I expect time will add to the good taste.

Season of Hiyaoroshi

2010-09-09T11:43:00.002+09:00

Hiyaoroshi or namazumeshu is a certain type of sake. Usually, sake is pasteurized twice before it is shipped. The first pasteurization of sake is performed after the sake is pressed and before it enters the aging process, and then the second pasteurization comes when the sake is bottled. However, for hiyaoroshi sake, the second pasteurization process never occurs, it is shipped after the aging period of half a year or so without undergoing the second-time pasteurization. Thus, hiyaoroshi sake acquires mellowness through the aging process while maintaining a flavor of namazake.

Around September 5, I received a notice informing of hiyaoroshi sake being sold or to be sold soon from the liquor shop where I often buy sake. A flier I received showed hiyaoroshi sake from breweries in the Nishitama area. According to flier, Sawanoi, Kasen, and Chiyozuru are shipping hiyaoroshi, while Tamajiman is selling Daiginjo Muroka Genshu Aki no Yorokobi.

This summer saw excruciatingly sizzling days but autumn is steadily approaching; cicadas are no longer chirp, while autumn grasshoppers and crickets are getting louder. Hiyaoroshi is the sake that tells you the coming of autumn. I made a phone call to this liquor shop and ordered some bottles of hiyaoroshi.

At another liquor shop, they are also selling hiyaoroshi sake that comes from various places in Japan. In the refrigerator of the shop are Ichinokura, Urakasumi, Mine-no-Hakubai, Harushika, etc. I bought Harushika Junmai Ginjo Namazume and Kamikokoro Umakuchi Hiyaoroshi at this shop.

I had a try of Harushika first. Gulp, gulp, .... It was very nice sake. Hiyaoroshi is a taste of autumn.

Within a few days, the liquor to which I called will deliver the hiyaoroshi bottles I ordered. As it will become cooler and sake will become tastier.

Vinegared Rice with Okutama Yamame (Mountain Trout)

2010-09-07T16:13:00.003+09:00

The Japanese food restaurant named "Imoutoya" stands on the Tama River, on the side opposite to JR Mitake Station on Ome Line.

"Okutama Yamame no Chirashizushi" they serve at this restaurant includes sliced raw yamame (mountain trout), but this yamame, (Okutama Yamame) is not of an ordinary type.

According to the Web site of Okutama Fish Breeding Center of Tokyo, Okutama Yamame is "triploid female yamame that has been bred by using biotechnology. This fish never reaches maturity and grows over 2 Kg in weight in three years. It is well suited for cuisine such as sashimi and meunière, which are usually made using meat of rather a big fish." In other words, these fish do not spawn, and they grow larger and taste better than common yamame.

Recently, I ordered Okutama Yamame no Chirashizushi at this restaurant for lunch.

The fish meat is different from common yamame in appearance, looking somewhat pinkish like salmon.

Topped with young Welsh onion, green shiso, myoga, and other herbs, firm sliced raw fish tasted nice.

And sake! They serve Sawanoi sake tasting set "Ki-Sho-Ten-Ketsu (起承転結)" including four different types of sake.

Ki 起: Junmai Namazake Sawane. Fresh sake with low alcohol and slightly higher acidity
Sho 承: Honjozo Nama. Sake with a typical taste. Moderate alcohol gives this sake a flinty impression.
Ten 転: Soten, junmai ginjo sake, with rich body.
Ketsu 結: Daiginjo. Nice aroma and flinty taste.

Drinking Kisho while eating sumibiyaki charcoal-grilled foods

2010-08-31T21:01:00.003+09:00

Sake can be paired with various types of foods, but if you want to enjoy this beverage in quite a Japanese atmosphere, you can of course go to a Japanese restaurant.

In a walking distance from Nozaki Syuzou, the brewery that is making Kisho, in Akiruno City, Tokyo, there is a Japanese restaurant named "Kurochaya." This restaurant serves sumibiyaki charcoal-grilled foods. The over 250-year-old buildings of this restaurant were before owned by a big sericulturist who was a village headman in the vicinity, and the buildings have been brought over from the original place and reassembled here.

When you enter the front gate while seeing a big water mill wheel on your left, you get in the garden of the restaurant that looks like a grove where restaurant houses with thatched roofs and magnificent structure stand. The garden is interspersed with bamboo and other trees, resting arbors, souvenir shops, etc. This place is on a cliff from which you can look down on the Akigawa River. I could see from a resting bench children bathing in a clear stream and an angler fishing sweetfish.

Inside the restaurant, beams, columns, and floors were shining black, and tools for reeling silk off cocoons including spinning wheels, tools for making medicine, and other antiques were displayed. Baskets that had been used for sericultural work were hanging upside down from the ceiling. These baskets on which paper was pasted were now used as lamp shades.

Sake we enjoyed at this restaurant while waiting for fish, meat, and vegetables to be cooked on the grill was of course Kisho. Namazake served in bamboo tubes was of course very nice. However, I wanted to drink sake in a relaxing mood with the nice foods, and in that case, I prefer nurukan or lukewarm sake. Anyway, if you are Kisho fan, this is a perfect place for you.

Sake I drunk in Nasu

2010-08-26T20:12:00.001+09:00

Lately, we have sizzling days in July and August here in Japan. It is too bad that some people died from the heat of summer.

To escape from the brazing inferno, I planned a short trip to the Nasu highlands. My friends and I gathered and left to the destination place in two cars last Saturday.

Nasu is a highland place in the north of Tochigi Prefecture. Naturally, it is cooler than our places. There, we had an overnight stay in a small rental cottage.

Beside the cottage, a small mountain stream was running, and the bathhouse that only the lodgers of our cottage can use stood on the river bank. In the bathhouse, a hot spring bath was provided. I first bathed in the stream to cool down myself then I warmed in the hot bath. It was a very relaxing experience.

Another amusement was barbecue. We had bought meet and vegetables to cook at a nearby grocery store before we got to the cottage.

And, as to beverages, beer, shochu, and whiskey were on the table, and of course sake.

One of our members was actually a sake master brewer from a brewery in Tokyo. He kindly brought to the cottage a premium daiginjo sake he made and another commercially available bottle of Yatsushika.

The daiginjo sake was nice but might be too nice for our wild BBQ food, while Yatsushika's bold impression and nice aroma of mellowness were well paired the BBQ foods. The master brewer (the guy behind the bottle in the photo above) was quite happy especially with this sake.

Another lady brought a 1800-ml bottle of Junmai Daiginjo Kinshi Masamune Matsuya Kyubei. She was bought this sake in Kyoto because she liked this bottle. Finally she brought this bottle in the bathhouse and later we joined her for enjoying mixed bathing with this expensive sake.

I myself brought a small bottle of Junmai Goyotei from Shiraso Co. Ltd. This sake tasted quite like a namazake. I liked this one but the master brewer didn't appear to.

Tofu restaurant "Ukai"

2010-08-16T09:50:00.002+09:00

The garden was maintained quite well. Carp were seen in the pond in the center of the garden. I felt the space was a little small and the atmosphere was damp, but the setting here was relaxing and appeared suitable for killing time to wait for companions to have lunch with; stone-paved paths in the garden were wet with sprinkled water; a wind-bell under the eaves was swaying in the breeze and sounding clearly and brightly; thus, the entire stage scenery here seemed helpful in adding to the cool and refreshing taste of the garden. This place I was visited recently was the tofu food restaurant "Ukai" in Hachioji City.

In the garden, there was the spring water that was used to make tofu of this restaurant. I had a mouthful of the water, which tasted mild and permeated through my body.

On this day, this tasteful and elegant restaurant was used as the venue of a luncheon party of our kimono circle. Since most of members of the circle are women, it is virtually a must for me to attend this gathering (maybe, I'm a philogynist).

We had some sake in a friendly and relaxing mood while enjoying foods beautifully arranged on small plates and bowl saucers. This was a delight of the palate and sight.

Sake Note
Tokubetsu Junmai Ginrei Gassan Nama (特別純米銀嶺月山生)
"Gassan" is the name of a mountain in the Tohoku area. The mountain is know for its behind-the-season skiing (the skiing season is from late spring to early summer) and also known as an object of mountain worship. Having the same name, this name sounds conveying cool air from the mountain. Is this too easy of me to think in this way?
The impression of the sake was that of average namasake but it has rather a higher degree of boldness in various aspects: bouquet, taste, etc. The alcohol content is 16 to 17, also being higher than typical sake. However, it leaves a clean-cut aftertaste.

Banzairaku Jin was nice

2010-07-31T13:38:00.001+09:00

Our aikido master recently suggested that we get together for a meal once in a while, and we went to an izakaya Uotami last Thursday. The master kindly paid the bill for us.

We were five guys including one grade school boy. Only two of use, the master and I, drank alcohol beverages.

I don't frequent chain izakaya restaurants of this type lately. However, foods of this izakaya were not bad, and the interior layout was nicely designed with many cozy private rooms, and we could have relaxing time there. I guess such chain restaurants are also making efforts in improving customer satisfaction.

After having had beer to quench our thirst, we of course ordered sake. The sake we drank were Kita no Homare (北の誉), Tomio (富翁) and Banzairaku Jin (萬歳楽の甚). All sakes were contained 300-ml bottles, which were good quantity for the two drinkers.

Jin, a junmai sake, particularly had a rich taste and was my favorite one.

Shaved ice with sweet sake: This is shaved ice with thick sweet sake (beverage made from sake lees and sugar) and is sold at Sawanoi-en rest station run by Ozawa Syuzou. If you have too much sweet drink, you tend to suffer summer weariness. However, sweet sake is rich in nourishment, so I think it does some good for your health.

Coolness in front of the basin of a waterfall

2010-07-29T11:37:00.001+09:00

A friend of mine, who is an employee of a sake brewery, said that she wanted to take some pictures of their sake against a background of a waterfall. According to her, they will use the pictures for advertisement. I was interested in this photo shoot, and I accompanied her.

We went westward on Route 411, which ran along the north lakeside of Okutama Lake, and entered Tabayama Village of Yamanashi Prefecture. On that day, 25 of July, a summer festival was being held in Tabayama Village. There was a parking control guy deployed in front of a large parking lot. This place was close to the destination where the waterfalls we wanted to visit existed. Usually, we can pass by this parking lot and get closer to the waterfalls, but it was a festival day, some control was applied to traffic, and we couldn't drive farther. So, as the guy in front of the parking lot instructed, we drove into the lot and parked the car. Not interested very much in what were going on in the festival, we started walking for the waterfalls.

Leaving the car, we walked across a scorching tennis court, and then waddled up along an asphalt-paved slope. We walked down on stone steps to the stream, but the path was somehow damp and seemed to be a favorite haunt of pit vipers. I carefully went down to the bottom of the valley. On the riverbed, it was wonderfully cool.

And, we went upstream along the valley, and found two stages of waterfalls.

The employee of the brewery took out two bottles of sake, placed them on the rock that formed a small dam of the basin of the lower waterfall, and took some pictures of the bottles. And as to the sake she brought there, I drank it from the bottle after the photo shoot as you can see in the video below.

Drinking nice sake in front of the basin while being cooled by the waterfall was certainly a pleasant experience.

Barely surviving a scorching summer

2010-07-28T11:39:00.001+09:00

Last week, we had torturous intense heat here in Japan, and it was very hard to survive the week.

In order to cool off myself, I ate watermelon ...,

Went to a river for a cool evening breeze and had some beer ...,

Took a cold water bath ...,

But, I couldn't find definitively effective measures to cool myself. Anyway, at last, I drank chilled namazake.

Muroka Nama Genshu Tokubetsu Junmai Yamahai "Kaze no Mama"

This sake has fresh bouquet and savor distinctive of namazake, substantial acidity, and slight astringent taste of fruit.

In the movie above, I am gnawing fresh ginger sticks simply because I like them with sake. I don't mean to convey any special suggestion such as this sake is well paired with ginger. I often eat fresh ginger when drinking sake.

A nice izakaya to drink in

2010-07-22T13:11:00.002+09:00

Sunday, I visited izakaya Ukou close to JR Shimbashi Station to attend a small drinking event.

Shimbashi is very far from my place and I don't usually go there only for the purpose of drinking. However, one of the organizers of this event eagerly and frequently invited me to the party. So, I finally accepted her invitation.

After just a two-minute walk or so from the Karasumori Exit of Shimbashi Station, I found a signboard of Ukou displayed on a two-story building. There was an opening on a building wall and the opening was the start point of a steep flight of stairs that lead to the upper floor, where this cozy little izakaya was operating. The izakaya had about 10 counter seats and a small tatami room.

Although being a sake lover, since I went there through the sizzling air of summer, I wanted to quench my parched throat with beer. The beer contained in this very thin glass was very drinkable, and I felt like I was drinking a cool breeze.

This nice otoshi appetizer made me want to drink some sake soon.

When I wanted sake, the izakaya manager displayed these bottles of sake on the counter top in front of me. Wow! It was very nice to see these bottles. The participants of the party could drink any sake they wanted, and I of course wanted to taste all of these sakes. And, so did I.

As being introduced by a gourmet information Web-site as a sake-centered izakaya, foods they offered seemed to be well-paired with sake. Look these photos. If you drink sake with these foods, they, both sake and foods, are nice. This is a synergistic effect.

And now, for something different, I am lately suffering heat of summer and I feel like I am in the hell. Are you all right in these sizzling days? When it is hot, eating watermelon really cools you down.

Drinking with ladies is fun

2010-07-20T17:42:00.001+09:00

Last Friday, I attended a party at izakaya Oumi in Tachikawa City for its repeat customers.

The party organizers, after obtaining the understanding from the manager of this izakaya, made this party such a wonderful event that we could drink all the sake stored in the big refrigerator at this izakaya. However, the time was limited to two hours and it was virtually impossible for us (we were about 15 people) to empty all of the several tens of 1,800-ml bottles.

Nevertheless, after paying only 4,000 yen as the entrance fee to this event, we could drink our favorite sake to our heart's content. So, this event seemed like a heaven on earth for sake lovers. They had probably more non-pasteurized sake than pasteurized sake. I was happy since I normally prefer non-pasteurized sake.

The most favorite sake I drink this day was Tokubetsujunmai Kitajima Muroka Nama Genshu (特別純米北島無濾過生原酒). The rice variety named "Wataribune" is used to make this sake.

And, just as usual, a drunken Ichibay happily enjoyed drinking with pretty women, a ha ha ha ha.

Finally, went out for drinking Saturday

2010-07-17T19:17:00.003+09:00

Last Saturday, I first intended not to go out for drinking. Instead, I planned to stay at home and work on my jobs.

Friends who went to Asakusa for drinking called me and tried hard to make me go to join them. But, I turned down their invitation. It was thought that I was to drink no alcohol that day.

However, I finally went out for dinking to Fussa, the next town.

The izakaya we visited was formerly called "Aguraya" and is now called "Lucky Sakaba." All the sake this izakaya carries are those with the brand names of "Kasen" or "Tamura," which are from Tamura Syuzoujou, a local sake brewery in Fussa City.

The woman who first became interested in going to this Lucky Sakaba was Employee A (she calls herself by this name in her blog) working for Ozawa Syuzou. "Is it all right for an employee who is working for Ozawa Syuzou to benefit Tamura Syuzoujou?" mischievously I asked her. "It is important to know what sake our competitor is making" was her reply. Well, it seemed to make sense.

After being seated at the counter, we first ordered "Kasen Tokubetsu Honjozo Nama" (嘉泉特別本醸造生), and fresh young ginger sticks and some skewers of yakitori to be paired. It is quite a refreshing experience to drink summer nama sake while gnawing on a ginger stick.

After the nama sake, we ordered Tamura (田むら). There are two types of Tamura from Tamura Syuzoujou. The difference is the rice to be used. This time, we ordered the Tamura made from Yamasake No.4 rice (山酒4号). This sake looked a bit cloudy and I believe ordinary Tamura is not cloudy. So, I wondered if this was a special version of Tamura, and asked a waiter why the sake was cloudy. According to his explanation, the glass that was quite chilled, and the chilled glass made the sake look cloudy. But actually, the sake was obviously cloudy. Anyway, it was good sake.

Then, we had Kiwametsuke Karakuchi (極め付け辛口). It was apparently regular sake. Low-priced sake from this brewery is also nice. A rich and complex taste often found in low-priced sake is difficult to find in high-end ginjo sake. Lately, I often have experiences in which I really think regular sake is better than ginjo sake.

When we drank Honjozo Maboroshi-no-sake (本醸造幻の酒), I felt I was quite drunken. So, we quitted drinking and went home.

This Lucky Sakaba seems to offer skewered foods such as yakitori as main selling menus, and their foods and sake are reasonably priced and nice. For example, 300-ml bottle of Kasen Honjozo Nama was 900 yen.

Finally, at the end of this post, I present the movie of the Tamura Syuzoujou. This movie was taken in October of 2009.

Smoked tofu of Mamagotoya

2010-07-05T12:01:00.001+09:00

I was given Smoked Tofu, a new piece of merchandise from Sawanoi Mamagotoya.

I tasted it, of course, with Sawanoi sake.

They say the smoked tofu tastes like cream cheese. However, it feels somehow gritty, which tells you that this is not cheese but tofu. Well-balanced flavoring with soy sauce and miso paste, as well as use of sake lees as an ingredient, has made this food a nice companion of sake.

The sake I drank with this smoked tofu was Sawanoi Honjo Nama.

Yakumo Shrine and Gyokudo Museum

2010-07-01T16:02:00.001+09:00

Yesterday, I suddenly went out to Yakumo Shrine in Kawai, Okutama Town. There was no special event at the shrine yesterday. In the spring, I visited this shrine to see shishimai lion dances, local performing arts in this vicinity, and then, I was impressed by the atmosphere of the shrine and I liked being there.

When leaving home yesterday, it was not raining, but it began to drizzle around the time I got to the shrine. There was not a soul on the premises of the shrine, and I could only hear the quiet rainfall. This place has such a quiet and nice atmosphere that I want to visit this place from time to time.

After leaving the shrine, I visited Gykudo Museum close to Mitake Station, which is the next to Kawai Station. This museum was built after the famous Japanese-style painter Gyokudo Kawai passed away, owning and exhibiting many of his works.

Until I visited the museum I did not know the fact the day of my visit falls on the deathday of the painter. In commemoration of his deathday, I was given two postcards, on which his works were printed. One of these works was "Natsu-kawa" (or "Summer river"), which I liked very much. This painting was actually exhibited in the museum.

"Postcard of Natsu-kawa"

In the picture, five anglers are fishing in the river occupying their favorite points. Maybe, they are fishing sweetfish?

All what have been painted are a dry riverbed blindingly shining in the summer sun, clear water, and the anglers.

In my childhood, I used to go to the river for bathing and fishing. This picture reminded me such old days. The river in my town was just like that in this picture.

Sitting on the riverside, I used to watch the water flowing absent-mindedly. Then, I often felt unsure whether the river was flowing or the ground where I was sitting on was being drifted. It seemed that this picture could reproduce even such dizzy feeling.

Well, when I fully satisfied my eyes with paintings of Gyokudo, my tongue, in turn, demanded to be satisfied.

The Japanese restaurant Imoutoya (http://www.sawanoi-sake.com/imoutoya/index.html) is just next door to Gykudo Museum. It is run by Ozawa Syuzou, a sake brewery known for its brand name Sawanoi. I ordered the sake tasting set Ki Sho Ten Ketsu (起承転結), which included four sakes from the brewery: Sawane (さわ音), Honjozo Nama (本醸造生), Soten (蒼天), and Daiginjo (大吟醸), and I also had a lunch set.

Of the four sakes, I like Sawane best. Its high acidity makes the sake refreshing in this time of year (Sawane is limited to the summer season, though).

Fresh Sake in Summer

2010-06-23T17:45:00.003+09:00

When new sake is ready for sale in the winter, I often purchase namazake made in Tokyo that I have ordered in advance at a nearby liquor shop.

Drinking new namazake is very refreshing and pleasant. However, I have a slight impression of carbon dioxide gas in winter's namazake, and feel a somehow burning taste on the tongue.

By contrast, I like namazake sold around at this time of year. Such namazake has been aged for about half a year, and is mellower and more drinkable than that drunk in winter.

Before, I had an ambiguous conception that namazake produced in Tokyo was not very good. However, reflecting the above described circumstance, it was partly because I live in Tokyo and I can drink Tokyo's newly-brewed namazake frequently in winter.

Now in summer I drink namazake from a brewery in Tokyo, and actually I think it is very nice.

Today's Tokyo sake is Kasen Funeshibori Muroka Nama Genshu (嘉泉「ふねしぼり無濾過生原酒」). I drank this tokubetsu honjozo sake several times before, but it was winter when I drank it. Now in summer, I like this sake more than before. Thus, I realized summer is a good season to drink namazake.

Anyway, of course, beer is also good in summer, especially when I drink it with being surrounded by kimono ladies in a beer garden.

Nomikiri Open to Public at Toshimaya Syuzou

2010-06-21T22:50:00.001+09:00

It may be late to write about this, but Toshimaya Syuzou (豊島屋酒造) held a nomikiri event on June 6, Sunday. (Nomikiri is one of the sake making processes and occurs several months after the target sake is stored in a tank for aging. In a nomikiri process, the sake is tasted to check its quality.)

On that day, they opened their brewery to public. People could enter the brewery and taste their sake on the premises for an admittance fee of 500 yen. The presented sakes included the three nomikiri sakes, limited sakes, sakes sent in the National New Sake Contest in the past, sakes on shelves, and other sakes.

The following are nomikiri sakes of this year:
1. Junmai ginjo genshu (Hattan-nishiki rice is used.)
2. Junmai genshu (General rice is used.)
3. Tokusen genshu (General rice is used.)

The first sake tasted somehow blunt, but it may become better after a little aging period. As to the second sake, I could feel a pleasant sweetish sensation of rice. The third one was the most favorite sake of the three to me. It was the richest in taste, and I bought two bottles of this.

In the limited sake corner, I could sample namazake (non-pasteurized sake) and nama-chozoshu (sake only once pasteurized before shipment). The following two sakes were especially nice:
4. Junmai ginjo muroka nama genshu
5. Hyo-on san-nen junmai ginjo muroka nama genshu (sake stored for three year at the temperature of ice)
The limited sakes were being sold on that day, but they didn't have so many bottles. When I went to the selling counter, the No. 5 bottles were already sold out and someone was buying the last No. 4 bottle.
Anyway, I didn't have intention to purchase more bottles since I had already two bottles at that time.

I enjoyed this nomikiri event very much.

By the way, this brewery won a gold prize at the National New Sake Contest. Congratulations on the brewery's and toji-san's (brewer master's) achievement!

Making Umeshu from Sake

2010-06-21T00:12:00.000+09:00

Ozawa Syuzou, known for its brand name Sawanoi, is selling genshu (undiluted sake) named "Umeshu-ni-shitara-oishii-genshu" (literally means "Undiluted Sake Good for Making Umeshu (plum wine)). This sake is the undiluted version of Okutama-yusui-shikomi, the most reasonably-priced sake of the company. Its alcohol content is 20 to 21%, and it is difficult to drink this sake as-is. This sake will be easier to drink when drunk after being diluted or on the rocks. And, this sake is, as its name suggests, intended for making umeshu.

In the garden at home, there are several plum trees, and, in spite of the fact that plums suffered poor harvest this year, I had enough plum fruits for making umeshu.

So, I decided to make umeshu this year.

Using sake for umeshu makes umeshu more quickly than using shochu. Probably, I will be able to drink good umeshu in a moth.

Actually, I sipped some only two days after the day I prepared the umeshu bottle, and it tasted like almost completed umeshu! Now, I am anticipating a good finish.

Walking around in Fushimi, Kyoto

2010-06-20T13:10:00.004+09:00

In the previous post, I wrote about the visit to Matsuo Shrine (松尾大社) and Umenomiya Shrine (梅宮大社) during my stay in Kyoto. However, if you are a great sake fan, and you visit Kyoto to offer prayers for the gods of sake making at these shrines, is it enough? There is Fushimi in Kyoto, the heartland of sake making. So, naturally, I wanted to visit Fushimi, and, with no special purpose in my mind, I headed for Fushimi.

During the three-day stay in Kyoto, I had two continuous rainy days from the beginning. However, the gods of sake seemed to finally do us a favor with a shiny day. It was the day we planned the visit to Fushimi.

Firstly, my friend and I went to Fushimi Inari Shrine (伏見稲荷大社). This shrine is known for its vermilion-lacquered torii gates. There are so many gates on the shrine's premises and they stand so close to each other that they form vermilion tunnels (there are several series of vermilion gates on the premises). And, I simply wanted to see these tunnels.

We already knew that an acquaintance of us had contributed a vermilion torii gate, and it had been placed among other gates in one of these vermilion approach ways of Fushimi Inari Shrine. Each gate was bearing the name of the contributor and we could know what gate she had contributed (if we could find her name). So, we tried very hard to find her name, but to no avail, ... . The gates were too many. When walking through these vermillion tunnels, looking for her name, I almost felt dizzy. After giving up finding her gate finally, we went out from the shrine, went to a railroad station, and take a train to go to Fushimi Momoyama Station (伏見桃山駅). From this station, you can walk to Gokonomiya Shrine (御香宮神社) and the sake breweries district of Fushimi.

First, we walked to Gokonomiya Shrine, where famous spring water is flowing out. After offering prayers, I drank some water from the spring and left the shrine. At this time, I got some water from the spring in a PET bottle I was carrying. (I brought this water home later, and made good coffee.)

At Momoyama-goryo-mae Station (桃山御陵前駅) on the way to Gokonomiya Shrine, we noticed that a guide map was displayed at the station. This map was indicating the locations of famous springs in Fushimi. According to the map, there were as many as 10 springs around here. Some of the springs are being used by sake breweries in Fushimi for brewing sake.

The sake breweries district was on the opposite side of the railroad tracks, and we had to walk back on the same way to the Fushimi Momoyama Station, and then further went westward beyond the railroad. I checked the map taken in my digital camera and learned there was a spring named Shiragikusui (白菊水) in a walking distance from the station. So, we decided to go there for some water. It is somehow fun to walk around in an unfamiliar town with relying on a map. It is like a game that is played with using your feet, eyes, ears, brain, and intuition. You can enjoy the town that is new to you by using your five senses.

It was amazing even to me that I had a good sense of direction, could easily locate the spring Shiragikusui, and reached it. Two or three people with empty PET bottles were there to get some water. Since we wanted just a mouthful, they treated us with a favor letting us drink water first.

Torisei Honten (鳥せい本店), a restaurant serving poultry, is operating just next to the spring. This restaurant is run by the brewery Yamamoto Honke (山本本家), which is brewing sake "Shinsei (神聖)" by using Shiragikusui as mother water. A water supply machine is placed in the entrance hall of the restaurant so that customers can freely drink the water.

The foods of this restaurant were reasonably priced, and their foods were very nice as far as I judged from what I ate there. I ordered the chicken lunch box (鳥弁当), which contained delicious softly deep-fried chicken. While eating this chicken box, I noticed another menu item, which was the chicken ramen (鳥ラーメン). I also ordered this ramen, which was also very nice.

Being fully fed, I needed to walk the meal down in the neighborhood of the Fushimi breweries' district. We walked along the narrow street flanked by buildings of different sake breweries, and we took the left at a point and found a souvenir shop, Ryomakan, apparently named after Ryoma Sakamoto (坂本龍馬), a historically distinctive character at the end of Edo Period. When it comes to Ryoma, there should be Teradaya (寺田屋), an old inn connected with him around here. So, we went southward anticipating we could reach and have a look of Teradaya. Then, I found a river resembling a moat ahead of us. Later, I learned the river was named Horikawa (濠川), which can literally translated the Moat River. This is a simple way of naming a river.

There were walkways on the both sides of the river. It seemed nice walking on these ways along the river. We walked on the bridge and got across the river. There, we went down stone stairs to one of the walkways, which was at almost the same level as the water.

A gap eroded by water was seen between the river wall and the pavement of the walkway. Sightseeing boats travelling up and down along the river were seen from time to time. These boats generated furrows, which approached the river wall as waves and broke against it. Thus, the gap was being supplied with water. In the water contained by the gap, some creatures were quivering. They were shellfish, spiral shells. Children were playing beside the river. There seemed to be a lot of fish in the river. The depth of the water reminded me of kappa goblins, which were used for advertisement for Kizakura (黄桜) sake.

Along the Horikawa River, hydrangeas were in flower and cherries were half ripened. Some red brush-shaped flowers whose name I don't know were also in bloom. In other words, there are a lot of things to see, and I never felt bored with this walkway.

Thus, we were enjoying walking and getting farther and farther away from the place of Teradaya. And, finally we didn't think it very important to visit Teradaya. When we walked up the stairs to get to the upper level, we were on the Otesuji Dori Street (大手筋通り), which led to the shopping arcade near Fushimi Momoyama Station.

After a several ten meter-walk, we found the building of Fushimi Sake Breweries' Association (伏見酒造組合), so we entered the building from curiosity. However, there was just one of their offices inside, and they appeared to be working on their daily business. In other words, this is not a place for sightseers to visit, and we were just bothering the clerk. So, we came out of the building after taking just one picture.

From the long-distance walk, we were a bit tired. It was good time to find a place we could sit and sip some sake. Fujioka Shuzo (藤岡酒造) known for its sake brand name of Soku (蒼空) is a small brewery, but its prestigious junmai sake is worth tasting. We sat at the counter of the Sakagura Bar En (酒蔵Bar「えん」), which was operating in this brewery. This bar is of course offering sake fresh from the brewery. Being in a brewery's building is relaxing and more so is drinking sake.

Thus, we could top off our enjoyable walk in Fushimi with Soku. Good bye, Fushimi!

Matsuo Shrine and Umenomiya Shrine

2010-06-01T16:12:00.001+09:00

On May 23, I visited Matsuo Shrine and Umenomiya Shrine in Kyoto City. Both shrines have are related to sake brewing since the gods of sake making are enshrined in these shrines. So, as a sake lover, I had been feeling that I should visit these shrines and express may gratitude to these gods for I could drink good sake everyday.

Matsuo Shrine is located in Saikyo Ward, Kyoto City, and Umenomiya Shrine is in Ukyo Ward in the city. Although they are located in different wards, I learned from the map that the two shrines were not very far from each other, and I could walk from one to the other. Both shrines are accessible on foot from Matsuo Station on Hankyu Arashiyama line.

I took Hankyu Kyoto line and then Hankyu Arashiyama line to get to Matsuo Station. When I came out from the station, it was raining unfortunately, worse still, pouring down. After hesitating a while, I daringly stepped in the downpour with my seemingly undependable collapsible umbrella unfolded. Just all the same, Matsuo Shrine was very close to the station, and I could actually see a torii gate of the shrine when coming out from the station. Apparently due to this nasty weather, only a few people were visiting the shrine. But, this was a shrine of a nice atmosphere.

There are several gardens on the premises of this shrine. I could see these gardens including Kyokusui no Niwa, Joko no Niwa, and Hourai no Niwa (admission fee: 500 yen).

At first, I thought these were old gardens, but it was not true. The construction of these gardens was completed in 1975.

In the Kyokusui no Niwa garden, a meandering stream was flowing modestly. When I entered the garden from the upstream side, I saw big stones were placed on the slope on the left. The stones stood high and they pointed the sky as if they were rocks in deep mountains. The stream running around the foot of the slope looked like a mountain creek. The stream viewed from the downstream side looked as if it were a long and grand river that ran over hundreds of kilometers. It is amazing that this small-sized garden represents the sublimeness of the great nature.

The Joko no Niwa garden was placed in the stillness and tranquility of deep mountains. Arranged big stones are said to represent the enshrined gods of this shrine and their subordinate gods.

The Horai no Niwa garden is a walk-around type garden, where you can enjoy walking around in the garden to admire various views of the garden from different spots. A lot of big stones were placed also in this garden. These big stones were beautifully arranged in the center pond, exhibiting some sense of rhythm and tension. If it had not been raining that hard, I would have stayed longer and enjoyed walking around in the garden.

Matsuo Shrine is a shrine of sake-making god, and it seemed very natural that they were selling sake in the restaurant on the premises.

The rain was persistent and did not seem to stop very soon when I left Matsuo Shrine. Walking in this rain to Umenomiya Shrine did not seem to be a pleasant experience. After somehow hesitating, I finally decided to head for Umenomiya Shrine because this was a rare chance to visit the shrine. Before I reached the shrine, my shoes were completely soaked through by the rain. After about a ten-minute walk, I came to the place of a direction signboard of Umenomiya Shrine Front Approach.

Another god of sake-making is enshrined in this shrine.

Nishitama Sake Gathering

2010-05-28T13:57:00.002+09:00

I attended the 8'th Nishitama Sake and Sake Cup Gathering held in Akiruno City on Saturday, May 22, after attending a kura study tour at a sake brewery in the city.

Before noon, for the kura study tour, I visited Nakamura Syuzou, Inc., which is known for its brand name Chiyotsuru. It is rare that we can see the interior of this brewery, and it was the first time for me to go inside of the brewery.

You do not see the sake of this brewery very frequently on shelves at liquor shops in Tokyo, and they seem to operate their business in a relatively quiet way. However, their sake is rich-flavored and clean-cut and I like their sake. The brewery boasts of its multi-time winning of gold awards at National New Sake Contest. The latest gold awards of this brewery are those won in the two consecutive years of 2009 and 2010, suggesting that the brewery has high brewing techniques.

The master brewer showed us the inside of the brewery, including the rice-steaming room, fermentation room, storage room, etc.

In the rice-steaming room, there was equipment for making streamed rice such as a rice washing machine, soaking tanks, horizontal continuous rice streaming device, rice steaming caldron, in which a coil heat exchanger was placed. These devices and machines are quite commonly found in most sake breweries.

The fermentation room was chilly air-conditioned. There were neatly arranged 10,000-litter thermal tanks in the room. A scaffold was set up between the two rows of tanks at the level of the top surfaces of the tanks. Workers are supposed to move from the scaffold onto a tank on which they perform their work such as stirring of fermentation mash. The tanks are equipped with handrails on their tops for worker's safety. The low ceiling seemed to make the work on the tanks hard for some tall workers since they had to bend over on the tanks. It was fortunate that the master brewer and the accompanying worker were not very tall.

The storage room, a kind of big refrigerator, has a narrow entrance, and I could not find anything special after taking a glance inside. So, I asked several questions of the brewery worker accompanying us to spend time, and the kura study of about 30 minutes ended shortly.

This time, we were not allowed to take pictures of the inside of the brewery buildings and I have no photos from the brewery to present here. However, we could freely take pictures in the exhibition hall of sake making tools that was established on the premises.

In the exhibition hall, visitors can sample some sakes from the brewery, but on that day, we were going to attend the 8'th Nishitama Sake and Sake Cup Gathering later, and we just tasted their liqueurs, yuzushu (citron liquor) and umeshu (plum liquor). Especially, the umeshu was not very sweet, exhibiting clear taste and an impression of slight citrus aroma. Although some sake lovers tend to keep a distance from sweet liqueurs, but I felt that they might able to enjoy this umeshu.

Then, we moved to an Akiruno Rupia assembly room, where the 8'th Nishitama Sake and Sake Cup Gathering were held from 2:00 p.m.

Nishitama Brewers Club consisting of Ishikawa Brewery, Tamura Syuzoujou, Nakamura Syuzou, Inc., and Ozawa Syuzou prepared their sake, which were known for their brand names of Tamajiman, Kasen, Chiryotsuru, and Sawanoi, respectively.

This time, I tried to carefully taste Chiryotsuru sake, and I felt that the sakes from this brewery were relatively rich in taste compared with the sakes from the other three breweries, and I liked the sake characteristics of this brewery. The provided Chiryotsuru sakes were Krakuchi Nama Chozoshu, Junmai Namazake, and Junmai Ginjo Namazake, which I tried in this order. Of them, Krakuchi Nama Chozoshu was especially nice. In spite of the rice milling rate of 65%, this sake had a fruity aroma, and it had a moderate impression of being "nama."

Also, I renewed the view of Kasen Funeshibori Muroka Genshu. I usually order this seasonally limited sake in December, and drink it soon after the delivery of the bottle. So, it was the first time for me to drink this sake in May. I recognized how this sake can turn from a blunt young sake into a roundly ripen one during its storage of about half a year. It seems that this sake is shipped in April and December by subscription. So, I would like to order this sake also in April next time.

Story of Three Happy Drinkers

2010-05-14T21:03:00.000+09:00

Once upon a time, there lived three happy sake drinkers, who were a lady and two guys.

One day, they got together and went to an izakaya bar to drink sake.
They started drinking with Gassan (月山) and Tenmei (天明). Then, they had Kozaemon (小左衛門), Gikyo (義侠), Yukigasumi-no-sato (雪がすみの郷), Suiki (翠喜), and Suiro (翠露). By the time a bottle of the prestigious Juyondai (十四代) was brought in front of them to their table, they were almost dead drunk. However, they still wanted to drink and they ordered Miyoshigiku (三芳菊) and Yoro Genshu Junmai (養老原酒純米).

At this time, they recognized what they were drinking, but later they wouldn't remember what they were drinking. However, they thought the most important point about sake drinking was not to drink good sake but to drink happily.

Anyway, also this time, they were drinking happily. Whenever they got together, they had sake and got dead drunk happily.

Salty Sake Cup

2010-05-11T10:56:00.000+09:00

One of my drinking friends recently visited Tobacco and Salt Museum and bought a sake cup made of salt there. We decided to get together and drink some sake from this cup called "shio-guinomi."

There has been a custom that people place some salt on the edge of a masu (box-shaped wooden sake-drinking vessel) and drink sake from it while licking some salt at times.

In old days, when people were poor and had difficulty to prepare good stuff to be paired with sake, salt was seemingly a handy alternative to something to be paired with sake, but using salt in this way had to be sound somehow miserable. Now that the Japanese people are not so poor as they were after World War II, drinking sake only with salt may sound stylish since it seems that such sake drinkers love sake and really want to enjoy sake.

This salt sake cup is said to have been produced after the producer was inspired from the custom of using a masu on whose edge some salt is placed. Salt tastes only salty, but drinking from this salt cup was an interesting experience.

Summer Sake!

2010-05-07T16:29:00.000+09:00

My friend and I went to the Okutama area on May 5.

We dropped in Sawanoi-en run by Ozawa Syuzou.

They were selling Junmai Namazake Sawane, which is low-alcohol sake and is sold during the summer season. I bought one bottle of this sake to drink it at a table in the rest station of Sawanoi-en. The low-alcohol sake tasted flinty and crispy, and I feel happy with such sake when it's hot. Besides the sake, we bought young radishes and fresh tofu that was still warm. The tofu was rich in taste and crunching fresh radish with wheat miso paste was really refreshing.

Sake is a Must for a Festival in a Mountain Village

2010-05-06T20:32:00.001+09:00

It is no exaggeration to say that, in Japan, sake is drunk where a festival is held. They bring sake brewed in the vicinity as offering at a temple or shrine festival. Yesterday, I visited a shrine in a montane village in Okutama Town, Tokyo to see shishimai (lion dances). And, sake had an important role as a nice supporting player of the festival.

The shrine is located on a mountain slope, and the approach way to it climbs along steep stone steps. There is a torii gate halfway, and beyond and above the torii gate, stands the main gate of the shrine. This is a two-story gate. The steps continue climbing even under this gate. If you walk through the gate and come out, you'll find yourself in a square. The square is almost as high as the second level of the gate building, and if you turn around, you will see a stage on the second floor of the gate building. So, this architecture is unusual as a shrine gate.

The mountain slope further continues beyond the square, and another flight of stone stairs leads to the main building of the shrine above.

On both side of the stairs in front of the main building, there are stonewalls and the places are formed into several tiers so that these tiers can be used as audience seats that look down the stage of the main gate. General visitors sit in these audience seats to see lion dances dedicated to this shrine while those concerned with the festival and guests sit on the stage floor and eat foods and drink sake. On the stage floor, several bottles of the local sake Sawanoi are seen near one of the low tables.

A funnily masked clown appeared in the program called "Yumi-gakari." He was dancing with a bottle of sake hanging from his waist.

After a while, I found that the clown was not there any longer. I wondered where he was. Soon, I found he had started serving sake to the audience. Assumedly, the sake was the one he was hanging from the waist while he was dancing. To my delight, he was coming toward me. I was given some sake. It was fun to exchange some words with him while drinking the sake. This was really a delightful festival.

Cooking Magic or Sake Magic?

2010-04-29T11:07:00.004+09:00

It is well known that sake is a useful liquid not just as a beverage but also for cooking and beauty.

A skin lotion containing sake as an ingredient is said to be effective for whitening. But, I am too lazy to make a skin lotion from sake, so I apply it directly to my face. Everyday after washing my face in the morning and after taking a hot bath in the evening in the last winter season, I applied a small amount of sake to my face, and I could keep my face skin moisturized during the winter. Someone might say that sake is too valuable to apply to your face, but much less sake is needed to apply to your face than to drink by yourself.

Sake is also useful for cooking. I'm sure most Japanese have ever eaten asari clams steam steeped in sake, which are quite delicious food. When I had a chance to sample kijoshu (sake whose fermentation process uses already made sake to replace a certain amount of water added to the fermentation mash) before, it occurred to me that adding a small amount of this sake to Chinese fried rice could make delicious Chinese fried rice. Although I have not tried it, I want to make Chinese fried rice by using kijoshu in the future.

Thinking of possibilities of sake as described above, I recently found the Internet site "Cooking Magic!" This site has been established by the Japan Sake Brewers Association in an aim to promote "use of sake," and seems to be a part of the across-the-country campaign "Sake for Every Household," which has started in the late April.

The original bottle designed for the campaign has a triangular shape in cross-section with the capacity of 180 ml. This shape of the bottle is convenient for storing it in your refrigerator in a door pocket between other cylindrical bottles, thus the bottle shape saving the space in the refrigerator.

The site also carries recipes using sake. But, what is especially interesting is the concept of "hitofuri sake" (one-shake sake). According to the site, one shake of sake over various foods increases the savor and flavor of them. Ryorishu, or cooking sake, is something to be added to a sophisticated food as its ingredient while it is being cooked. In contrast, hitofuri sake is used in a way more like seasonings such as soy sauce, salt or pepper, so this is more handy! One shake of sake into the rice cooker before turning on the switch, one shake over cold rice or other foods before nuking them, one shake into an instant cup noodle after adding hot water. These are quite easy ways of using sake. Even I, who do not cook very often, can use sake to improve the taste of food.

So, I have already tried hitofuri sake. Cooked rice packed in a plastic container, which is eaten after heated with a microwave oven. Before nuking it, I poured some sake in the container of the rice. With a glossy appearance, the finished rice tasted nice. However, it smelled somehow like sake. Maybe, I had added too much sake. O.K., I can adjust the amount of sake next time.

Then, I had another try: instant cup noodle. Immediately after pouring hot water, I poured some sake in the cup. When eating this, I felt much alcohol in the soup. I felt like I was being choked with vaporized alcohol, and slightly tipsy. I am afraid that I added too much sake, again. As a sake lover, I tend to add sake more than necessary. However, the taste certainly improved, with enhanced umami compared with seafood noodle I usually eat. If you are not good at alcohol, you can boil sake to completely vaporize alcohol beforehand (be careful since vaporized alcohol may suddenly catch fire), and you can use it for cooking.

I would like to try to apply hitofuri sake to various foods in the future.