Drinking party in Tachikawa City

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.