A SAKE JOURNEY TO JAPAN
After the Toji gave us the grand tour, we went back to our hotel. However, this was not just any
hotel. This was a 100 year old hotel that has been bought by Hakkaisan, and used for honoured
guests. This hotel was absolutely unbelievable! There are also onsen; hot tubs where you can soak
and look out the window onto the frozen tundra. When dinner was ready, we were escorted
to Hakkaisan’s reception building to have a grand meal. This was not just any dinner, but a
special dinner that showcased the local cuisine. There we have river cod that was local to the
region, pink in colour, and similar looking to that of salmon. We have pickled everything, from
cucumber to radish, and the best rice you’ll ever have in your life. Niigata, is not only known to
make sake rice, but also known to make the best rice Koshihikari rice in Japan!
The following day, we travelled back to Tokyo to have a day exploring and shopping. We
stayed right above the Tokyo Main Station, at the Marunouchi Hotel. This four star hotel has
panoramic views of Tokyo for as far as the eye can see!
The next day we took the bullet train to Iwate, the northern prefecture and home of urushi.
Urushi is an ancient Japanese lacquer that is used to preserve wood. It is used from temples to
bowls, from chopsticks to teacups. The sad reality is that 99% of urushi is now imported from
China, and the quality is far inferior to that of urushi from Iwate. Just one 1% of all urushi is
now made 100% in Japan, which makes these artworks truly collectable. I was so excited to
visit this urushi workshop that I bought a few products myself!
After we settled ourselves in the hotel, we walked on over to the next sake brewery which was
only about a quarter mile away from the hotel we were staying in. Nanbubijin is in the centre
of town, where all the shops are located and actually has a bus stop in front. These seems
quite unusual for the placement of a sake brewery, however the sake brewery has been in that
location long before the town, which has grown around it. When we got to the front of the
building, Kuji-san, President and owner of Nanbubijin greeted us with the biggest smile and
ended every sentence with a bellowing laugh. He did an amazing tour, told us secret stories
of the building we were standing in, and how he accidentally dropped his cellphone once in a
fermenting tank of Daiginjo, which then happened to be the winning sake in its category for
that year’s competition.
MUSEUM OF SAKE JOURNAL 25