An unofficial guide to Yamaguchi Prefecture and its nihonshu
Location: 山口県岩国市今津町3-18-9/ 3-18-9 Imazumachi, Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Open to Public: Yes, by appointment Cost: 200 yen for disposable clean suits Production: 1,000 Koku (18,000 liters) produced from September through March On Saturday, January 29th I had the perfect excuse opportunity to visit Yaoshin Shuzo, makers of Gangi, when a friend came to the area and the... Continue Reading →
This isn't a huge update, of course, but here it is: as of October 18, 2018 I have drunk sake from 22 of the 43 current Yamaguchi sake kura. That still leaves a significant number of kura I have yet to visit, but I'm at least over half! Yay! Here's the remaining list, for what... Continue Reading →
SO to finish up what I started in my last post, I'll talk this time about the third and final sakagura featured on this tour: Hatsumomiji (self-styled Hatsumimidi). This is a very interesting case, since Hatsumomidi is the only kura in Shunan to brew year-round in the Shikijozo style. The others all brew only in... Continue Reading →
Shunan city, which is just a short drive or train ride from me here, is home to a surprising number of sakagura. The local tourist association has decided to capitalize on that by setting up what they call Takushu: a taxi tour of the three kura closest to Tokuyama station. (The name is a pun... Continue Reading →
Things go quick once you actually decide to do something with them. As of the last mention of this project, I had yet to even confirm the actual number of kura in Yamaguchi. I asked around and was eventually recommended to the national tax bureau, since they're the ones that actually license and monitor kura.... Continue Reading →
Something that I've been working on sort of unofficially, that I'm actually bringing into the "official" part of work, is an exhaustive index of all of the kura in Yamaguchi prefecture, where I identify and map them, try their sakes, and eventually visit them. The mapping part would be easier if the Hiroshima bureau of... Continue Reading →
On Monday, July 16 Japan had a national holiday, Marine (or Sea or Ocean) Day (Umi no Hi). While most people go to the beach to celebrate the day off, my family took the other way, and headed to the mountainous interior of Yamaguchi prefecture to a town/area called Mine. My wife wanted to go... Continue Reading →
The other evening, at the Toyobijin no Kai, an employee of Nakashima Sake shop mentioned that I should try to put together a sake group for foreign residents. I wasn't so sure about it myself, since there just aren't that many around these parts, I have no idea how popular sake is with the local... Continue Reading →
Whenever I talk to people about Sake and mention I live in Yamaguchi, the conversation inevitably turns to Dassai. This is understandable, since clearly Dassai is immensely famous (perhaps the single most famous sake in the world?). The brewery, Asahi Shuzo, is on TV, in newspapers, and making huge waves in the brewing world with... Continue Reading →
I like to focus on Yamaguchi and the surrounding prefectures on this blog, since they seem to get fairly little attention compared to, say, Niigata or Fukushima. I think it's fair to say that Kochi prefecture, on the nearby island of Shikoku, is close enough to qualify. Plus, this sake is called Drunken Whale. I... Continue Reading →
Yamaguchi Sake 