Welcome back, readers!
That's right! It's WR, again. Things have been pretty good in Japan! The weather has finally started to warm a bit, allowing for the much-awaited explosion of sakura (cherry blossom) celebrations everywhere. But, for this week's RowStein installment, I won't be writing about that. For this post, I'll be looking back to a fantastic "Barrel Opening Festival" I went to a couple weeks ago.
Oh, right. And that earthquake thing. Let's get that out of the way first.
There it is. The earthquake. I'm one of the pale yellowy dots, in the upper middle-ish part of the southern island, SW of the red "X." It was a 6.3 on the Richter scale, happening at 2:06 in the morning on March 14th. And it scared the absolute CRAP out of me. Though, to be honest, I'm not sure which scared me most; the actual shaking of my house or the banshee wail of my cell phone's emergency alarm. There was a squealing siren sound, then a Japanese voice shouting, "Jishin desu, jishin desu!" (It's an earthquake, it's an earthquake!) Seriously. That's a g#%@mn terrifying way to wake up.
It is pretty cool, though, that the P-wave triggered seismic alarm system gave me a few seconds warning, so that I could scramble to my "safe spot" just as the larger S-wave earthquake actually struck. That's some impressive technology. We're living in the future! (O_o)
The earthquake wasn't a bad one, though, even if it creeped me out quite a bit. (I mean, I'm from the upper and middle Midwest. Aside from the typically quiet "New Madrid" fault, we're about as far from any seismic activity as you can get.) There were only a handful of injuries, minor damages, and no tsunami. Whew.
Anyway. Back to the topic at hand: The Oga Shozu Barrel Opening Festival!
So, as I've mentioned before, there's a sake brewery in my town. It's called Oga Shozu. Twice a year, they open their doors to the public and hold a sake festival inside the brewery grounds. It's a great big party and and an excuse to try a variety of delicious, locally-crafted alcohol.
Approaching the brewery complex proper, I found that the typically drab alley had been decorated for the event with dozens and dozens of old Futsukaichi-area photographs. It was cool to see the brewery (which has been in operation since the flippin' 1600's) take such pride in their community.
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| One of three photography displays. |
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| One of my favorites: A very old Nishitetsu bus photo. |
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| Step right up for sake! |
Once inside, I paid an absurdly small fee (about $1.00, American) and got a commemorative sake cup (seen below). Patrons walked between stalls, sampling dozens of different products made by the brewery. Some were shochu (a harder liquor, popular in Kyushu) and some were Nihon-shu (what we Americans typically call sake). My favorites were 1.) a yuzu-flavored Nihon-shu, an Asian citrus which has a tartness similar to a grapefruit, and 2.) this green, almost sludgy liquid which had a flavor that I can only describe as a sake bomb which exploded in an apple fritter. Surprisingly delicious.
Here are some photo highlights from my walk around the festival.
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| I'll put you to good use, friend. |
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| Crowded, but friendly. |
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| Inside the brewery building. |
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| Other festival-goers getting their sake on. |
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| A brewery banner, with a tank in the background. |
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| A lovely day for drinking with strangers. A lot of strangers. |
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| Yeah. Did I mention it was crowded? |
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| Mochi-making display! SPOILER ALERT: I ate some and it was delicious. |
Below, you'll see one of the more... interesting sake I tasted. The bottle seems pretty cool, right? The hornet on the label and all. I figured, "Oh, okay. It's strong. It's got sting. Like a hornet." I reached out with my empty cup in both hands, the Japanese gesture for, "More alcohol please!"
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| The cool looking bottle, in all it's glory. |
The vendor started to pour, then paused. He asked me a question. I said I didn't understand. He asked me again, a little slower. This time, I caught the words "allergy" and "danger." I tilted my head in confusion, so he held up the bottle and shook it gently.
Five giant Asian hornet corpses swirled about in the liquor. "Ah," I thought, "So. The label is a bit more literal than I'd previously imagined." But, with my cup already extended and my whole "I'm in another country, just go with it" attitude already engaged, I figured I might as well. I raised my cup and downed my shochu, receiving approving grins from the row of vendors.
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| YOLO, as the kids say. |
All in all, it was a great event. It's always fun to get out and enjoy the nice spring weather in my lovely little Chikushino. And, hey, if happens to align with the chance to take a bunch of shots with friendly, tipsy neighbors... all the better.
Thanks for reading, everyone! Hope you have a wonderful week, wherever you are in the world. And don't forget to feed the fish!
WR
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