Jonas and Liz's Japanese Adventures: Sake it to me!

Well we should get some sort of blogging award for posting TWICE in one week. ;) Nah, not really...this just means that it will have to keep you all happy for twice as long. Hahaha :)

Yesterday found us on a great adventure with some amazing people. We met our Japanese Culture Class at the Fussa train station at 8am for a trip to Sawanoi sake brewing factory! I was a little skeptical about drinking sake before 10am, but it was a well-timed event because they were also holding a sake festival and it was extremely crowded. When we paid our entrance fee we were given these adorable little souvenir tasting cups with the cute crab logo of the brewery. We really enjoyed our time touring the brewery and trying 13 different sakes...and I was especially thankful that each sample was only really a couple of sips because I'm not a big drinker. Some of them were extremely strong, but the first few really tasted like beer to me. When I told the Japanese group members this, they agreed with me and said that it was probably due to those sakes being almost 100% unpolished rice. The polished rice removes the outer parts which contain lots of protein and fat and refines the taste. And while we're on the subject of science-y type things, it is interesting to note that the process of making sake involves pasteurization, a method that Louis Pasteur "discovered" and patented some 300 years after the Japanese. Just a lil tidbit for your "useless facts" notebook. ;) I fell in love with the plum sake and we had to get a bottle! It was so crisp and so fruity, yet nice and sweet, which is right up my alley. Not a bad price for 1330 Yen (about $16.70).

After the factory tour we wound our way down through the beautiful garden area across from the brewery...you could have snacks, order sake, just chill by the river, etc. We made our way to a restaurant which Suzy (one of our Japanese members) told us was a place that Japanese royalty would visit. When we walked in there was a small step up that you were to leave your shoes at and the "shoe attendant" would put them in a cubby area for you. The meal was really good (see pics below) and we had fun discovering what was on our tray...it was handy having locals on either side of us to tell us what in the heck we were eating. We also talked about the beauty of Japanese food and that eating, for them, is not only an event for taste but for the eyes as well. How good something looks affects how you feel about it and they understand that fully. This was also the first time for both J and I to sit at a traditional Japanese-style table with tatami mats and little tiny pillows to sit on. It was cool but is kinda rough on the knees...we asked Suzy if this is how they eat at home and she said no, they have a regular table with chairs...I thought that was cute. It was also not a bad price, a huge tray of food for 1500 Yen. I really enjoy the feeling after eating even a relatively large amount of food here...unless you are going crazy at Coco's curry and eating fried stuff, you walk away feeling just perfectly satiated, not stuffed. I think it's genius. They balance the amount of fiber, carbs, and protein so that you are getting exactly what your body needs. What a novel approach. In America we seem to settle on a bucket full of one thing and we consider this a value rather than two or three bites of dozens of different kinds of food. In America you would feel "ripped off" because the volume isn't there, never considering the nutritional content of what you're eating (for the most part) or the monotony of eating a large amount of one thing versus a variety of flavors. *Reminder* we love America and most American food (and we do miss it sometimes), we are just trying to contrast our experience here with what we've always known and this is an interesting contrast. On our way out, the shoe attendant somehow figured out perfectly who's shoes belonged to who, which was really cool. We then wandered around the area, over a beautiful river where several people were kayaking and enjoying the day. We found a small temple up on the hillside and took some more great pictures of the mountains. It was absolutely perfect weather, even though a little overcast.

Our slow climb up the mountain took us to the next part of our day, which was a tour of the Japanese Hair Comb museum (included in the sake brewery tour price). Some of you might be snickering, but it was really interesting to see all the old combs and see how the hair was styled in the Edo period. They used gold inlay, ivory, mother of pearl, coral and other fine materials for these beautiful and elaborate hair pieces that finished the overall look of the kimono. Sadly they did not allow any pictures inside the museum, but we enjoyed our tour nonetheless. I noted how striking an all-white ivory comb must have looked on an elaborately designed and twisted mop of jet-black hair. Even the boys were impressed and I personally was impressed with their lack of looking bored (not just J because he is really good at faking being "into" girl stuff lol).

This pretty much ended the day and we then crowded into an absolutely ridiculously packed bus to shuttle us back to the train station...see pic below. I used to be claustrophobic but I think I am cured because I didn't even flinch on this bus and I figure if I can make it through these tight spots then I'm not really claustrophobic. Who knew such a thing could come and go? Anyway I digress. We had fun chatting with our group while waiting for the train, as we don't really get too much chance to "chat" in our classes. We are usually doing some fun activity that allows for just a little chit-chat, but nothing really personal. We talked about jobs and a couple of them have jobs in the medical field so we were discussing strange medical terms that regular people wouldn't know (even Japanese people). J got a phone call while we were chatting and he answered it "moshi moshi" which is the traditional Japanese greeting and the group all laughed heartily at him answering like a local. The train pulled into the station already packed from Mt. Mitake hikers returning from their day of hiking, so it was interesting to literally squish ourselves in with them. We definitely got "friendly" with everyone...but no one was rude and no shoving was involved. And we all just kept chatting like it was no big deal, which for them it wasn't since they are used to it. It's not normal for us to be nose-to-nose with our friends like this...it wasn't exactly "uncomfortable" just very different than American culture. The Japanese have to get over the lack of personal space very quickly...or drive everywhere I guess. We said goodbye to our friends along the way as they got off on their respective stops, then we shopped a bit at Seiyu and headed home ourselves. After finding pumpkin Kit Kats, of course. Score! Love you all, enjoy the pictures! :)