2024年3月6日
March 6-8: We took guests from Hong Kong on a 3-day, 2-night trip to the Tone-Numata area of Gunma.
Following on from the November tour, we took guests from Hong Kong to the Tone-Numata area of Gunma Prefecture from March 6th to 8th.
We took a bus from Jomo-Kogen Station and enjoyed strawberry picking, a taste of spring. It was almost like a competition to see who could find the most ripe strawberries, and we all had a lot of fun, like kids again.
Afterwards, we had curry udon from Minoya, which I think is the best in Japan.
At Tsuchida Sake Brewery, we had the opportunity to tour the brewery, learning about the process and philosophy behind making all-junmai and kimoto sake. Before dinner, we had a tasting session with the Toji, Mr. Hoshino, who explained the sake to us and we got to taste it. Afterwards, we enjoyed a Tsuchida Sake Brewery pairing dinner at the Italian restaurant Ventinove.
On the second day, we visited Nagai Sake Brewery and toasted at the water source amidst the snowy scenery. We then went to the premium tasting room "SHINKA," which opened last summer, where we were treated to a presentation by President Nagai and his wife, along with some lovely amuse-bouches, and enjoyed tasting several types of sake.
On the third day, we visited Otone Sake Brewery and observed rice being steamed, then experienced the process of carrying the steamed rice to the mash tank and putting the paddle in. The participants were surprised by how heavy the paddle was, but worked hard at the task.
Afterwards, President Abe also gave a lesson in pairing sake with local snacks and warming the sake.
As the final experience, we had the chance to try making soba noodles at a curved shop in Nango, and then we boiled the noodles we made and ate them for lunch. Some of the participants ended up with noodles as thick as udon noodles, and everyone enjoyed eating the soba they had made.
This time, we asked Inasa, an international student from Hong Kong who holds various sake qualifications, to act as our interpreting guide. Perhaps it was easier to understand the explanations in the participants' native language, as there were more questions and comments than in the previous tour. We are pleased that we were able to provide participants with an even higher quality experience. We hope to further improve our explanations and make it into the next event.