sorry I don't get it,... once rented airb&d close to the station , was a great area...loved the local atmosphere..
@Donzah was extolling the virtues of sparkling sake. I wasn’t able to try any during our recent Japan trip. Worth it?
I think you both have me sold! If I ever catch up with either of you at Perisher or Thredbo, please bring me some sparkling sake! (I will reimburse you of course )
I’ve only seen it the once today. @Ozgirl found it in Kutchan. I reckon @Donza is your man in Sydney!
Yes, Mio is the most recognizable brand. Sparkling sake has been popular since 5 or 6 years ago here thanks to Mio, and now many sake breweries sell their original sparkling sakes. Almost all Konbinis have Mio and a few other sparkling sake brands as well now. Ski resort villages = plenty of fresh water in spring - summer = good for rice fields = good for sake breweries. Some sake breweries at ski resort villages have English tours recently. Shirataki sake brewery in Yuzawa is one of them. They also sell their original sparkling sakes and I like them. Shirataki sake brewery : http://shiratakisake.com/
Japanese sake breweries used to make and sell only traditional sakes, but recently, they are making quite different kinds of alcohol beverages. A long time ago, alcohol beverages for Japanese were sake A, sake B, sake C, sake D, etc, and sake breweries could survive by producing only traditional sakes, but not now. Umeshu, Chuhai, etc are rather very common alcohol beverages for sake breweries to make, and craft beers, sparkling sakes, etc are new trends for sake breweries to make. We drive Ibaraki - Fukushima - Yamagata - Iwate - Akita (very rarely Aomori as well) for skiing. Between Ibaraki and Fukushima, there is Kiuchi sake brewery, and it's my favorite sake brewery. They make yummy craft beers and one of my most favorite Umeshu. Nest beer is craft beer brand from Kiuchi brewery. This is Kiuchi sake brewery's umeshu, yummy! They've started selling sparkling umeshu too! Kiuchi sake brewery have "Yuzu wine" too, and I like it! Kiuchi sake brewery is a small traditional local sake brewery, but since young guys took over the business, they've been doing very well, making new interesting yummy alcohol beverages!. They are planning to produce even whiskey now!. Kiuchi brewery : https://kodawari.cc/en/
On a slightly off track note, check out the prices of cases of Yebisu beer at the Sake Shop in Sydney It would be cheaper to fly in to Japan and buy at a conbini (or drink at the Yebisu bar at Tokyo Station!).
I find that photo frighteningly weird but on the other hand I suspect you have found some sort of dining nirvana. Lucky for you. PS: Did they pour the raclette out at the table?
We had that in Melbourne, Australia. But if we could get it here (niseko or Sapporo) that would be amazing.
The sake brewer Kikusui have "wintertime only Nigori-sake(unfiltered sake)" named "五郎八(Gorohachi). It seems Kikusui made "Perfect Snow" by modifying Gorohachi a little bit, targeting foreign markets, especially the US market. I don't know where you can get Kikusui Perfect Snow in Japan / Australia, but if you like the sweetness of Perfect Snow, you might like "Nigori-sake" in general because Nigori-sake is naturally sweet. I'll google later to find where you can get Perfect Snow in Japan / Australia. Sweeter and higher alcohol / volume ratio This is 五郎八(Gorohachi) By the way, Kikusui is a sake brewer from Niigata Pref, and they've started brewery tour since last October.
Only in Japan: In a public toilet, a hook for hanging your umbrella (there was one next to each of the three sinks) Edit: what's up with links to imgur? I post them, they show up, but after refreshing they disappear. The insert button doesn't work either it seems
Changing board in the shinkansen toilet So you don't have to get your feet on the floor when you are changing clothes
Not sure if the image is visible, but this is certainly one of those 'only in Japan' things: stew, spaghetti, and fried oysters together as one set meal... (this is how it was on the menu, there were more odd combinations)
It seems Kikusui export Perfect Snow to North America and they "basically" don't sell them in Japan. Some shops and restaurants in Japan have Perfect Snow, but I don't know which shops have Perfect Snow. You can buy it online, but produced in Japan(Niigata), exported to the US and shipped to Aus??, it can be a bit expensive, I guess. Speaking of "Snow related sake", I like Akebono sake brewery's "Snow drop". I like visiting sake breweries in ski resort regions. Akebono brewery is a sake brewery in Aizu region. Snow drop is Sake + Yogurt(Yogurt made in a dairy farm in Aizu region)
Speaking of toilets in Japan, more trains, shops, etc have this kind of "universal toilets" for mainly people with disabilities, people with babies / young kids, etc. Many foreigners who don't understand Japanese push buttons randomly, but it's risky when you are using universal toilets. If the other toilets are occupied, you can use the universal toilets even if you are not a person with disabilities nor a person with babies / young kids . Those universal toilets have two buttons that normal toilets don't have. They are "Emergency call" and "Open the door". I've seen foreigners pushing "Open the door" button by mistake. I assume they were trying to flush the toilet. Your naked body will be unexpectedly exposed to the people in front of the toilet. Emergency call button = a staff will come and open to rescue you. Universal toilets are usually green colored(blue = men, red = women)
I did the sums a few years ago on buying a slab of 500ml cans of Strong and bringing them back, doing it the proper way by paying alcohol taxes etc. Worked out to be about $130-140/slab.
When they first started building overtaking lanes in WA, the signs read "Slow vehicles use left lane". After a couple of years I think they realised that nobody considered themselves slow, so they changed it to "Keep left unless overtaking".
