This past Sunday (St. Patrick's Day) Gordon and I went to the Kozaki Sake Festival. Kozaki is a town about 30 minutes away by train from Tohnosho. We figured St. Patrick's Day was a good excuse to go sample all the sake we could handle. And we did just that.
A sign for the festival. Kozaki has two sake breweries that are over 300 years old!
I didn't know what to expect when I showed up. I had never been to Kozaki or the sake festival, but when I noticed how many people were getting off at the train stop, I knew this was worth checking out. We took a free shuttle from the station to the main street where the festival was taking place. Tents lined the street with venders selling sake, food and crafts.
The street was crowded with festival goers and it was a beautiful day.
Gordon and I started walking the street and noticed people were filling out forms and receiving bags. A kind English speaking stranger helped us fill out the form and in return we received free sake glasses.
We received two of these cute sophisticated sake glasses.
Next on our agenda: sample some sake. We stumbled upon the first brewery and were greeted with amazake (a sweet, cloudy sake with low alcoholic content).
Amazake is cloudy and not clear because it is not filtered like other sake and contains starch from the rice. It is usually served warm.
Let the sampling continue. Next was a booth selling shots of sake for 100 yen ($1). Yes, please.
Next, we went into the brewery to sample their sake using our new sake glasses. This is where all the sake enthusiasts were gathered. Each sake was neatly labeled with a number, percent alcohol, what kind of sake it was and the price. If you liked what you tried all you had to remember was the number which, after an afternoon of sampling sake, might have been difficult for some.
Inside the sake brewery. There were about 20 different sakes you could try... for free!
Here's where you could buy the sake you liked.
It was great to try all the different kinds of sake back-to-back. I could easily taste the differences between them and was surprised to notice how different they each tasted. There was staff available that poured the samples, however, some overzealous and overeager festival goers poured generous "samples" of sake for Gordon and I.
After sampling everything at the first brewery, we headed to the second one. At this brewery, people wore numbers on their heads indicating the sake they were offering.
After sampling all the sake at the festival, I ended up buying a delicious yuzu sake. Yuzu is a fruit... its like a cross between a lemon and an orange.
Buying yuzu sake.
The thing I appreciated most about this festival is that it had something for everyone. Don't like sake? (Are you crazy?!) That's o.k.! There were plenty of other beverages available including coffee, teas, soda and smoothies. Are you hungry? Well, what do you want... takoyaki, kebab, miso soup, yakisoba, taiyaki, yakitori, ramen, gyoza, daifuku, bread, donuts? The festival was also family friendly with plenty of entertainment for the kids.
Here are some of the foods that were available:
Gyoza.
Fish.
Daifuku! My favorite! Daifuku is mochi filled with anko (sweet bean paste).
Senbei (rice crackers).
Steamed buns.
Donuts.
Imagawayaki.
Here is some of the entertainment we saw at the festival:
Singing.
Drum and flute show.
Making mochi.
Dancing with fans.
Hula dancing.
Magic and stunts.
Gordon and I really enjoyed our time at the festival. My only complaint is that the festival is only one day. I would definitely go again and think the its a wonderful way to get people to experience Japanese sake and the quaint town of Kozaki.
Side note: After searching for the mysterious Chiba-kun all day, I finally found him right before we left the festival.
Tohnosho is known for its strawberries. Before you come into town there are signs with strawberries on them advertising the famous "ichigo". I've tried Tohnosho strawberries (and they're delicious!) but I have yet to do an all-you-can-eat strawberry marathon. You can go to one of the many strawberry greenhouses in Tohnosho and for about 1,000-2,000 yen eat all the strawberries you want for 30 minutes. I'm looking forward to getting sick off of strawberries, as many people usually do, and will report back on my experience.
