Autumnal Brews: Suehiro of Fukushima

Suehiro of Fukushima Originally uploaded by McAlpine Alexander

No. I haven't officially removed my summer sake from the fridge yet, but I'm starting autumn out a bit earlier than usual just to get the word out. I still have one more bottle and a half of some great summer sake left of which I will post about later. This is the first edition for this autumns sake lineup from Fukushima Prefecture. This sake, Suehiro, has an excellent blend of sourness and sweetness which is typical for many autumnal sake for this seasons! What you can expect with these types of sake are fuller and more dynamic flavor profiles, so if you want something that will coat the tongue well, something that embodies the falling yellow and brown leaves in that old country field then definitely you want to attend as many of these sake tasting events as possible. A good thing to remember about autumn sake is this word " Hiya-Oroshi" a sake pasteurized once soon after brewing and is released in the fall, but without the normal second pasteurization. Hopefully this will be a good start for you for the season. Cheers, URL: www.sake-suehiro.jp

Toyoshige Watanabe

Last weekend was nice. I went to an art gallery near Shonan on Sunday with my special squeeze to view the art work of a Japanese man named Toyoshige Watanabe. On display he had roughly about 30 works of art, all with the theme of "oni," or devil in English. Since the tickets were free from one of my momma-san English members, who too is a burgeoning artist, I jumped at the offer and went.

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The Sunday we visited that gallery was on August the 15th, the day I usually visit Yasukuni Shrine. I didn't go this year because of all the pacifist press that was coming from the newspapers and television documentaries. Just so disgusted at how the media portrays the war and the atomic bombs, and these weak apologetic Japanese men; I was lecturing a 72 year old Japanese man on Shumei Okawa the other day at Starbucks. He never heard of him. He told me that he used to receive chocolates from the Yanks back in his day and at how he had been exposed to Western ideas back then. He was duly impressed and sought knowledge and asked more questions about his own history after listening to me. I guess he must've gotten tired of all the anti-Japanese press he had grown so used to hearing when he was growing up, and then listening to me, drew a sharp contrast and became refreshed in knowing that there was a time when even his own people were great.

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I wasn't going to stay home and gloat all day, though. I was just hoping the right wing could have a voice alongside all the apologist. I love some of the nationalistic rhetoric, even if it is pointed at me and others. I love it when I see and hear the authoritative righteousness flow from the veins of a Japanese man's neck and head. Draped in all black and standing on top of that black bus shouting and spitting in the microphone at the top of his lungs at the masses as they're being herded across that intersection by computers and neon lights. The Right needs to be heard, too. It's just as much their country as it is the atomic bomb loving apologist Japanese folks.

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Back at the gallery we walked around admiring Mr. Watanabe's oil paintings. I have never seen such art work before. Devils with neither torsos nor heads, just brute arms connected to legs, and then seeing its hands clutching at air, with its thick bearish claws, perhaps representing man against society, or god. As if good needs evil in order to be validated, and vise versa. Art is good. Art is healthy. I wasn't going to let the negative silly press get the best of me. I wasn't going to let Chris's refusal to not publish a very inflammatory piece about my thoughts on this day. I was going to have a good day and I made up my mind to do just that.

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Leaving the museum, feeling refreshed, we headed over to a very famous tempura shop called Karari. The tempura was heaven on a plate. For those of you who've eaten real tempura made at a reputable shop will know what I am talking about with good tempura, not the store bought kind. I had to admire the attention to detail each chef showed for each tempura, and then at how they served and arranged the food on the table. The courteous mannerisms that so many Westerners mock as fake and insincere is not always the case. Good restaurants are different. Neither can I see the newer generation embracing these cultural mannerisms where the customer is "god." The Japanese Way is best.

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At any rate, we loved this place. In the video you can hear and see a brief explanation of what we ate at this restaurant.

After finishing up here we headed over to Gokurakuji Temple, offered up some prayers and then walked all the way back to Kamakura station on foot - quite far by the way. Since the weather that day was unusually mild we walked along the beach barefoot. It feels good to feel cool water and sand flow through your toes as each ebb & flow of ocean water recedes in and out. And then the sound of waves crashing against the shore. I am a nationalist.

Yesterday afternoon I headed over to a "nice middle"* Japanese mother's house for a chat and some tea. I was quite surprised at how much she knew and understood about how differently her own people treated Democracy than in America. It was nice resonating with a real Japanese person, which is rare by the way, most are so full of shit and ignorance sometimes. She's also an amazing cook. I often wonder what her husband thinks about me being there alone with her and the baby...And on numerous occasions? Sometimes her and I chuckle over this. Life is good.

She was a little peeved though when I showed her my bike. The Hinomaru sticker. She didn't mentioned anything about it, though. She gently walks up embraced me again and readjusted my Germany chrome helmet so that it fit squarely on my head, aligning it with my biker goggles. I rode off and she waved at me for what seemed endlessly.

* nice middle is a Japanese/English phrase that means a pretty Japanese woman in her 30s

Raifuku: らいふく

When I think of summer in Japan this post comes to mind.  I enjoy sake from  all seasons in Japan, so without further ado allow me to introduce another summer sake.  The name as the title says, Raifuku.  The title has no association to anything in particular, but one thing that caught my eye is the yeast that was used.

Many people in North America associate this perennial flower Hydrangea with summer, much like Japanese do in their own country.  Hydrangeas are beautiful flowers as you can see here.  Some people have been known to use this shrub for medicinal purposes, but for sake?   Yes....!

 

Hydrangeas were used as a flower yeast to brew this sake.  What this does to the tasting profile has more to do with smell and texture.  The aromas you catch on this sake are just beautiful.  Summer...When you sniff it you smell summer, actually, you smell the sweet nape of a  40ish year old Japanese woman.  I can almost see the black devil handed swoop of Watanabe Toyoshige's famous "oni" paintings rise up, fingers and hands clutching and shaking from that dark abyss.  Scaling that  wall of forever, and struggling to reach to the top, blood tainted fingers and nails, black and red, with arthritic middle and forefingers, not white and compliant and overly obsequious.

 

Raifuku has a BY 22/7 so it's fresh.  It's a Junmai Ginjo, which puts it in the premium class of sake.  Junmai type sake are all rice only.  I love the refined rice flavor of Japanese nihonshu.  It is the best for me.  But,  did I just drink sake only?  No.  Look down. (small hickory chip at the top left).

How did I cook this Camembert cheese?

I used a blend of two different types of wood.  Hickory smoke chips and sakura wood chips!  I soaked them in water for 30 minutes, drained them, and then packed them in aluminum foil, making sure to stick a hot brisket in the middle to enhance the smokiness and heat.  I slow cooked everything for four hours!  The cheese just ...god...just melted in my mouth and full of nice hickory and cherry blossom smokiness.  My second day in a row smoking camembert cheese and fresh water and salmon fish.  I am hooked, plus this delicious ice cold summer sake, max chilled(sigh).

 

Seimaibui 50% nihonshu do + 4 acid 1.4 alc. 15 %.  Clean and a bit dry.  I really love how clean the finish is on this nihonshu.  Really.  It leaves behind  faint aromas of its existence in your mouth.  Some "nihonshu-do" is not always an accurate indication of sweetness to dryness.  In this case, I feel this is a sweet, dry and refreshing drink.  If summer had a flavor then this would be it, I think.  Love Japanese nihonshu.  It is the national drink of Japan. 

 

Long live Heisei!

Nakamura Reiko

Ok.  Folks.  I'm back to my semi-annual porn feature for the soul of Japan, so if you're put off by this kind of topic be forewarned. 

 

A few weeks ago I downloaded a new app. from the itunes store called RunKeeper.  Since it's summer I decided I wanted to get in shape a little while keeping track of my routes using this app, which has a built in GPS and an upload feature for keeping track of my progress from my PC.    On one sunny summer afternoon on one of my routes I stopped by an old favorite porn shop of mine for a break.    Quickly heading over to my favorite section, Jukujo and Busty mommas section, this DVD caught my eyes immediately, called in Katakana ジョギングーミセス or Jogging Mrs. 

身長： 160cm

サイズ： B100（H）cm W60cm H89cm

 

Ms. Nakamura is a wonderful, spry, and vivacious 30 something momma from Fukuoka Prefecture who's  incredibly hot on and off the set.   Typically Japanese women from West Japan are known for being well built in all the right places, especially in the trunk and chest areas!  I can confirm this.

 

The DVD starts out really somber.  The musical composition was nice and everything was well done from storyline to finish.  All was good.  The actors did a wonderful job of not looking fake.  I said to myself " this is good porn."  In the States, good porn used to have very realistic storylines with nice plots and stage settings.  Now all you see are just straight fuck scenes  with no realistic storylines.   It's nice to see the Japanese focusing on all aspects of good porn. 

 

Ms. Nakamura plays the part of a housewife who's constantly being told how imperfect she is and how overweight she's gotten by her stinky ungrateful  salary man husband.   She then takes up a new hobby.  Jogging.  She joins a running circle and every morning her and her new mates jog in a park in the wee hours of the morning.  The cameraman does an excellent job of capturing every physical aspect of her body; the bobbing tits, and tight ass.  The quads and hamstrings snapping tensely as she pushes herself to run harder and faster.  Some of the best porn camera action I have seen in a long time.  You can check out a few pics here.  You can also follow her on her blog.

 

She's overtaken passionately in a locker room by one of her mates, and later on the other guy joins in and everything gets really good.  All-in-all, very nice and worth the 2800 yen. 

 

The main factors for purchasing this DVD are simple; legs, ass, and age.  She has all three and is  gorgeous.  Plus she is an excellent actress who really enjoys her work on the screen.   You know, a few weeks ago my mom was complaining to me about some of the members at the Jukujo club I teach at.  She was telling me about how they were complaining about how big busted she is and how she needed to lose weight because they'd thought it was unhealthy to be heavy.   I was pissed.   I had told them that being old and skinny is not sexy at all.  There's nothing sexy about an old woman with no tits and ass.  I had also explained that once a woman hits her 30's she should start weight training and continue like this for the rest of her life.  Jogging or riding a bicycle are also essential for good bones and lower leg development.  Eating good food in moderation, not dieting are also good points.   Skinny and old is not sexy.  Heavy and busty and muscular is best!

しゅわっち 純米吟醸 活性にごり

The name is Shuwacchi ( shu-wa-chi), and it's a junmai ginjo kasseishu nigori.  What that basically means is that it's a premium unfiltered milky colored sparkling sake with active enzymes.   Again, this is another summer season type sake as you can see from the colorful label on the bottle.   Summers are famous for ginjo type sake, so here's to summer. 

 

Look at how she stands so tall and beautiful, against the vast expanse of blueness and white clouds; etherized.  Neatly adorned in her robe and warmly cold.

This is  a nama variety which means it needs refrigeration since it's unpasteurized and has enzymes which are active and alive. How that translates in to flavor is quite noticeable; refreshing, fruity, and a bit gassy.  Whenever in Japan and you are faced with that difficult choice about what to drink then always go with a "nama" because most good ones are hard to come by, this is one of them. 

 

The name of the brewery where this sake is brewed is called 上喜元/Jyoukigen in Sakata City, Yamagata Prefecture, in the Tohoku region.

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For those of you who have never been to this part of Japan I highly recommend visiting here either in early spring where you can  see snow clad pink plum blossoms change into cherry blossoms, or during the dead of winter when the rugged majestic mountains are capped with powdery white snow.   That plus a nice hot mineral rich outdoor bath and some sake are what life is all about.  All carved out by the hands of an ancient god I presume - it had to be.

 

I'm patient.  I can wait.  For now I just want to enjoy summer with this deliciously refreshing nihonshu.

 

Those who aren't quite familiar with sake levels let me give you just a enough information to get you going.  Again, the sake I am drinking is a junmai ginjo-shu.  It's a grade of premium sake made with rice milled to at least 60% of its original size  from rice, water, and koji only!  Other grades tend to have an infusion of alcohol added to it in order to create a more complex taste and texture.

 

The rice used to make this sake is called Yamada Nishiki which is generally regarded as the best sake rice for its texture.  The koji mold used is produced in Yamagata and provides saccharification to the nihonshu.   The Seimai Buai is at around 50%, which indicated how much  rice is used in a given sake. 

 

Flavor profiles are more emotional, less associative.  We aren't talking about bananas,  pear noses, and stuff like that.  Just refreshing summer notes here.  Clean, gassy, and refreshing.  Again, I will reiterate, these " nama" rare sake types sell out so quickly.  I cannot begin to stress that when given a chance to try sake, drink "nama" types as most of them cannot be kept for prolonged periods of time.    The nihonshudo is plus 2.   Enjoy!

吟醸 生貯蔵酒 夏子物語花火

We are half way through the first week of August and temps are still hovering up around 30 in southern Yokohama, so it's still baking out here. 

 

Just last weekend and the night before there was another fireworks show in Minato Mirai.   The colorful displays that illuminated the summer night sky was breathtaking as usual.  So what better way to enjoy another summer night in Japan than with another nice summer sake. 

 

What this sake is is a Ginjo-Namachozoushu, you can click on the link which explains a bit about what a namachozoushu is.  The breakdown is as follows:  It uses Yamadanishiki rice as the brewing rice.  It's nihonshu-do is plus 3, and its smv is 55%. Acidity is 1.4. Alcohol is 15%.  The name of the sake is called Natsuko-Mono-Gatari-Hanabi

Flavor profiles are soft pear, dry, light, and crisp.  The pure taste of summer on your tongue, in other words.    We've got a full month left until summer starts to wind down.  Don't forget to try a nice summer brew while you are in Japan.

Original Cocktail: Mt. Fuji

I had recommended this original cocktail to Blue Lotus over at http://blue_moon.typepad.com/ awhile ago, but now come to find out, she won't be drinking any kind of cocktail for a long time to come, so here's to you Blue Lotus.

 

This original cocktail called the Mt. Fuji consists of gin, egg white, pineapple juice, and lemon juice.  It's around 1400 yen and then there's a 525 yen cover charge.  The Fuji is a fruity, clean, and refreshing little cocktail.   Didn't pick up on the essence of Mt. Fuji.  the cocktail had more of a tropical feel to it than anything.  I guess the frothy white top and yellow color gives it a happy feel.  I still prefer nihonshu as a drink that embodies every single element in Japan.

It's been ages since the last time I  sat in an old Victorian Style bar and had one of these kinds of cocktails.   This bar is located in the Fujiya Hotel in a bar called Victoria.

 

This Hotel which is located in Miyanoshita has been renowned globally as one of the finest classical hotels in Japan.  Once you enter the hotel, just off to the right, there's a narrow passage way leading up to this Victorian style bar. 

 

 

The directions if you're driving are on the map.  There's also a pick up service for those staying overnight at the stations listed on the map if you are taking a train.

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I think staying and or visiting this world class hotel, even if it's just for snaps, then I highly recommend it.  Legendary Japanese customer service as usual.  Expensive and clean and very well maintained facility.  Bar hours are from 5 to11. 

One Sunday Summer Afternoon

I don't know about you, but some of the nicest aromas during summer in Japan is the ocean breeze, freshly grilled squid and corn.   These three combinations over a nice tall frosty mug full of beer and of course an oyster or two create the perfect environment for summer in this country.    

I was back in Enoshima again on route to Hakone.  I needed to take a nice lunch before continuing my journey.  I had said to myself " should I eat at a restaurant or a revolving sushi shop?"  Why the hell would I eat - in?   And on such a beautiful sunday afternoon. 

From my table I could see a sea of Japanese people all along the Shonan Coast line.  It was an incredibly beautiful sight.  There was even a Hinomaru at full mast blowing in the breeze right along the lifeguard shack.

 

No matter where you go in Japan you can get delicious fish, so coming to Enoshima just for great eats in not necessary.  I come here for the atmosphere and the seafood. 

 

I just can't get enough of the smells.