The 24th Sake Brewery Festival （酒蔵まつり）| Kuriyama

Kuriyama is a wonderful town, which has several great long-established companies, serving very delicious local food. The other day, "Kuriyama Shinise, or Long-Established Store, Festival （くりやま老舗まつり）" was held in the town, which consists of two festivals on the same days; "Kibidango Festical （きびだんごまつり）" and "Sake Brewery Festival （酒蔵まつり）"!
         
Kibidango is a sweet dumpling made of mochi flour, sugar, and maltose. In a previous post, I introduced "Kibidango Festical （きびだんごまつり）" and if you are interested in the festival, please click here→☆.

After enjoying kibidango, a traditional Japanese sweet, we went to the Sake Brewery Festival↓ The premises of Kobayashi Sake Brewery （小林酒造） was used as a festival site, which was packed with a lot of people like this!

This brewery is one of the famous sake breweries in Hokkaido, and produces several kinds of sake from dry to sweet flavors.

One of the most popular events in the festival is a tasting corner, of course!!!

They served a few kinds of sake free of charge! This is freshly-brewed sake!

Tastes very young!!

I like dry taste, too, and tried "Maruta （まる田）", their famous brand sake.

Yummy x 2!!!

We can enjoy some daiginjyo （大吟醸）--top-quality sake brewed from rice grains milled to 50% of weight or less-- at the price of 500 yen! 

We can also get this ochoko or sake cup as a present! Wow!

Would you like something to eat with sake? Don't worry about it! The festival site has a lot of food stalls, selling something local, or using sake or sake cake! Sounds wonderful, doesn't it?

Look at tofu produced by Tanaka Tofu Shop, a local tofu shop, using local ingredient and delicious water↓

More than perfect!

I love beef gristle stew, but it was already sold out when we came here!

This booth smells very good. What are they cooking??

Voila! Jingisukan or lamb BBQ is our local cuisine! But it is not normal jingisukan, but jingisukan with sake cake! Yummy x 2!! Of course I ate it!

We also enjoyed grilled clams! They goes will with sake!!!

Kuriyama is an agriculture town. How about potato croquette?

I chose a potato and beef croquette! Yummy x 2!!!

 In front of the brewery, we were able to enjoy some local events such as a Japanese drum show! How cute the local kids are!!

In the same premises, there is a recommendable soba restaurant, named Kinsuian （錦水庵）.

We can enjoy delicious soba and sake at the same time in this restaurant! I really recommend it!　(See the details→★）

 After enjoying sake and local food, we went to a sake museum↓

Look at the traditional sake cups and containers!

Their history is also very interesting!

I really want these pottery sake containers!!! How cool they are!

*Just for reference, we can taste almost all their sake in this museum except the festival period.

And then we went to their sake brewery! Kobayashi Sake Brewery was established in 1891.

While we felt their history,

we learned how to make sake!

At the end of the brewery tour, we tasted water used for sake.

Wow! They serve amazake （甘酒）, sweet drink made of sake cake!

Actually I don't like amazake very much, but really love this amazake! It's very tasty and not too sweet!! Thank you, Kobayashi Sake Brewery!!!

Do you like sweets? If so, let's get something local here!
How about sake puddings?

I bought a pudding set; chestnut pudding and sake pudding! Let's compare them each other!!!

When I opened the lid, I felt sake flavor from it!

I really recommend this one! Sake cake goes well with pudding!!! As this pudding is sold only in the festival site, we have to go to the festival next year, too!!!

How about sake rice crackers, which is also sold only in the festival site?

Crunchy x 2!!!

We really enjoyed their sake and sake desserts here!

I'm sure we'll be back this festival site next year!!

■Where is "Kobayashi Sake Brewery （小林酒造）"?

View Larger Map


■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?

I'll guide you! Plz click here!

Mashike （増毛） Half Day Walking Tour

As a tour guide, I made a model course for a half-day walking tour in Mashike.
Mashike is a small town, which had been flourished in the 18th to the mid-20th century, when a lot of herring were caught off this fishing town.

This is JR Mashike Station, a terminal station of Rumoi main line. Look at the station sign, which is vertically written, and very classical!

Although this is now a quiet station without a station master, it was packed with a lot of customers during the halcyon years.
This station was used for a famous scene in "Station", a Japanese movie, whose lead is Ken Takakura.

Just in front of the station, we will see "Inn Tomitaya （旅館富田屋）" constructed in 1919. This was chosen as a location for "The Catch （魚影の群れ）", a Japanese movie released in 1983.

Go straight the Mashike Port Street （道道増毛港線）, we will find "Sushi Matsukura （寿司のまつくら）", and enjoy

a northern shrimp bowl or

a seafood bowl! Yummy x 2!!! The seafood here is unbelievably delicious!
*Detailed information→Please click here!

After eating lunch, let's enjoy something historical, agian!
This is Itsukushima Shrine （厳島神社）, constructed about 250 years ago.

Shrine foo dogs and stone lanterns are original.

The wooden tablets, its ceiling, and drawings are very beautiful!

Go up to the same slope, and we will find "Mashike Elementally School （増毛小学校）", constructed in 1936.

This is the largest and oldest existing wooden elementally school in Hokkaido, and surprisingly it is still used!

The gym is also wooden! Wow!

Go down the same slop to the Mashike Port Street （道道増毛港線）, and we will find the residence of the Honma Family （旧商家丸本間家）.

Taizo Honma, from Niigata, established a kimono boutique in 1874, then expanded his business to a general store, the transportation industry, the herring fishery and a sake brewery. He was a super rich merchant!

The trade name was cave in each roof tile. Wonderful, isn't it?
Basically this is a Japanese-style building, but we will find Western room ornaments such as pendent lumps in a guest room.

The admission is 400 yen. Please enjoy this national important cultural asset.

How about "Restaurant Shimagwa （志満川食堂）" across from the residence?

It used to be a shipping agency, and now is a restaurant.
While the residence of the Honma Family is a Japanese-style architecture, this is half-Japanese and half-Western building structure.

When you come to Mashike, you must visit here!
"Kunimare Sake Brewery （国稀酒造株式会社）" is the northernmost sake brewery in Japan, founded in 1881by Taizo Honma.

You can join a sake brewery tour and

try all of the sake. Sounds perfect, doesn't it? Actually we drank a lot! Hahaha!

*Detailed information→Please click here!

The tour is almost finished.
How about drop by "Cafe Umizaruya （カフェ 海猿舎）"?

Their coffee, smoothie, and cakes are recommendable!
*Detailed information→Please click here!

Last but not least, it's shopping time at "Endo Suisan/ Minatomati Ichiba （遠藤水産　港町市場）"!

Northern shrimps caught around here are very delicious!

We can buy local fish here at reasonable prices!
*Detailed information→Please click here!

Please fully enjoy Mashike, a historical fishing town!

■Where is Mashike （増毛）?

View Larger Map

■Tour guide information■

Do you need a nationally-licensed English-speaking tour guide when you travel to Hokkaido?

I'll guide you! Plz click here!