 |
| UNUSUAL DOUBLE CHERRY AT THE BREWERY STILL IN LATE BLOSSOM |
WHILE IN THE FUSSA AREA OF TOKYO, we paid a worthwhile visit to the Ishikawa Brewery. Here, their major product is saki although there are also some unusual beers and ales prepared in season, reminiscent of the peculiarly flavoured beers you get in Belgium, but much more palatable. What is striking as soon as you enter the brewery is the orderliness of the grounds. Everything seems to be exactly where it should be and there is nothing you can imagine that would improve the serenity and dream-like quality of the surroundings.
The guide shows us around the blewely and reads from a script about the various processes that take place to produce the saki. I'm surprised about the process: instead of wheat mash which is used to make beer, rice mash is used and aspergillus mould is employed to sweeten the rice during fermentation. Rather than aging the saki, as you would with wine, it should be drunk within one-year of bottling. Suits me as alcohol doesn't last long in my house anyway.
 |
| THE PROCESS OF MAKING SAKKI |
At the side of the brewery there is a stream in which pure, soft water runs and we use a ladle to pour the water on to our cupped hand. In the Edo period (1603-1868), the Ishikawa family paid the Shogun sweetfish caught in the Tama River running nearby. The water was also used to make sake. Now, with the lowering of the water table, the water has to be pumped from 150 metres below the ground.
At the entrance to the brewery hangs a ceder ball which signifies that a new batch of saki has been produced.
 |
| THE CEDER BALL HANGING AT THE ENTRANCE |
Also on display is a large, iron crucible that was hidden under the earth during the second world war so that it could be preserved as the Japanese Government was collecting all metal in the country to make armaments. Rather weathered, it is now on display in the main garden.
 |
| THE CRUCIBLE |
Like some things in Japan, there is an air of well-established tradition; and although there seems to be a preoccupation with all things American, certain areas of life have thankfully kept their integrity.
