I am a big fan of single malt whisky. With Scottish ancestors, I thought - with some degree of certainty - that only the Scots could make the stuff. Since finding that the Japanese can actually outdo the Scots at their own game, I have become a firm fan of Japanese Single Malt. The one I like most - and there are only 3-4 good ones in Japan - is that made in Hokkaido by the Nikka distillery. They have a great single malt named after the town they are located in - Yoichi. They actually encourage people to come and visit, so on a recent trip over “Golden Week” to Hokkaido, we took a special trip to Yoichi to see the place and sample some of the produce. The distillery itself could have moved complete from Scotland - it looked the part for sure. It has become quite famous domestically in Japan due to a television series made about the founder - Taketsuru - and his Scottish wife. Called “Massan” it has become a feature of daytime TV and is (supposedly) the cause of Japanese whisky becoming scarce even in Japan. I think it is the Chinese tourists buying it all to take back to China.
I took along my Hasselblad - which is heavy, unwieldy and a pain to use as you need a light meter. Not sure I will do that again. Loaded with Kodak Portra 400 negative film, I am happy with the results. Once again, I sent the films over to Richard Photo Labs in the US and am very happy with the results……
The logo of the distillery. My wife thought the sheaf of wheat was a bagpipe……
Of course this is Japan - so I had to join a tour - with a flag. And a megaphone.
It gets cold here, so stone building are a must.
As are round to[ doors - although I doubt if that due to the cold.
In this case a very small one.
It is a working factory, so we could not go everywhere.
In fact no humans were allowed in some parts.
Being Japan they had instructions what to do in the event of an earthquake. I would run for the whisky storage by preference.
It is on the banks of a nice river - water being a key ingredient.
And the Sakura (cherry blossom) was out - 1 month after Tokyo.
Of course I did some shopping for whisky that cannot be found in Tokyo.
Rural Japanese towns are not a pretty sight…..