One Bartender and a Bottle of Shochu
By Oliver Eardley
What can I say.. this was my first trip to Japan! Being able to start this trip in Kagoshima and not a big city was perfect for me. I love to discover the native cultural side of countries. My first day in Japan was slightly after the arrival of the others. I joined the tour on day 2 so I flew straight in from Tokyo and I was whisked off directly to my first distillery to meet the others.
I was taken back by the beauty of the region and its greenery. This was something that never stopped amazing me during the whole tour as we went from place to place on the tour bus with our wonderful driver. The most memorable highlights of the trip for me were the people we met, among them Yanagita-san, THE most passionate person I have ever met. His passion, his Ikigai, his work ethic knows no bounds. He shakes, waiting for our translator to tell us what he just said as he eagerly waits to tell us the next thing. During one dinner with the distillers we had a big outdoor barbecue and met with around 8-10 people. What an amazing bunch of guys... our tour group divided ourselves up so that the distiller had more chances to talk with us openly and boy did they! They were very enthusiastic and funny, asking us about our lives, sharing their Shochu's and we were just having a great time.
I only touched on two main points but there have been so many amazing people on our trip and moments to remember. The fruit farmers, the distillers, the drivers, our team for the tour to whom I can not be grateful enough.
This trip has opened my eyes to Japanese culture, food, products, life... I also spent two days in Tokyo for the first time at the end of this trip and it was everything I thought and more! I plan to return to Japan and I would love to see more of the country and tour the breweries and distilleries again. I want to thank especially Hiromi, Chikako and Nanoha for taking me for my last meal in Japan before I headed for my flight. It was the perfect ending to the trip and meant a lot to me that I could join you for that final moment.