Anyone got any Sake related stories???

Travel Info
Anyone got any Sake related stories???

Travel Tips

Several years ago, before I came here to live, I was traveling near Hiroshima and decided to take the ferry boat to a place called Itsukushima Shrine on a small island just off the coast (it's the place with the large torii gate in the water). After we docked I asked in the station office if they could help me find a cheap place to stay for a couple of days. They did and I went and checked in. I took the room without meals and was hungry, so I went back into the small town looking for something to eat. What I discovered was that after the last ferry goes back to the mainland, the town basically rolls up the sidewalks. I reasoned, though, that even small towns have local drinking places, and the Japanese never drink without eating. Meandering through the back alleys, I finally spied the red lantern that signifies such an establishment. I slid open the door and stepped into a fairly lively scene ... which immediately got quiet enough to hear the proverbial pin drop. Well, I was just too hungry not to at least try, so I sauntered over to the counter and asked in my best tourist Japanese for a meal I was pretty sure they'd have and a beer. Then I slunk off into a corner and tried to be inconspicuous. Gradually the place returned to a more or less normal state, the volume went back up, and I was left to my own devices. Before I could finish, though, a slightly drunk local came over and sat at my table. We chatted - which meant a lot of grunting and passing a bilingual dictionary back and forth - and he bought me a beer and called some of his friends over. Soon there were more than a dozen people gathered round a table for 2, all of us trying desperately to communicate by whatever means possible. The sake began to flow - their treat - and we stayed even after the place officially closed. About 2 in the morning I remembered that I was supposed to be back at my lodging by 11. "No problem" said my new-found friend. "She's my cousin." He called her, we drank some more, then he drove me back. It was a wild and exciting night and the reason I love to travel.

Later, when I'd been living here a couple of years but wasn't yet married, I went way up north to visit a friend on the winter break. Aomori doesn't get a lot of non-Japanese visitors, especially in the winter, so whenever we went down into a basement pub (underground is better insulated against both weather & the noise), the locals got very excited. I never paid for a thing - "Sing English songs on our karaoke machine and we'll wine & dine you!" Later my friend (a non-drinker) figured that I put away a 1.8 liter bottle of sake every night for a week. I don't think I've ever been so drunk (except for a drinking bout in Russia with some guys from Tbilisi) or so happy. It was a marvelous week ... what I can remember of it!

These days I drink very little. I have a Japanese friend who is a connoisseur of fine sakes, and we go out a couple of times a year and try exotic sakes from all over the country, in moderation. It's a nice drink if done properly and not to excess.

Others
our first night in Japan, a friend dagged us into a bar.. here was are sleep deprived, Jet Lagged and in culture shock, and he's ordering us Habu sake!

I chickened out, I admit, but my husband drank it. I just couldn't get past the rattlesnake in the bottle.... Of course I freak out at the worm in Tequila, too..heheheh