These are very fun and interesting days here in Shikoku, Japan. First of all, please let me say thank you very much for coming to check out this website. It is getting a surprising amount of traffic and we are getting visitors who are coming in from all over the world. I am completely blown away.
One very interesting thing to note about this site is that visitors are not just looking at the top few articles, but they are also going deeper into many past blogs and updates too. We think that this is a good sign that people are coming to the region, finding the things that interest them, be it pilgrimage, visiting the islands, sampling udon, or just learning more about the area. Also, it is very critical to note that this site is not so much about “What Mark thinks about Japan” but rather, “What are the cool and fun and important things that YOU can experience in this area”. With that in mind, I am always keen to find things that people have written, or photographed, or made video about so I can highlight them for people to enjoy. I hope that we can continue this for years to come. I promise to do my best to show you only the best, and most worthwhile, of the media out there for Shikoku. And I think that this approach is what keeps Come to Kagawa fun and useful.
Ok, enough about that. The main point of this editorial is to talk about SAKE.
This is the elixir of Japan, the glorious fermented beverage that is very unique to this country, and one that I am only now beginning to explore. This is all by chance, and has come as a result of this website and working closely with people in the area as Inbound Consultants.
I have to admit that I know basically nothing about sake. I have no license. I am not a sommelier or expert of liquor by any stretch of the imagination. I do like beer, but even there, I am no expert on craft beers or how it is made. I cannot give you the rich vocabulary of experts who work in the field as experts, but now I have to get some information and experience pronto because we are now working with people who are in this industry.
So, my own sake pilgrimage has begun, and while I am very new to everything about it, I am willing to study, and I am going to take you along for the ride. Just the other day, Kazuyo and I visited a sake brewery here in Kagawa, and not more than 20 minutes from our house, and got a brief private tour. The owner confessed that he is a bit at a loss what to do with visitors who come who do not speak English. He has done some preparation, but even so, there are some things more that he wants to do. I very much hope that as language professionals, we can be of some service.
I have tried his sake before, among a group of different sake, and I liked it best. It was delicious. And as we talked I learned a few more things about sake that I did not know. And then I got online and did a little more reading on sake. And now I see more and more about the huge ignorance I have on sake. I will need much more research and experience.
But I will take on this great sacrifice. I will drink sake and enjoy it, cup after cup if I must. But I will tarry on. And as we get things going in our work and support of local sake industry, I hope that we can bring some fun and meaningful ways for visitors too.
I am envisioning a way where people can come to this area, enjoy local activities in the daytime, like venturing out to the islands, walking through Ritsurin park, having tea ceremony, making udon, experiencing Zen, walking through temples and bamboo groves, and then in the evening have time to tour sake breweries, and to have some time to explore and learn about this fabulous treasure.
We are at the beginning of another very new and exciting venture. Stay tuned here for details of the where and when and how to explore sake. As I am totally new, and stumbling my way in the dark, it may be fun for us to do this together.
In the meantime, as we say in Canada, take care and keep between the ditches.
