Since the weather has warmed up and is so nice this time of year we started taking our lunches outside. Several of the guys enjoyed watching the high school girls in uniforms parade past the brewery in what seemed like a continual, endless stream. One of the guys in particular enjoyed sitting on the street in front of the brewery and interacting with the students and passersby. The Japanese also seem to find him the most entertaining out of all of us. One day a pretty 15 year old rebel and her friend stopped by at chatted for a while. Her clothes were disheveled clearing reflecting her bad attitude. She jeered and trash talked her peers as they walked by. “That guy is a nerd. She is crazy. That boy stupid,” she said calling out their names. Her friend said that the rebel was a bad girl but she was the good one. The rebel said “I like mugi shochu, beer, and awamori.” The good girl said, “I like juice.” When they said good bye they called out, “Come back tomorrow. I love you, I love you.”

Last night we met to officially assemble Team Mukune session 4 for the first time. We went over the guidelines and expectations for the program. After the meeting we went out for dinner at Mr. Daimon’s friend’s restaurant. The food was wonderful; beautifully presented, very fresh, and delicious. I tried a few things such as rice in tea with pickled plum (ume ochazuke). It did not sound very good but was so delicious and a nice way to end the meal. Over the meal of course we talked about sake and also about culture and philosophy of life. The combination of food, sake, people, and conversation created a memorable evening.

This is my first trip to Japan and I have sometimes been reminded of France. Japan is an old country with a lot of history and a rich culture. Ancient, stone-lined streets, post and beam architectural design, and quaint flower gardens all remind me of rural towns in Provence. There are also many small food gardens interspersed with houses and town buildings. Given the high cost of land in this area I was really surprised by horticultural usage and it indicates a high value on food quality. Like France, Japan has an excellent gastronomic tradition and the culture of sake parallels the wine culture. Both cultures incorporate aesthetic design and appreciation of beauty into everyday life. Within the brewery, I like seeing the buckets of cut flowers in the store room; it is as if fresh flower arrangements are a necessary accompaniment to every room.

Last night 4 interns and myself arrived at various times at the Daimon Brewery. Getting off the train I tried to follow the map but did not know where I was going. I found what looked like a brewery and entered through what turned out to be the back way. After looking around a bit, I found Mr. Yasutaka Daimon. He greeted me and asked me to come in the front gate.
“I will meet you on the other side,” he said. I found that very interesting and wondered whether entering through the front gate has significance in Shinto.

Mr. Daimon is incredibly generous and hospitable. For dinner he treated us to a wonderful spread of seafood and Japanese barbecue accompanied by the Mukune sake and local micro-brewed beer he serves in brewery’s Mukune Tei restaurant.

Our session is all Americans but they are some of the nicest, most traveled, intelligent, sensitive Americans one can hope to find. They know a lot about sake and I hope to learn much from them. We all talked about our backgrounds and travels, sake, and Japan and were so enthusiastic to share our selves we stayed up until 2 A.M.

Today the last intern arrived so in a few hours we will have the official orientation, go out to dinner, then perhaps go to a super hot springs bath at 10 o’clock. Being here is like being in heaven.

Under the cherry tree blossoms and blue sky
Friends meet for the first time
So very different
So much the same