On Saturday morning my Program Administrator, Noko and her husband Mr. Fukuchi picked me up from my hotel in Yokohama and we drove to their weekend home at Lake Yamanaka. Of the five lakes that surround Mt. Fuji this is the second largest. We stopped and ate lunch at Denny’s (yes it is the same Denny’s you would find in the U.S., but a very different menu). I had a BLT and a Coke. Then we when to the Fukuchi’s house, it is a delightful mountain cabin with a wonderful view of Mt. Fuji. As you can see from the picture below I was very lucky to be there on one of the few very clear days of the year. I was told that Fuji-san is usually quite bashful and hidden behind clouds. We spent the afternoon chatting on the deck and enjoying the view. I also spent some time in a traditional Japanese bath before we went to dinner. We ate at a traditional Japanese restaurant in an old fashioned house. The meal was beautifully presented and included several courses. I did quite well with most of the food with the exception of the very nearly raw mackerel, which I tried but was unable to eat more than one bite. Otherwise, I handled everything including the baby squid which are in season right now. After dinner we returned to the cabin and I spent the night in a Japanese style room with a futon mattress on the floor. I found it quite comfortable.
On Sunday we went to the Katsunuma area. Our first stop was a peach orchard and grape producer. Noko had thought that the peach trees would be in full bloom but they were a little behind because the area has experienced the harsher winter than normal this year. There were a few blooms open as you can see in the picture below and a gentleman was removing some on the blooms from the trees to promote larger fruit for harvest. Japanese peaches are different from the peaches we have in the U.S. They are larger, bright pink on the outside and have white flesh on the inside.
At the same location they also produce table grapes and I found the way that the grape vines are trained to the mesh above them very interesting. This was also the way the vineyards we say later in the day at the wine facilities were planted. The rows are spaced much wider than in the U.S. and the vines extend out in all directions instead of being trained in rows. The picture below is of one of the larger grape vines I saw.
Next we went to a very fancy facility that’s name translates as Hill of Grapes. It is on the top of a hill that overlooks vineyards on all sides. We purchased cups for wine tasting. It was quite different then the wine tastings I have been to in the U.S. The cups were silver and had ribbon attached so that they hung around your neck. We went into the wine cellar which had wines from all of the local wineries and you just walk around and pour some of whichever wine you want to taste. Noko’s husband has worked in the wine marketing business and is quite knowledgeable about wine so I let him choose which ones to try. Below is a picture of the wine cellar.
Our next stop was Marufuji Winery Co., Ltd/Rubaiyat Wine. The Managing Director, Mr. Haruo Omura, showed us around the winery. He was in the middle of preparing for a concert that will be held at the winery next weekend. His winery is considered to be one of the best in Japan and he is also one of the top enologists in Japan. He has published several books on Japanese wines and grapes. The winery is impressive and I am told it is very much like European wineries. I tasted five of his wines and really liked one of the whites. Mr. Fukuchi bought me a bottle of it. I hope I can get it home in one piece. The picture below shows Mr. Omura in his tasting room.
On the way back to Tokyo there was a lot of traffic since many people had taken advantage of the good weather and gotten out of the city. There was also a big traffic jam because there was an accident and traffic was at a standstill for a long time. We finally arrived at my home base in Tokyo, the Hotel Okura. It is a very impressive hotel and very close to the American Embassy. Check out the link to all of my pictures on the right hand side of this page.
On Sunday we went to the Katsunuma area. Our first stop was a peach orchard and grape producer. Noko had thought that the peach trees would be in full bloom but they were a little behind because the area has experienced the harsher winter than normal this year. There were a few blooms open as you can see in the picture below and a gentleman was removing some on the blooms from the trees to promote larger fruit for harvest. Japanese peaches are different from the peaches we have in the U.S. They are larger, bright pink on the outside and have white flesh on the inside.
At the same location they also produce table grapes and I found the way that the grape vines are trained to the mesh above them very interesting. This was also the way the vineyards we say later in the day at the wine facilities were planted. The rows are spaced much wider than in the U.S. and the vines extend out in all directions instead of being trained in rows. The picture below is of one of the larger grape vines I saw.
Next we went to a very fancy facility that’s name translates as Hill of Grapes. It is on the top of a hill that overlooks vineyards on all sides. We purchased cups for wine tasting. It was quite different then the wine tastings I have been to in the U.S. The cups were silver and had ribbon attached so that they hung around your neck. We went into the wine cellar which had wines from all of the local wineries and you just walk around and pour some of whichever wine you want to taste. Noko’s husband has worked in the wine marketing business and is quite knowledgeable about wine so I let him choose which ones to try. Below is a picture of the wine cellar.
Our next stop was Marufuji Winery Co., Ltd/Rubaiyat Wine. The Managing Director, Mr. Haruo Omura, showed us around the winery. He was in the middle of preparing for a concert that will be held at the winery next weekend. His winery is considered to be one of the best in Japan and he is also one of the top enologists in Japan. He has published several books on Japanese wines and grapes. The winery is impressive and I am told it is very much like European wineries. I tasted five of his wines and really liked one of the whites. Mr. Fukuchi bought me a bottle of it. I hope I can get it home in one piece. The picture below shows Mr. Omura in his tasting room.
On the way back to Tokyo there was a lot of traffic since many people had taken advantage of the good weather and gotten out of the city. There was also a big traffic jam because there was an accident and traffic was at a standstill for a long time. We finally arrived at my home base in Tokyo, the Hotel Okura. It is a very impressive hotel and very close to the American Embassy. Check out the link to all of my pictures on the right hand side of this page.
2 comments:
WOW! Beautiful pictures. It looks like you are having a good time and learning lots.
--Meredith
Meredith,
Thanks for checking out the blog. Yes, it has been a lot of fun so far.
Hope
Post a Comment