![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.i8u.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/IMG_1979.jpg\" "\\"IMG_1979\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nVery close by is this shrine. I can’t read the name of it and it’s probably the Rikyu Hachiman-gū Shrine.<\/p>\n
As is the case lately, I came in through the side gate.<\/p>\n Yesterday it was a mystery cow; today it’s a horse.<\/p>\n I kept going down the street and found Seki Daimyojin Shrine that had all sorts of signs. In fact, one of the signs seemed to indicate a historic path between Osaka and Kyoto.<\/p>\n But really, it was just sent me down a neighborhood street.<\/p>\n Here’s the signs I kept seeing, and of course it led me straight to…<\/p>\n A factory?<\/p>\n Soon enough I found my way back into a neighborhood. I also saw a speed trap but I figured taking pictures of cops was pushing my luck.<\/p>\n I checked Google maps to make sure I was headed the right direction and I saw a temple sign on the map. It was on the way to Minase Jing? Shrine, but the temple was closed.<\/p>\n \u00a0Minase Jing? Shrine was fairly impressive, and it’s an Imperial Shrine.<\/p>\n As I was about to leave I noticed more and more people lining up to get water out of a boring looking tap.<\/p>\n It turns out that the spring that feeds the Suntory Distillery is also feeds the spring that comes out of the water tap. I also read that famous tea ceremony schools hold tea ceremonies here.<\/p>\n I headed back towards my real destination of the day, the Suntory Yamazaki Distillery. I used to think Japanese whisky was awful but Suntory makes some tasty single-malt whiskies.<\/p>\n I got there fairly early and they let me go on the 1PM tour rather than the 2PM tour I signed up for. There are old stills outside of the factory.<\/p>\n Here’s two important guys I wasn’t paying enough attention to.<\/p>\n There’s a small museum downstairs<\/a> that you can get into almost any time, but the real fun comes when you sign up for the hour-long tour. You have to make reservations and I had to make reservations a week in advance.<\/p>\n Inside there’s all the cooking vats. I don’t know much about how to make distilled spirits so I won’t pretend.<\/p>\n And various stills of different styles to produce different distillate. You can just see the bulby one on the very left. I took a whole year of Physical Chemistry, one of the hardest classes I’ve taken, and most of it was about distilleries.<\/p>\n Non-temperature controlled casks.<\/p>\n Cask Number 1! (I think it’s just for show).<\/p>\n I’m not sure what the black barrels are.<\/p>\n Here’s some of the special Yamazaki spring water in their garden behind the plant.<\/p>\n Some snacks to eat with the whisky.<\/p>\n The first sample was their new young single-malt they sell for “high-balls”. They had it with seltzer and ice with a side of their spring water. After that they had Yamazaki 12 and Hakushu 12 for tasting with water and ice. I asked for it straight to taste it. Hakushu has more of a sweet flavor, but Ithink I prefer the Yamazaki.<\/p>\n Behind the factory is a shrine. You have to go through the main gate, but I was told you can just tell them you’re going to the shrine and they’ll let you through the factory.<\/p>\n There’s also a “tasting room” where you can taste various single-malt Scotch whiskies and also all the Suntory products. I was looking at the Yamazaki 25 for a while since it’s 10x the price of the Yamazaki 12 and I figured this would be my only chance to try it. I paid \u00a52,300 (almost $30) for 15ml. In comparison, a normal “shot” or “jigger” is 1\u00bd oz or about 45ml. It was sweet and complex and had more flavor than the Yamazaki 12. I’m not sure I can describe it properly but I really enjoyed it.<\/p>\n \u00a0On the way back I got a picture of the Meiji factory that has a giant fake chocolate bar on the side of it. It’s somewhere not very close to Takatsuki station.<\/p>\n So, in reality, I drank my lunch today. And it was an expensive lunch as well. But I also found a Starbucks close to the hotel that wasn’t on Google maps and had a muffin as well. I spent a bunch of time trying to get the free wifi to work but I never was successful.<\/p>\n For dinner I decided to get okonomiyaki. The hotel suggested a place in the basement of Harbis Plaza, very close by, and under the Ritz-Carlton. There were a lot of restaurants down there.<\/p>\n I got the autumn special.<\/p>\n I also got some teppan gyoza. It’s flat grilled gyoza and quite tasty. Certainly worth the \u00a52,570.<\/p>\n I also found out that our friends in Toyama have to go to a funeral and I have to redo a bunch of my travel plans at for the end of this week. I found out in the middle of the day when I was away from my computer and any information. I’ll have to figure out what to do tomorrow morning. More excitement!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today I took a trip to Yamazaki Station in Kyoto Prefecture to visit the Suntory Yamazaki Distillery. Yamazaki Station is barely in Kyoto Prefecture and everything I saw today was in Osaka Prefecture. Yamazaki itself is in Osaka Prefecture. But seriously, there’s NOTHING near Yamazaki Station. Very close by is this shrine. I can’t read the name of it and it’s probably the Rikyu Hachiman-gū Shrine. As is the case lately, I came in through the side gate. Yesterday it was a mystery cow; today it’s a horse. I kept going down the street and found Seki Daimyojin Shrine that had all sorts of signs. In fact, one of the … Continue reading Japan Day 40<\/span> <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n