Niigata is located on the western coast of the Sea of Japan in the Chubu region. This region consists of nine prefectures and is located in the center of Japan's largest island, Honshu.
As far as I can gather from various conversations with the locals, 新潟 (Niigata) is the mother-board of all sake because the prefecture is known for their high quality rice and water.
Prior to moving to Japan we knew about this Wall of Sake. It was one of our first adventures in Niigata. Then, not too long ago, I discovered another Wall of Sake. I'm a little upset at how oblivious I'd been about this second place considering I go to Niigata station at least twice a week for work!
Then one fateful day I surprised my husband with another Wall of Fun! I'm not sure if you would consider this a blessing, but we take it as being blessed with sake. The abundance of this liquid mana is quite daunting. I mean, who would have "thunk" that we would have ended up in a prefecture such as this? However, we're not a couple of raging alcoholics. I'm just pointing out that this kind of accommodation is widely available at any given time. If anything, we're a couple quite functional semi-alcoholics. With practice, maybe we could go pro. Goals are important.
Here...let me show you around.
You pay some dude 500 yen and, in return, he gives you 5 tokens that you happily toss into these vending machines. Then you imbibe one little cup of delicious sake at a time.
We wanted to take a bottle of Cowboy Yamahai home in honor of Montana, but it wasn't available. My next goal is to buy 2 of those little cups!
Michael was using his translator app to see what these little jars of "gold liquid" said, but someday we won't need such apps. That's also my goal.
Call me crazy, but I would love to have 3 or 4 of these puppies...I mean fishes...hanging in my kitchen. So cool!
I could visit this store again and again and never get bored. They have so many odds and ends to check out.
Another Niigata point-of-interest is the armada of bicycles that greets you outside the train station.
Kind of changes one's connotation the term "parking lot", doesn't it?
While we are here in Niigata, we hope to continue to see what else this prefecture has to offer. Stay tuned...
