Going to Japan
On this page we'll add some specific tips on good
beer hunting when you're in Japan, but for general information on getting to
Japan, getting around, and where to stay, we refer you to the
Travel page of our
Sussex Japan Society website.
Some of the links below lead you to pages in Japanese - don't be put off, you
will often find the odd word of English to help you navigate to the right page.
A good tip is to hover over the obvious links and look at the status bar at the
foot of the screen. Page addresses appear in Western script and show you
if you're on the right lines. If you want to look at Japanese websites on
a regular basis make sure you use Windows update to get the correct fonts for
Internet Explorer, and also get the latest version of Acrobat Reader and accept
its offer to download fonts for Japanese pages.
The inspiration for many people starting international beerhunting has to be Michael Jackson, the original BeerHunter. And so it was with us. When he came to address our Sussex Japan Society back in October 1998 on the topic of Japanese Beers he signed one of his books for us, with the message "Try the Moku Moku". It took us until April 2004 to obey the Master's instruction but we made it!
From our favourite Japanese Inn in Nara we took a rural train service to Iga Ueno (town of the Ninjas!) and from there caught a bus service which took us on a journey into the depths of the countryside. (Had we been in any other land, we would have worried about getting back from such a remote location, but being Japan, the return bus appeared right on time!)
The target of our journey was Moku Moku Farm - a kind of bucolic theme park. The pigs can come to you to be fed as you sit at the outdoor bar, and do simple tricks in a circus show. They obviously love their keeper and enjoy performing, and one of them also got into the Guinness Book of Records as achieving the highest recorded jump for a pig! Visitors who feed and enjoy watching the pigs may be dismayed to find they also have a starring role in the farm restaurant! But the restaurant is rather good, with DIY barbecue at your table and a splendid view over the surrounding countryside, and of course Moku Moku beer to accompany your meal.
The farm has its own brewery where Moku Moku beer is brewed and you can get a glimpse of the brewery and try the beers there, as well as in the restaurant. All in all, a very worthwhile day out.
Dogo Onsen
When you're on the island of Shikoku you are certain to visit the
attractive castle town of
Matsuyama, and it's quite likely that
you might make a side trip to the spa town of Dogo Onsen. It's now
time for a decision - do you do the proper tourist thing and inspect the
historic bath house? Or do you cross the road to the pleasant bar
opposite where you can taste the local Dogo Onsen beer and try some
interesting local snacks? For us there was no competition and our
reward was to find a very friendly manager, who was pleased at our seeking
out his local beer, and kindly gave us an incredibly useful book listing all
the small breweries which have sprung up all over Japan in recent years.
Tokyo
