The previous day, we had tried to go to the Yamazaki Distillery, but had taken the wrong train.
Back to the train station (with the super strong drink machine)!
We made it! (Speaking of implementing lessons learned from the previous day - on the sign, the first character
on the left right above "Suntory" is "yama". The characters for "exit" look like two yama's stacked on top of each other and a box.
To help me remember them, I channeled the Ramones and thought "yama yama hey, yama yama ho". It worked!)
Walking to the distillery...
Ok, this guy...
From: Michael Sanders
Sent: Monday, June 17, 2013 8:34 AM
Subject: Bear Statue Mystery Solved
The bizarre animal statue from the attached photo is a Tanuki, which is a Japanese Raccoon Dog (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_raccoon_dog).
As far as his exaggerated "features" -
From the Wiki: "A common schoolyard song in Japan makes explicit reference to the tanuki's testicles:
Tan Tan Tanuki no kintama wa,('"Tan-tan-tan", Your balls sway nicely. / Though the wind stops blowing / They swing, swing, swing').
Kaze mo nai no ni,
Bura bura
It continues for several verses, with many regional variations.The legendary tanuki has eight special traits that bring good fortune, possibly created to coincide
to the Hachi symbol (meaning 'eight') often found on the sake bottles the statues hold.
The eight traits are:
- a hat to be ready to protect against trouble or bad weather;
- big eyes to perceive the environment and help make good decisions;
- a sake bottle that represents virtue;
- a big tail that provides steadiness and strength until success is achieved;
- an over-sized scrotum that symbolizes financial luck;
- a promissory note that represents trust or confidence;
- a big belly that symbolizes bold and calm decisiveness;
- and a friendly smile."
So there you go.
They didn't have any tours available, but we were able to go to the museum.
MOVIE!
Commercial in the Yamazaki Distillery Museum. AVI file, 5.5 Mb
MOVIE!
Commercial in the Yamazaki Distillery Museum. AVI file, 9.6 Mb
MOVIE!
Commercial in the Yamazaki Distillery Museum. AVI file, 4.2 Mb
THE WHISKEY LIBRARY
After the museum, we went to the Yamazaki Distillery Whiskey Library.
My favorite picture from the whiskey library is one that Jason took:
He also took this one:
These are on the second floor that overlooks the library:
We sampled some whiskeys, and stopped by the gift shop. This is a cool idea....
Back to the train!
Return to the 2013 Japan Overview Page
Last updated 18Jan2015