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Described in an eighth-century gazetteer as "a vast and fertile land, abundant in marine and land products, where people live in ideal comfort," the old province of Hitachi corresponds to present-day Ibaraki Prefecture. This prefecture, located along the Pacific coast to the northeast of Tokyo, has as its capital Mito, home to the prime tourist attraction of Kairakuen. With over 3,000 elegant plum trees, this landscape garden is one of the three most celebrated gardens in Japan.
As in ancient times, Ibaraki Prefecture today is a place of particular abundance and counts among the leading producers of rice and other grains as well as fruits and vegetables. Fishing, too, has continued to play a major role. This area is the southernmost part of the country where salmon can be caught, but the fish for which Ibaraki takes particular pride is the angler fish. Exceedingly ugly - and exceedingly delicious - the anglerfish features prominently in the local cuisine and is often appealingly served up on the fine ceramics produced in the Ibaraki town of Kasama.
Between Kasama and Mito is situated Tomobe, a place that is home to another flavorful product of Ibaraki - fine sake. Appropriate for an area that received such glowing praise in the ancient gazetteer, Ibaraki has in Tomobe's Sudo Honke Brewery the oldest brewery in the country still producing sake. Records show that Sudo Honke was already brewing sake by the year 1141, and the brewery today is housed in an atmospheric old samurai residence.
The long tradition of brewing sake is, as you would expect, admirably evident in the sake itself. Sudo Honke focuses exclusively on super-premium ginjo-shu and daiginjo types of sake, which are carefully brewed the traditional way. To sample such excellent brews as the full-bodied Satonohomare is to taste the memorable expression of an ancient craft. |
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