Gion Matsuri (Gion Festival) in Mashiko.

Mashiko Gion Matsuri festival is performed as a festival to Yasaka-jinja Shrine every year for three days of 25th from July 23.

Have you ever heard the Gion festival?

If you say Yes. It is the most faimous Gion festival that takes place annually in Kyoto.

But Mashiko Gion festival is famous as a one of strange festival in Kanto region.

Five districts in the town block perform this festival by turns every year.

They hold a ceremony changing the turn of the festival.

The ceremony called OMIKI CHYODAI SHIKI.

They must drink up a large quantity of liquor at the time.

The quantity 3jyo6gou5shaku (6.5 liter). It means 365 days for one year.

I recommend that you'll check the strange ceremony with your eyes.

Mashiko Gion Festival

Japanese Sake is made from rice.

Tonoike brewery cultivate the rice of raw materials for brewing Japanese Sake.

It is important work introducing Japanese traditional culture into the future.

A lot of people participate in rice-transplanting in spring.

The rice was a good harvest from rice planting five months later.

This rice is exclusive rice to make Japanese Sake.

It's called Gohaku-mangoku.

Harvest of the rice is performed on the autumn day when it was fine well.

It is also Thanksgiving Day to God who brought a good harvest.

Of course we perform the gain by machine by the present age, but the crop work is performed with all hands

 in the same way as time of the rice-transplanting.

After a crop, we enjoy BBQ together.

The folk song celebrating gain is shown.

Splendid Japanese Sake is made from rice that a lot of people brought up.

Tonoike brewery in Mashiko.

Tonoike brewery is makes famous Japanese Sake called SANRAN.

The entrance of the brewery.

You can observe it in a brewery and of course you can taste with liquor in there.

Big black tank (upper right) and Sake barrel (KOMOKABURI in japanese)

About 72 liters liquor is in one sake barrel.

In 1937 Itsugoro Tonoike started a brewery in Mashiko.
This photograph is just that time.

And it is now.

The current president Shigeki Tonoike is the third from the front row right.

You can purchase the liquor of many kinds in their shop.

Sake made from rice polished to 50% or lower is called daiginjō-shu.

Shochu

Liqueur