Season 1. Episode 23. This week John and Timothy travel to Hiroshima and reminisce about their trips there. From the sake neighborhood of Saijo, to back alley unagi restaurants to the magical Miyajima torii gate, Hiroshima has many wonders for the sake lover! Both sakes we are tasting today celebrate Hiroshima local Hattan-nishiki sake rice – one full bodied and rice-y, one elegant and silky. One thing that all Hiroshima Sake can connect with is the region’s most famous food Okonomiyaki! This savory pancake is a wonder and John points out there is event an Okonomiyaki only shopping center! Several floors of stalls all dedicated to the same yummy Hiroshima treat. Next chance you get look for sake from this wonderful part of Japan!

Skip to: 00:19 Hosts Welcome and Introduction
Welcome to the show from John and Timothy

Skip to: 04:23 Musings on Hiroshima

Skip to: 11:09 Sake Introductions

John and Timothy introduce their sakes for this week.

Skip to: 13:37 Sake Tasting: Ryusei Nagomi No Karakuchi Tokubetsu Junmai

Ryusei Nagomi No Karakuchi Tokubetsu Junmai

Alcohol: 16.0%
Brewery: Fujii Shuzo (Hiroshima)
Classification: Tokubetsu Junmai
Prefecture: Hiroshima
Rice Type: Hattannishiki
SMV: +10.0
Acidity: 1.7
Seimaibuai: 65%

View On UrbanSake.com

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Skip to: 17:31 Sake Tasting: Joto Daiginjo

Joto Daiginjo

Classification: Daiginjo
Prefecture: Hiroshima
Rice Type: Hattannishiki
Seimaibuai: 50%
Brewery: Nakao Brewery
Acidity: 1.3
SMV: +5.0

View On UrbanSake.com

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Skip to: 30:05 Show Closing

This is it! Join us next time for another episode of Sake Revolution!

John Puma: 0:22
Hello, and welcome to Sake Revolution. America’s first sake podcast. I’m your host, John Puma from thesakenotes.com. The administrator of the internet sake discord and someone you might see on r\sake on Reddit.

Timothy Sullivan: 0:38
And I’m your host Timothy Sullivan. I’m a Sake Samurai, sake educator, as well as the founder of the Urban Sake website and together, John and I will be tasting and chatting about all things sake and doing our best to make it fun and easy to understand. So, John, I just have to tell you, it was so much fun having your wife, Myshell, on our last episode, married to sake, that was such a good time. Thanks for having Myshell

John Puma: 1:08
Uh, she had a great time too. And, even though I was pretty quiet through most of the episode and like kind of letting her have the spotlight, I have to say it really reminded me and really made me think about how much her presence and her experience has changed the way I experienced Japan.

Timothy Sullivan: 1:23
It sounded like hearing about the experiences from her. She’s kind of fearless. I could not walk into like unknown sake bars in the middle of a foreign country, like that. That’s kind of amazing.

John Puma: 1:37
I was totally like that where I couldn’t go in. I would always be looking for English menus or a sign that said something about English menus. Uh, and instead she comes along and we’re walking around in like Shinjuku one day and like the kind of. Early evening. And we walked past this place and there’s a bunch of sake labels in the window. And she is like, Oh, we know this sake let’s go here. And I’m like, Myshell we can’t we don’t, we don’t know what’s in here. We don’t know what’s going to happen. We go in and she’s like, ah, it’ll be fine. What’s the worst that happens. They kick us out, fine, whatever. And I’m like, okay, so we should go. We went in and since we knew that that sake was there, we sat down and we looked at the menu for a second and we ordered it that sake. So now I imagine they probably think we know a little bit of Japanese because we ordered something quote unquote, off the menu and we’re sitting there drinking our sake. And at some point the guys behind the counter are start to confer and they’re looking at us and they’re trying to figure out what to do. and we’re like, we’re realizing this. We’re like, Oh, they’re onto us. And, eventually they come over and ask us in like in a kind of broken English, like, Oh, what do you want to eat? And we’re kind of like, No, it’s fine. And they’re like, they’re like, no, really? Like, and then the other one comes with a, with a big, like big wooden box. Okay. He slides it open and it’s got, ,eel, all the different components. That makeup, the eel. So it’s like the outside of the eel, all the organs in the ale on skewer is no law. And he’s like, he’s like, do you want to inside or outside? Apparently this was a unagi. Specializing izakaya that we did not realize it. And we’re both like, yeah. And I should specify we don’t eat, or at least at this point in our lives did not eat unagi was kind of mildly terrified and we’re like, um, uh, check. Oh, okay. Um, okay. So we finished our sake, we paid our bill and we moved off.

Timothy Sullivan: 3:41
Wow. Well, it’s very common in Japan to always order food. You know, it’s not like a bar in the U S where you can go in and just get a beer and just sit there and chit chat. So they were really expecting you to order some food. And, but that’s so sweet that they brought over the visuals to show you

John Puma: 3:59
That was a very intense visual aid. Tim, let me tell you. But I think having that experience, like after that, it’s like, what’s the worst that can happen. A guy can bring over. A of wooden box of eel parts. And I can say, no thank you and leave. And that’s literally the worst that can happen. I did it. That’s fine. So after that, it became so easy to go into these random places and have some of the best experiences of my traveling life. it’s really wonderful.

Timothy Sullivan: 4:28
Yeah. When we were talking with Myshell, we did mention that, the love of sake can break down barriers. But I also want to say that learning little bits of Japanese and sake, culinary culture. Really go a long way to like, just that example of when you go to a restaurant, there’s an expectation that you’re always going to order food with your sake. Once you know that it’s so much easier, the next time you go, or if you learn a few words of the styles of sake you like in Japanese, then that just goes a long way to helping them bring you like Myshell said, I like crazy sake, or, if you say I like fruity style, something like that, really simple. It’ll help them get you what you need. All those little steps you take. I think they really go a long way to helping you survive trips to Japan. Really really well.

John Puma: 5:19
They’re very accommodating. Survive is a strong word. It’s always easy to survive, but thrive. We want to thrive when we go into Japan.

Timothy Sullivan: 5:26
Yes.

John Puma: 5:26
And I think that that really goes a long way towards it. and I think one of the things that she mentioned also on the show is that she really took a liking to Hiroshima Sake. So that led her, I too visiting Hiroshima a couple of times. And it really is a place that spoke to us and we really enjoyed being there and hanging out there and experiencing. The local sake and the local scene. And that’s kind of what I want to talk about today.

Timothy Sullivan: 5:54
Yeah. I’ve had the great pleasure of visiting Hiroshima, myself and for our listeners who haven’t been there. It’s on the main islands of Japan, but it’s in the far, far West, right? It’s a lot of islands and a lot of water culture there, a lot of a sea of Japan culture, but it’s, uh, the far West of the main Island of Japan. And as we mentioned with Myshell, You know, Okonomiyaki is a big deal.

John Puma: 6:22
is, when we were studying up on going there. one of the things that popped up about Okonomiyaki was this place called Okonomi Mura. And I don’t know, have you ever been.

Timothy Sullivan: 6:33
No, I didn’t go

John Puma: 6:35
think of it as like a mall, but for Okonomiyaki. So it’s like, yeah. All right. Well, I know, I know. So it’s like three or four stories and inside of each floor are stalls and each one is a different Okonomiyaki shop and they all specialize in different things. They have different menus. They may have slightly different styles, but they’re

Timothy Sullivan: 6:59
Oh, my

John Puma: 6:59
local Hiroshima. Okonomiyaki and

Timothy Sullivan: 7:02
you imagine that the New York version of that would be like, if you had like a three-story shopping mall in every place, every store was a pizza place. Can you imagine.

John Puma: 7:13
It’s like Eataly but different.

Timothy Sullivan: 7:17
Oh my

John Puma: 7:18
Yeah, it was a lot of fun. And I think that in Japan, that sort of thing, isn’t tremendously uncommon. Like in Yokohama there, the ramen stadium and in Fukuoka, there is a, there’s also a ramen stadium.

Timothy Sullivan: 7:30
There is a ramen

John Puma: 7:31
popular. Okay. Uh,

Timothy Sullivan: 7:34
Yeah. But, I think that speaks to how popular Okonomiyaki is in Hiroshima. It’s kind of like the regional food. Great pride. And if you visit, I visited a sake brewer in that city and they took us to Okonomiyaki is like to show us what the local cuisine was all about. So it was

John Puma: 7:52
of it. That’s great.

Timothy Sullivan: 7:54
yeah.

John Puma: 7:55
may I ask what Brewery did you, visit

Timothy Sullivan: 7:57
Kamoizumi.

John Puma: 7:57
Oh, nice. I’ve never had the pleasure.

Timothy Sullivan: 8:01
Oh, it’s, it’s wonderful. And it’s in Saijo, which we’ve talked about on a previous episode, which is like the in Hiroshima city. That’s like the sake neighborhood with a gaggle of sake breweries on this all within walking distance of each other.

John Puma: 8:14
quite a few that’s that sounds like a really good time. Now, when you were there, did you have any free time to yourself or do you spend most of your time visiting? Saijo.

Timothy Sullivan: 8:25
I had a couple of days off where I could go and do some sightseeing and Hiroshima. Uh, we went to the. The peace park. And, I remember riding on a street car too. That was really fun. And, it just left me with such warm feelings and everyone there was so nice. And I really, I do remember this visiting Saijo, that sake neighborhood, all the. Breweries had a similar architecture and it was a very unified feeling neighborhood and there’s a specific design style for all the sake breweries. They have this cross hatch marking on the bottom half of the buildings and then certain tiles on the roofs. And they were all similar in style. A lot of them had these brick smokestacks as well. So you could look around and see the smokestacks could tell you where all the. The breweries were located. And those are really for letting the steam out when they do the rice steam, the steam can go out the smokestack and they’re not as functional nowadays, but in the past they were really needed. And, they often have the little logo on them as well. So you can literally walk around, Oh, there’s this brand there’s that brand. And it was, I remember having just such a wonderful time walking around and take, just taking in the atmosphere was great.

John Puma: 9:41
great. And for me, the three pillars of Hiroshima are like sake. okonomiyaki and the carp, which are their local baseball team and they are. Everywhere. You cannot walk down the street without seeing some sort of Hiroshima carp paraphernalia. It’s I imagine I’ve never been to Chicago, but I imagine that around like Wrigley field is probably got a similar feeling where everybody just loves the Cubs so much. It’s like that kind of enthusiasm. it’s very refreshing actually. being a new Yorker where we’re very cynical about our baseball teams.

Timothy Sullivan: 10:16
Yeah, but the carp baseball team in Hiroshima is like they have food items and ramen and beer and all kinds of things that are carp branded don’t they? Oh, sake too. Got to

John Puma: 10:30
Yeah. We, we got a little, Hiroshima carp, one cup.

Timothy Sullivan: 10:34
Oh, cool.

John Puma: 10:35
Tying it altogether typing Myshell and one cups and Hiroshima.

Timothy Sullivan: 10:40
well, I was, thinking about what sake to bring for today and I have a sake that I’ve actually never tried before. This is, yeah,

John Puma: 10:50
that’s the, this is the best kind, Tim.

Timothy Sullivan: 10:52
Yeah. So we’re going to get, we’re going to get a real raw reaction

John Puma: 10:58
Oh, this is going to be good. this is nice. I’m glad you were able to get something from Hiroshima would have been really embarrassing if we did all this and then you were like, Oh, and my sake is from Yamagata. Aha.

Timothy Sullivan: 11:09
Well, let me tell you what I brought and then you can let me know what you have over there. So I have a sake from Fuji sake brewery and it is called Ryusei no Gomi no Karakuchi,

John Puma: 11:24
Karakuchi. So this is a dry one

Timothy Sullivan: 11:25
Karakuchi. So this is a dry sake. it’s milled to 65%. The rice is Hattan-Nishiki and, the sake meter value that measurement of sweet or dry is a plus eight on the scale. So it does seem like it might be on the dry side for

John Puma: 11:42
Yeah, I believe that’s similar to a one cup. You had a few episodes back

Timothy Sullivan: 11:46
Yes, that’s right. Yeah,

John Puma: 11:48
on a dry kick right now, too.

Timothy Sullivan: 11:50
Yeah. And the acidity is 2.0, which is a little bit on the high side. So I’m excited to try this and see where we shake out. So why don’t you let me know what you have.

John Puma: 11:59
So, I have, Joto Daiginjo quote, the one with the clocks unquote. Now this is a little bit of a situation. Uh, so in the United States, the importer Joto, relabeled this sake, but they’re very open about where it’s actually from, in this case, it is, this one is labeled as Maboroshi. White box Daiginjo and Maboroshi is a very popular brand over in Hiroshima. And the name of the brewery is a Nakao brewery and they make, quite a few really popular sakes, it, apart from the Maboroshi brand, and the reason that it’s the one with the clocks is that label has a lot of, has a lot of little clocks on it. I don’t know exactly why, but they do. They have a lot of clocks on it.

Timothy Sullivan: 12:48
so the one you brought is a Daiginjo?

John Puma: 12:51
It is. I went a big today, Tim. this one, the seimaibuai is 50%, but it also is using that Hattan-Nishiki rice that you talked about.

Timothy Sullivan: 13:02
Yeah. So I think that’s something that we can say is pretty indigenous to Hiroshima. So it’s interesting that both of our sakes use that rice, even though they’re probably gonna taste really different mine. Mine is that. Mine. I didn’t mention is a tokubetsu Junami or a special Junmai and you have a daiginjo and I’m sure mine will be delicious, but I’m a little bit jealous. Cause I know your sake aid. It tastes really

John Puma: 13:28
Wow. Think what you mean to say is that the, is that mine is probably a little bit more in our wheelhouse, whereas yours is your you’re expanding your horizons.

Timothy Sullivan: 13:37
well, I am ready and willing to drink anything for education.

John Puma: 13:42
we go now. yeah, go ahead and open that up and let’s, let’s

Timothy Sullivan: 13:45
I’m gonna open this up. We have a little paper

John Puma: 13:49
Tim’s sake has a nice little ribbon that goes across the top, kind of a symbolically keeping it closed. I think that’s interesting.

Timothy Sullivan: 13:58
and a little plastic cork, and then, alright, so. I see a little bit of, I don’t know if you can see this, John, but there’s a little bit of color

John Puma: 14:12
That looks very Amber from my

Timothy Sullivan: 14:14
Yeah. It’s it’s a straw color. I’m so not crystal clear. Whew.

John Puma: 14:22
What are you smelling?

Timothy Sullivan: 14:23
So the aroma has just a hint of earthiness to it. Some. Rice a little bit of grain on the aroma and it almost smells a little bit chocolaty.

John Puma: 14:34
really chocolatey.

Timothy Sullivan: 14:37
Yeah. Yeah. Just like, if you were to open up a milk chocolate bar and then. Smell the foil it’s not like smelling a chocolate bar, but it’s that like chocolate adjacent smell.

John Puma: 14:50
Wafting chocolate.

Timothy Sullivan: 14:52
wafting chocolate from the other room.

John Puma: 14:56
Yeah.

Timothy Sullivan: 14:57
Yeah. Okay. I’m going to go ahead and give this a taste. Hmm. Oh, wow. So the first thing I noticed is that the acidity is much higher than I expected. So acidity often translates on the palate as kind of this brightness. And if you have no idea about like tasting, acidity, if you think of like biting a lemon wedge, That, kind of salivating feeling you get on the side of your tongue. That’s a reaction to acidity that citric acid, which we don’t have necessarily in sake, but that’s the sensation is what you want to look for. You get a little bit of watering on the side of the tongue. And this has a 2.0 acidity, which is not off the charts, but it is high generally for sake. And I think they bring in a higher acidity, to, balance the other components of the sake. this has a 65% rice polishing rate. So it is relatively robust. It’s not super fine. So we are getting that rice flavor as well. And I think this is a pretty. open expression of that Hattan-Nishiki flavor. And it’s a junmai, so there’s no added alcohol to cover up or interfere with that rice flavor. So that grain and rice essence is really coming through.

John Puma: 16:18
Hmm. Interesting. and so you’re getting that essence of that Hattan-Nishiki rice.

Timothy Sullivan: 16:24
Yup. And the finish is quite dry. So it has an overall impression of being quite pointed and very crisp. And like my mind is getting this impression of something that is, you know, right to the point it’s not rounded or lingering or anything like that. It’s more crisp and pointed, but with a layer of ricey-ness that kind of an earthy ricey-ness that I think comes from the Hattan-nishiki very delicious. And this is a food friendly style. I love sake for sure. and I think the dryness and the higher acidity could pair well with things that have a richer sauce on them.

John Puma: 17:10
okay.

Timothy Sullivan: 17:10
If you have a rich kind of creamy sauce, this higher acidity, dry sake can really cut through that and, cleanse your palate beautifully when you’re having something a little bit more coating or a little bit richer. And, I think this would pair really well with Okonomiyaki.

John Puma: 17:26
how about that? Local sake, local foods.

Timothy Sullivan: 17:31
Yes. Excellent. So John, why don’t you open up yours? I’m really excited to see what you have to say about this Maboroshi Daiginjo.

John Puma: 17:41
I have been waiting to hear you say that. the nose is so interesting on this. It is, a little bit fruity, but also something else, something like, like, um, almost like a, like an herb of some sort. It’s very interesting though. Very unique. A little hint of an Apple too. Oh boy. Okay. So the mouthfeel on this is luxurious is lush. This is a Daiginjo style. So there is alcohol added. And one of the things we talked about. when we were discussing this in our prior episodes, is that one of the things they go for with that is playing with mouthfeel. And this is a masterclass and using that for mouthfeel. This is wonderful. It coats the palate so perfectly.

Timothy Sullivan: 18:41
Yeah. Daiginjos can often be very silky. And like extra smooth, be like surprisingly

John Puma: 18:50
Very smooth. It’s coating the palate, but it’s also a deceptively light flavor. It also, it’s very pleasant. Apparently they’re using an Apple yeast to make the sake also may explain that little hint of Apple in the beginning there. Yeah, definitely. Nice. Like a little bit of spice, a little bit of Apple, very, very, very satiny texture, like very luxurious. This is extremely sippable sake,

Timothy Sullivan: 19:19
right up your

John Puma: 19:20
Yeah, this is very much the John Puma sits on the couch with a glass. And, um, this is, I would not have this with Okonomiyaki. Uh, I think that too would very much get in the way of one another. And yeah, this is very, very lovely. and I think this is atypical for. what the style of sake that Hiroshima is known for. I want to say, if you think that Hiroshima is known for Saijo, and this is very much outside of that, that, style aside Joe, much more known for being, would you say like rice forward a little more like a little more of that, that carmel-y style to it. Whereas this is very lush. Very dare I say, sexy tasting, um, is really nice.

Timothy Sullivan: 20:05
you dare. You dare. Well, the interesting thing that connects both of our sakes is that Hattan-nishiki got local indigenous. sake rice from Hiroshima, Hattan Nishiki. And the interesting thing for me is that my sake is like an overt expression of that. And yours uses the same rice, but you

John Puma: 20:28
it’s completely subverted by perhaps by the yeast, but definitely by that texture and the apples tastes oh this is so good.

Timothy Sullivan: 20:39
Well, the, the rice milling, I think plays a big role as well. My rice grains were milled to 65% remaining and yours go all the way down to 50% remaining. So that is. You can say, Oh, it’s only 15%, but I think with sake rice, it makes a big difference and you can really taste that the outer layers of the rice grain contained the fats and the proteins. And as those get more and more polished away, you get more pure starch isolated, and then you can bring out other flavors using the yeast. You can bring out Apple or, you know, different, expressions of the sake.

John Puma: 21:13
And as you mentioned earlier at the fact that yours is that yours is a junmai really lets that rice, express itself more. Whereas mine is, I guess, further subverted. By the fact that it’s a Daiginjo is not a pure rice style and they’re just making a really interesting sake out of it.

Timothy Sullivan: 21:30
Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. The other thing I noticed is that I mentioned when I was tasting mine, the acidity as well, mine has a 2.0 acidity and yours has a 1.3 acidity, so much, much lower acidity. And, generally I often describe acidity as being between 1.0 and 2.0, so 2.0 or above is considered really a higher acidity. And 1.5 or below is a lower, more gentle acidity. And acidity often reads as dryness on the palate. So you can underscore. A sense of dryness in a sake by boosting up, raising up the acidity a little bit and lowering the acidity gives you that softer edge. And I think that’s really what the brewers of your sake we’re going for.

John Puma: 22:20
So Tim, as we’re sitting here, Drinking sake from Hiroshima, we’re talking about the city and, and our experiences. One of the things that really sticks out to me about Hiroshima is the local bar scene. A lot of the places there are really interesting and unique, and they have been so my favorite Japanese sake bars in all of Japan, they’re really, they’re a little bit more lax about the food, which maybe may have something to do with it. the local culture is a little bit more like a bar rather than an izakaya even though there’s always food. they’re just really, really friendly and very accommodating. And the local places don’t always. The local taste of the manager may not be Oh, rah-rah Hiroshima all the time. It might just be, this guy really likes a particular style of sake and he has that, uh, there’s one place I love to go to called Flat where the bar managers, favorite brand is Takachiyo from Niigata. So he gets every single limited edition Takachiyo. And if you’re into their sake, it’s a great place to visit. And he’s enthusiastic. He’ll talk about it to. At length. no, there’s no place called Katoya. And then the owner there, Kato san, his thing that he loves to do is to get sake that no one’s ever seen before. He wants to get rare sakes and from brands that aren’t anywhere else. And so you go there and you have a unique experience and try things that you’ve never heard of. It’s a really wonderful and unique town from a sake lover standpoint.

Timothy Sullivan: 23:54
Yeah. And I think that’s something that is really a good point because if you travel. Off the beaten track a little bit, like most people who visit Japan don’t necessarily go to Hiroshima. If you’re visiting from the States. We’ve mentioned this a couple of times before that if it’s your first trip to Japan and you’re going to go to Kyoto, you’re going to go to Tokyo and you’re going to hit the major places. And. Places like, an izakaya off the back alley in Hiroshima somewhere is not the main drag for international tourism. So I think they have a little bit more leeway to be freethinking and quirky. I think quirky is a good way to put it.

John Puma: 24:35
I think quirky is a very good word.

Timothy Sullivan: 24:37
Yeah. And when a non Japanese person walks in and says, I love quirky sake, they’re like, They’re in hog heaven too, because they want that kind of customer. Who’s going to be open and go there with them and be curious about what they’re there to teach you and show you. And those two examples that you mentioned, I think are Primo examples of the type of interesting and educational experience you can have at a Japanese sake bar.

John Puma: 25:07
.a h I think we’re wistful to go back to Hiroshima. Really good town. I think it’s an underrated It should be on more people’s radar and not just to go for historical reasons. I don’t think that I don’t think the only thing I do in Hiroshima is go to the peace park. I mean, don’t get me wrong. it’s an important thing, but the, the city has so much to offer and it’s a beautiful place. I gotta say, I’m kind of happy that for the first time at one of our deep dives we’ve actually, or I’ve actually been to a place that we’re talking about. This is great. And, uh, one other thing that I really like about there is a Mia Jima Island. Have you heard of it?

Timothy Sullivan: 25:44
I absolutely have. Yes, of course. It’s pretty famous.

John Puma: 25:48
Oh, I don’t know. I have no, I sort of live in a little bit of a bubble. And so if something permeates the fog and I live in a, I guess, I guess it probably is famous at that point. Um, but yeah, we went there. Yeah. There, uh, the last time we were in town and it was, and I, I’m not a, Beachy person. I’m not an outdoorsy person really, but it was such a beautiful and wonderful experience. Uh, got to kind of go on the, on the beach when the tide was low and for people who are not familiar Miyajima is famous for having a very large, uh, Tim, what are your, what

Timothy Sullivan: 26:25
They’re called Torii Gates.

John Puma: 26:27
Thank you very much. I just, it completely slipped my mind. Like I know what this word is, but it’s not coming out. So very large Torii gate that, half the time is kind of coming out of the water. And then during low tide, it is literally like sitting there on the beach and you can go up and take photos with it. And it’s, it’s really beautiful. The whole Island is really gorgeous. Very nice. And you can, you can hang out some deer, which is nice

Timothy Sullivan: 26:50
Yeah. I think that view of that Torii gate in Hiroshima is one of the most famous views in Japan. Maybe, except for Mount Fuji. Like it, if you see it on a postcard, you’re going to recognize it. You know what we’ll do? I’ll put it in the show notes,

John Puma: 27:06
Okay. There we go. The thing is, I’d seen pictures of this gate before and never, you know, it’s somewhere in Japan and coincidentally, it was Myshell who was like, Hey, we should go to miajima Island. And I was like, what? What’s that? And she’s like, it’s a cool thing with them, blah blah. And this, you know, there’s all these traditional places. And I was like, all right, you know, maybe I still never going to bell. I’ve never heard of it. And then she’s like, you know, the, this picture I just showed me, you’re sure that you’re going to see in the show notes. And I was like, Uh, that that’s here. I had no idea. So yeah. It’s things that you can do in Hiroshima. Go to Saijo, go to Miajima. Visit the local sake bars. You’ll have a great time!

Timothy Sullivan: 27:45
And go to the Okonomiyaki three-story mall.

John Puma: 27:49
yes, definitely go to okonomi Mura.

Timothy Sullivan: 27:52
Yeah.

John Puma: 27:52
yes, but you, chances are you can’t go to a carp game because the fans have already bought the tickets.

Timothy Sullivan: 27:59
That’s actually okay with me, I’ll just drink the carp sake and that’ll be my baseball experience.

John Puma: 28:05
There you go. There you go.

Timothy Sullivan: 28:06
I’m a little worried about going to the Okonomi shop. okono-0 Okonomi mura Okonomi mura I’m a little worried about going to okinomimura shopping mall, because I don’t know if I would get beyond the first floor. You know, how many Okonomiyaki can I eat in one trip?

John Puma: 28:26
Um, my answer is one, by the way. Cause it’s okonomiyaki is huge. You can’t eat two Okonomi

Timothy Sullivan: 28:33
It’s very filling.

John Puma: 28:34
And I know somebody, somebody right now is listening to this and being like, absolutely, can’t, what’s wrong with you? And you know, I say sir, or Madam congratulations, but I cannot, in this case though, what I usually do when I go there. Is I look at the different menu is the different places. Like I look at the different stores, different floors, uh, and then I’ll okay, this is what I’m going to have today. So we’re gonna try today.

Timothy Sullivan: 28:56
So you kind of scope out the scene and try and

John Puma: 28:58
yeah. Definitely going to get a lay of the land and see what, which one speaks to you the most. Let’s say, let’s say you don’t like as much of the sauce on top. Well, look for somebody who does a little bit less, you can say, I’ll tell you really like cheese. Well then go to a guy. Definitely has cheese. Yeah. Things like that.

Timothy Sullivan: 29:15
I can see Myshell bursting in there. Do you have crazy Okonomiyaki?

John Puma: 29:21
Okay. Uh, that has not happened. Uh,

Timothy Sullivan: 29:24
That would

John Puma: 29:24
scare me… that crazy Okonomiyaki probably involves a lot of seafood

Timothy Sullivan: 29:27
That would scare me. Well, I can’t wait to visit. Hiroshima in person again, and we say this all the time, but as soon

John Puma: 29:39
Do we have to do another episode where we go.

Timothy Sullivan: 29:41
If we can take sake revolution on the road, we are definitely going to do an episode from Hiroshima and, I’d love to walk around Saijo and, take it all in again. I think one, one a positive you can take out of this whole stupid, awful COVID situation is that it’s going to give me a great appreciation for traveling to Japan again, that’s for sure. Don’t you agree?

John Puma: 30:04
absolutely.

Timothy Sullivan: 30:05
All right. Well, I want to thank all of our listeners so much for tuning in. We really hope you’re enjoying our show. And if you’d like to support sake revolution, one way you can really help us out would be to take a couple of minutes and leave us a written review on Apple podcasts. It’s really one of the best ways you can help us support the show.

John Puma: 30:25
And be sure to subscribe wherever you download your podcasts and tell a friend so that they can subscribe as well. We don’t want you to miss an episode.

Timothy Sullivan: 30:33
And as always to learn more about any of the topics or the sakes we talked about in today’s episode, be sure to visit our website, sakerevolution.com for all the detailed show notes.

John Puma: 30:43
if you have a sake question that you need answered, or you just want to tell us how much you love Hiroshima, please reach out to us at [email protected] and let us know. So until next time, please remember keep drinking sake and… kanpai!