Sake Tasting & Italian Dinner

After our wet ride, we changed into dry clothes at the local tourism office and drove to Higashikawa to tour a sake distillery. We were instructed not to eat anything fermented, like natto or kimchi for breakfast, so we don't contaminate the brews with any stray microbes. We also donned attractive hairnets and shoe covers.

Lunch was at a very clean rest stop where we had crispy, delicious katsu. They had a pretty little garden out front.

For dinner, Google guided us to a tiny Italian restaurant that is housed, along with many other miniscule eateries, in a long underground corridor. Each restaurant is like a locker, barely seating 6-8 people. The chef was also the waiter. He spoke no English but was a very sweet guy. Thank goodness for Google translate so we didn't end up with squid ink.Read more