We held a sake brewery tour for ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers), a project commissioned by the National Tax Agency.

On February 17th, commissioned by the National Tax Agency, we conducted a one-day sake brewery and industry experience tour for ALTs (English teachers residing in Japan).

This project is being led by the National Tax Agency and implemented in one region of each prefecture for ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers). In Gunma Prefecture, the Tone-Numata region has been selected as the target area.

This time, the tour was conducted for 14 ALTs (Assistant Language Teachers) who have been assigned to Gunma Prefecture from the United States, Canada, and other countries, and included visits to Otone Sake Brewery, Okutone Winery, and Yoshida Daruma Shop.

At Ohtone Sake Brewery, we were given a tour of the rice steaming process and the koji koji preparation. Afterwards, President Abe gave us a basic explanation about sake, followed by a tasting and a sake warming experience. Most of the participants had drunk sake before but weren't very knowledgeable about it, but some were excited after tasting warm sake and unfiltered unpasteurized sake, exclaiming, "I've never tasted anything like this before!"

At Okutone Winery, we enjoyed a lunch paired with red and white wines, followed by a tour of the winery. Some participants were from wine-producing regions, and they seemed very interested in the differences in climate and taste between their home countries and Okutone.

At the last stop, Yoshida Daruma Shop, we had a Daruma doll painting experience. Some participants carefully painted while looking at the examples, while others drew original faces, and everyone seemed to be having fun like children again. I was also excited to try painting for the first time.

I (Miyauchi) am deeply rewarded by the many positive comments I've received, such as realizing there was still so much I didn't know despite living in Japan for many years, being surprised by the profound world of sake, and wanting to learn more. I will continue to strive to share Japan's traditional culture with even more people.