At Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, a wall of Japanese sake barrels
faces a wall of French wine barrels from Burgundy.
Most visitors photograph one side and never notice the other.
The wine barrels were donated in 2006 by Burgundy wineries,
in memory of Emperor Meiji — the emperor who opened Japan
to the West, and who is said to have been fond of wine.
One more thing most people don’t know: the sake barrels
stacked on the other side are empty. They’re ceremonial.
The actual sake is offered separately, in bottles.
(Source: Japan Tourism Agency, supervised by Meiji Shrine)
I’m Japanese, and I make videos about the parts of Japanese
history and culture that don’t make it into the guidebooks.
▶ More on sake: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYxT1LW0GaS0
▶ Sake Isn’t Rice Wine. It’s Made With Mold.:
#Japan #MeijiShrine #Tokyo #JapaneseHistory #Sake
