Visit to Nikka Yoichi Distillery from Otaru

31 August 2023

Nikka Distillery recently resumed the free guided tour of their production facilities after Covid-19 restrictions were lifted. And this tour concludes with a complimentary tasting session. 

Being a fan of whisky, my son’s eyes lit up when I told him I was planning to include a visit to the Nikka Yoichi Distillery in our Hokkaido itinerary. However, reservations for the tour could only be made by phone or online through Nikka’s Japanese language website. 

Online booking of tour is available only 4 weeks before the desired tour date. Using Google Translate to help me decipher the Japanese webpage, I managed to submit the necessary information on the online booking form on August 3 to book our tour for 31 August.

Note: the booking of the guided tour is now available on their English language website.

Tour starts every 30 minutes from 9.00 hr to 12.00 noon and then 13:00 to 15:00 hr. Tour duration is approximately 70 minutes including production process tour and tasting. It is best to go by public transport if you want to taste whiskey at end of the tour.

Yoichi is a small seaside town that lies between Otaru and Shakotan. I planned to travel to Yoichi from Otaru by train which takes about 25 minutes. The only problem is that this train is infrequent (one every 2 hours). Alternatively, we could take travel by public bus as well, which takes slightly longer but the service is more frequent. 

I chose the 10.30 AM tour as it best matches the timing for the 9.38 AM train from Otaru bound for Kutchan.

Soon after submitting the required information, I was glad to receive an email (in Japanese) confirming my reservations.

On the day of the tour, we checked out of the Otaru Authent Hotel and left our luggage with the hotel as we had planned to travel to Sapporo later in the afternoon. We had a nice seafood breakfast at the Sankaku Market, located next to the Otaru JR train station.

We arrived at train station way ahead of time as we cannot afford to miss the infrequent train to Yoichi. We bought tickets from a ticketing machine at the train station since IC card cannot be used on this train service. Apparently, Yoichi JR station does not have an IC card reader.

 

At the platform to take the 9.38 AM local train to Yoichi. If we missed this train, the next one is at 10.53 AM!

Trains in Japan run like clockwork, leaving and arriving on time. The train to Yoichi is not crowded and the travel was uneventful.

Exiting the Yoichi JR Station, the front gate of the Nikka Distillery is a 5 minutes walk from main entrance of the train station.

Walking towards the front entrance of the Nikka Yoichi Distillery.

Registration at the Front Gate was done 15 minutes before start time of the tour.

The guided tour starts at the Visitor Center. The tour was conducted in Japanese by enthusiastic young lady dressed in nice uniform and hat. We were briefed on how to download a Nikka app on our mobile phone using the free Wi-Fi so we could listen to a video guide in English or other languages. Photography is allowed, but video recording is prohibited.

We were shown an introduction movie of the Yoichi Distillery and overview of the whisky production process.  

Yoichi Distillery is Nikka’s first distillery established in 1934 by the founder Masataka Taketsuru, who learnt whisky making in Scotland. Yochi, close to the sea and surrounded by mountains, has an appropriate humidity, crisp clean air, and freshwater which is perfect for making whisky. This historical distillery uses the traditional coal fired distillation to make bold and rich malt whisky.

Leaving the visitor center, we were shown the kiln towers with the distinctive red roofs. A kiln tower is to dry the germinating barley with peat smoke and make malt. Yoichi’s kiln towers are no longer in use.

Kiln towers at the Yoichi Distillery.

Next to the kiln towers are the milling and mashing house. This is the place where milled barley is mixed with water in a mash tun and enzymes in the malt convert starch into sugar to make wort.

The next place we visited was the Wash House where yeast is added to the wort to start fermentation. Sugar is converted into alcohol and carbon dioxide during fermentation. The wash is sent through underground pipes to the still house.

The wash is distilled twice in brass pot stills that are heated by direct coal fire. These fires are controlled by skilled craftsmen and require constant monitoring. Although it involves more work, this traditional method contributes to giving Nikka whisky its bold and rich taste.

Although the tour is conducted in Japanese, the guide shows us information in English at each place we visited.

We visited on a day when the stills are in maintenance (not in operation).

Hence we could see the fireplace where coals were used to heat the still above it.

A row of brass stills above the coal fired ovens.

Close-up photo of the straw rope fastened to the top of each still. This is a talisman for good quality and safety.

The new make whisky are then filled into oak casks at the vatting house. The vatting house is also the place where the whisky that has finished maturing are removed from the casks and consolidated.

After learning the whisky production process and viewing the production facilities, we were led further into the large campus to view some interesting historical buildings.

This building was built as the founder’s office in 1934.

It was at the former founder’s office that we learnt the origin of the Nikka name. The company first started out as “Dai Nippon Kajyu” meaning the “Great Japanese Juice Company”. Yoichi happened to be the first place to grow apples in Japan, so Masataka started to make and sell apple-related products such as juice and wine while waiting for the whisky to mature in their casks.

The first whisky released in 1940 is named Nikka taking the “Ni” from Nippon and “ka” from Kajyu. The company name was then changed to The Nikka Whisky Distilling Co, Ltd in 1952.

Close to the founder’s office is Rita’s House. Rita is the name of the founder’s wife but this is not where she lived. This used to operate as the Nikka Whisky’s laboratory for about 50 years until 1984. 

Rita’s house.

The next building we saw was Masataka’s and Rita’s old residence. This house was originally located in Yamada-cho, a suburb of Yoichi, but relocated to the distillery in 2002. The house showcases both Western and Japanese architectural influences as a reflection of the two’s marriage.

Masataka and Rita’s old residence.

The tour ended in one of the warehouses (warehouse No. 1) where casks of whisky were left to mature. It is interesting to note that the floor of the warehouse is exposed soil to retain moderate humidity and the exterior walls are made of stone to keep the air cool in summer.

We were allowed into one of the warehouses see the whisky that are left to mature in oak casks.

The floor of the warehouse is made of soil to retain moderate humidity.

A diagram in the warehouse summarises the whisky production process.

After the guided tour, we were led past the Nikka Museum and Rita’s Kitchen to the Tasting Hall.

Note: Rita Kitchen is a restaurant serving lunch, light meals and of course highballs. We did not eat here.

The famous Nikka logo featuring the King of Blenders in the ground floor entrance of the Tasting Hall. It is debatable who the Western looking man in the logo was.

At the tasting bar on the second floor, we were introduced to the whisky that we would taste.

Apple Wine, Super Nikka, and Single Malt Whisky.

We could help ourselves to ice cubes, cold water and carbonated water from the self service counter at the bar. What was offered was not as elaborate and fun as the tasting we did at the Suntory Yamazaki Distillery near Kyoto which was a paid distillery tour. 

We were left to taste the whisky at our leisure (before the next group arrives 30 minutes later). I had the apple wine first before tasting the Super Nikka and Single Malt. The apple wine was actually quite good.

The gift shop is located next to the Tasting House and I was looking forward to buying some limited edition whisky. In my visit to Suntory Distillery, I was able to buy the 12 years Hibiki that was not sold outside.

The range of whisky sold at the gift shop was quite limited. I bought some distillery limited whisky in 500 ml sizes to bring home. There is no tax free shopping even though we are bringing the bottles out of Japan.

Single Malt Yoichi Woody and Vanillic (Distillery Limited edition), Yoichi Blended whisky (Distillery Limited) in the blue box and a bottle of the cheaper Rare Old Super Nikka with a distillery limited design box.

I also bought some of the miniature whisky bottles to add to my collection. These are not cheap (680 yen per bottle).

Single Malt Yochi, Super Nikka and Taketsuru Pure Malt to add to my collection of miniature liquor.

We did not tour the Nikka Museum as we wanted to take the 12.22 PM train back to Otaru. We planned to have lunch at Otaru, visit Sakaimachi Street before travelling to Sapporo by train.

More about our lunch in Otaru and evening in Sapporo in the next post.

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Yabuhan Soba in Otaru for lunch and Soup Curry in Sapporo for dinner and everything else in between.

31 August 2023

After the Nikka Distillery Tour and whisky tasting in Yoichi, we arrived back in Otaru train station at about 1 PM. We managed to get the last locker at the Otaru train station to dump the loads of whisky we bought at the Nikka distillery before heading out for lunch in Otaru.

Lunch at Yabuhan Soba

We walked about 5 minutes to Yabuhan Soba. There was a short queue at this well-known soba (buckwheat noodle) restaurant in Otaru. We waited about 20 minutes for a table.

The restaurant is in a Japanese-style building marked by a willow tree.

We sat in a normal table instead sitting  on tatami mats at the traditional low tables. They have an English menu that offered various dishes besides soba.

We ordered the TenKake soba which is tempura with soba noodles in soup. This could come in either hot or cold soba. We ordered the usual hot soba. Most other diners, we noticed, ordered the cold soba which is popular in the summer heat. 

Tenkake soba which is tempura with soba noodles in soup.

We also ordered some cold Otaru beer to go with our hot soba soup.

Light and refreshing Otaru beer.

This restaurant is tourist friendly. There is information in English on how to best enjoy the food.

The soba has a nice chewy texture which I like.  Overall the lunch was delicious.

After our meal, the staff came over and served us some hot water which the noodles have been boiled in. Well worth a try.

We tried the soba-yu as per custom but it was not so tasty.

Sakaimachi Street

We went back to Sakaimachi Street after lunch.  This time we could take our time to browse through the pasty shops and buy some goodies from LeTao to bring home.

Ivy covered building at the start of Sakaimachi Street.

We did not take many photos since this was our second visit in two days.

Otaru Canal

Just before heading to our hotel to collect our luggage, we made a quick detour to take a look at Otaru Canal.

Otaru Canal in the day time emits a different vibe compared to the night. It is less romantic without the gas lights but still present a pretty picture.

Gulls, ducks and the usual canal boats could be seen.

We could see a local man feeding the gulls in the air and ducks on the water.

 

Travel from Otaru to Sapporo

Otaru Authent Hotel is within walking distance to the Otaru JR Train Station. We did not forget the Nikka whiskey that we stashed in the locker there.

Trains between Otaru and Sapporo is frequent. We bought the IC cards and loaded them with money. The IC cards could be used for the JR train ride from Otaru to Sapporo, as well as public transport when we are in Sapporo.

The first part of the train ride was quite scenic as the tracks pass by the coast. Thereafter, the train got pretty crowded as we got nearer to Sapporo, the big city in Hokkaido. It was a good thing we sat near the entrance and did not have to struggle too much to get off the train with our luggage (two of our suitcases had handles that broke during this trip – became fragile after 2 years sitting in the attic during the Covid 19 travel freeze).

The Sapporo Train Station is pretty big and busy. Besides JR trains, the subway in Sapporo is also linked. Our hotel in Sapporo is the Gracery Hotel and is located in front of Sapporo Station, connected to the Sapporo Station underground shopping mall.

Soup Curry Dinner in Sapporo

After enjoying soup curry at Soup Curry Garaku on our first night in Hokkaido, we decided that we must have another meal of soup curry before leaving Hokkaido. There are many soup curry restaurants in Hokkaido serving this dish, each with their own secret recipe for the curry broth. We decided to try Soup Curry Suage, which is one of the highly recommended soup curries.

We made our way to Soup Curry Suage4 which was supposed to close at 7.30 PM. Just as we arrived at the restaurant at about 7 PM, the staff stopped accepting people in the queue. Japan is known for their excellent service culture. Turning customers away 30 minutes before stated closing time is so strange.

After a quick check with Google Map, we found another soup curry restaurant nearby. Sapporo Tiger Curry is located inside Akarenga Terrace, just across the road junction from where Soup Curry Suage is located.

The restaurant is actually a stall in a food court located on the 3rd floor. We ordered from the Japanese menu using Google Translate. In addition to the usual chicken, there are soup curry with hamburgers in the menu and also vegetarian options.

We unknowingly ordered one that came with some horumon (fatty innards)! We did not eat the fatty innards and ordered an additional topping of chicken curry.

Vegetarian soup curry for my wife who wanted something lighter.

The curry was quite good, full of flavour! 

After our dinner, we went to check out a store in the mall selling outdoor gear. I was looking for small day pack to replace my current Northface bag which is aging and also a little heavy.

I found and bought this Montbell day pack that meets all my requirements (super lightweight, rain cover, waist straps that can be stowed, adjustable chest strap) for a good price.

Montbell is a excellent local brand and this bag is lightweight and packed with features that I need.

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Exploring Sapporo – Odori Park, Sapporo Beer Museum and shopping at Tanukikoji Street and Sapporo Station.

1 September 2023

The plan for the day was to explore Sapporo in a free and easy manner, do some shopping at Tanuki-koji Street and have dinner at Susukino. I had some interesting sights mapped out on Google Map, such as Odori Park, Sapporo TV Tower, former Hokkaido Government Office, and Sapporo Clock Tower.

After breakfast at the Gracery Hotel, we took a short walk to Odori Park. Sapporo is easy to navigate, with the streets running in the North-South and East-West direction in a grid pattern. Located in the heart of Sapporo, the iconic Odori Park stretches east to west for 12 blocks (approximately 1.5km).

 

 

Odori Park and the Sapporo Clock Tower

We started at the eastern end of Odori Park where the Sapporo TV Tower stood. The tower has an observation deck with supposedly nice views of the park and the surrounding city.  We did not pay to go up to the deck but spend time relaxing in the green park and snapping photos of the tower. 

 

We were a late for the summer festival, so the park was quiet. We saw some workers preparing structures and tentage for an event. Autumn festival perhaps.

Some locals were out with their dogs, enjoying the green park in the middle of the bustling city.

Me fooling around up the Black Slide Mantra. The sculpture itself is a slide made of black stone.

After enjoying some peace and quiet at the Odori Park, we followed signage for our next destination - Tanuki Koji Street. We missed going to the former Hokkaido Government Office with exhibits on Hokkaido history but we did not mind that. 

Tanuki koji Shopping Street

Out first sight of Tanuki koji Shopping Street at Nishi-7-chome.

Opened in 1873, the Tanuki Koji shopping arcade is one of the oldest shopping streets in Hokkaido. Tanuki koji is an approximately 1 km long covered street with around 200 shops that runs east to west in downtown Sapporo, south of and parallel to Odori Street. The roofed arcade starts at Nishi-1-chome and ends at Nishi-7-chome.

A familiar signage. Unfortunately this Singapore themed eatery was not opened for business.

The real shopping starts from here – from 6th street onwards.

The shops are selling cosmetics, clothes, souvenirs, snacks, etc.

One of the more interesting stores is  Tanukiya. An iconic large Japanese raccoon marks the entrance. Tanukiya is one of the largest class souvenir store in Sapporo. Its spacious floor is filled with local specialties of Hokkaido, famous branded confectioneries like Shirokoibito, Royce, Rokkatei chocolate, T-shirts, lavender, beauty and health products.

And there is tax free shopping too. Tax free shopping in Japan is so so convenient. Just need to spent above 5000 yen, show your passport and the 10% sales tax on the goods would be deducted up front at the tax free cashier counter. However, the goods have to be brought out of Japan and the store will seal the items in a transparent plastic bag for custom officers to inspect at the airport (but we usually just pack them into our checked luggage).

One of the must visit shops. We bought some chocolates and Hokkaido foodstuff to bring home.

Mega Don Quijote store at Tanuki koji Shopping Street.

Another interesting store is the Mega Don Quijote. Don Quijote is easily the largest store, occupying 5 or more levels, and selling all sorts of stuff. It is open 24 hours a day. We bought a new suitcase to replace the old one with the broken handle.

Lunch at Fugetsu Okonomiyaki Restaurant

There are many restaurants along Tanuki-koji Street. We decided to have my son try the okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki (literally means ‘grilled as you like it’) is a savory version of "Japanese pizza" or "Japanese pancake" and the ingredients and taste varies from region to region within Japan.

My wife and I had our first okonomiyaki in Hiroshima and then later in Kyoto and Osaka and we enjoyed this dish.

Waiting for a table outside the Fugetsu Okonomiyaki Restaurant. Note the light blue new suitcase we bought.

The restaurant serves okonomiyaki, monjayaki and yakisoba. Okonomiyaki, hailing from Osaka, features a thick batter loaded with cabbage and ingredients mixed together. Monjayaki, from Tokyo, has a thinner, runnier batter and a melt-in-your-mouth texture. Ingredients are first cooked separately, and then the batter is added.

We ordered the wagyu okonomiyaki (1650 Yen) and deluxe seafood okonomiyaki that came with Hokkaido pork, Squid and Shrimp (1430 Yen).

The raw ingredients for our orders. Look at the marbling on the wagyu beef!

It was interesting to see the food being cooked by the staff in front of us. The friendly waitress stopped at each stage of the cook to allow us to snap photos before proceeding to the next step.

The thick pre-made batter with cabbage is first placed on the sizzling hot plate and the ingredients (seafood or beef) placed on top.

We were provided with paper aprons that protected our clothes from the oil from the sizzling hot plate.

Flipped and cooking the other side.

One of the key characteristics of okonomiyaki is the thick, sweet brown sauce that is drizzled over the savory pancake.

Mayonnaise sauce being added.

Adding bonito flakes to the seafood okonomiyaki. I love to see the flakes dancing on top of the hot food.

Bonito flakes on top of the seafood okonomiyaki (left) and bacon on top of the wagyu oknomiyaki.

We also ordered a seafood yakisoba (fried noodles) that came with Hokkaido scallops, squid, shrimp and green toppings (1540 yen).

Seafood yakisoba.

Surprisingly, we were able to finish all the food. The food is that good and we were hungry.

Shopping at the malls in Sapporo Station 

We decided to go back to our hotel to dump the shopping bags and the new suitcase that we bought before heading to explore the shops and malls in Sapporo Station. There are lots of shopping at this train station, including the underground mall, Daimaru departmental store, Esta mall, APIA, Stellar Place, etc. One could easily spent the whole day just shopping inside.

The Dairmaru Department Store at the Sapporo Station opposite our hotel (the Gracery Hotel Sapporo).

We spent more time at the newly opened Bic Camera store located at the Tokyu building (they used to be at the Esta Building). This is a multi-storey mega store offering electronic, computer, pharmacy, alcohol and household products.

We browsed through the toys section and managed to buy some toys for our grandson.

One of my son’s favourites when he was a child - Ultraman figurines.

A worthy item to buy and bring home is the alcohol product, especially whisky. Since we had already bought some whisky from Nikka Distillery, we only bought an additional bottle of Glenlivet 12 years. There is tax free shopping in BIC Camera too!

Local whisky on sale at excellent prices.

There are imported whisky at good prices too.

Sapporo Beer Museum

My son actually did not join us for shopping at Sapporo Station until later. He wanted to buy a limited edition Sapporo Beer T-shirt so he walked to the Sapporo Beer Museum by himself before rejoining us at the Bic Camera store.

Hokkaido is the birthplace of beer in Japan. Sapporo Beer, one of the oldest and most popular beer brands in the country, has been brewed in Sapporo since 1877.

This red brick building used to be a brewery. Now it is the Sapporo Beer Museum.

Touring the beer museum.

Sapporo Beer Museum is also known for their beer garden and restaurants serving the famous “all-you can-eat” Genghis Khan BBQ Mutton buffet.

We skipped the tempting Genghis Khan BBQ this time and went to have dinner at Susukino instead.

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Evening at Sapporo’s Susukino and Crab Miso Ramen dinner

1 September 2023

Susukino is Sapporo’s main entertainment area with many of Sapporo’s best restaurants, bars, cafes, clubs, cinemas, karaoke parlors, and hotels located here. It is also the home of Sapporo’s red-light district with many “adult-entertainment” establishments. It could be compared to Tokyo‘s Kabukicho.

We cannot come to Sapporo and not visit Susukino. The best time to visit Susukino is at night when the neon lights are lit and the entertainment joints are opened for business. Although there are many things to entertain us, we just came to see the lights, soak in the atmosphere and get dinner.

Getting to Susukino from our hotel which is near the Sapporo subway station was easy. It was just a 4 minutes subway ride on the Namboku Line to the Susukino Station.

Exiting the subway station, we headed southwards and came to the Susukino Crossing. This intersection, located at the intersection of Sapporo Ekimae Street and Tsukisamu Street, is famous for the bright neon lights, among which is the famous Nikka Whisky emblem.

The heart of the Susukino district is at the Susukino Crossing with the distinct Nikka Whisky emblem. The wet road made the photo even nicer, with the neon lights reflecting off the road surface.

   The Asahi advertisement is across from the Nikka Whisky advertisement.

One of the adult-entertainment establishments.     

Despite the weather, Susukino is full of people. After soaking in the vibrant atmosphere and a bit of light rain, we decided to end our visit to Susukino with dinner at one of the ramen restaurants before heading back to our hotel.

With so many restaurants to choose from, we decided to eat crab miso ramen at a shop called the Crab Gang.

The chopsticks were moving up and down on this large bowl of noodles outside the Crab Gang shop. 

This is a small shop with seats for about 8 to 9 persons. There tables were all occupied but a few counter seats were available.

The shop was manned by only one person. We had to buy a meal ticket from the vending machine based on the menu with pictures posted on the wall. Once done, we handed the tickets over the chef and wait for our food.

All of us ordered the same Standard ramen. There are options to add toppings like onsen egg or go for the Special ramen which will include crab tomalley.

Crab miso ramen with thin slices of pork, bamboo shoots, wakame seaweed, leek and diced crabmeat on the spoon.

A stack of bowls in front of our counter seat.

The crab miso ramen was excellent. The thing that stood out for me was the delicious broth which is probably made with crab as one of the ingredients. It is sweet and had plenty of umami. We added some chilli powder from the table to make the broth spicier. Overall, I would say it is the perfect comfort food on a chilly night.

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