Sake with Strangers — Cheers to Unexpected Common Ground
Nara, Japan
When my brother-in-law Mark said he was going to check out the sake bar below our B&B in Nara, I really wanted to go along. But we’d had such a long day of touring and sightseeing, I needed sleep more than I needed a shot of sake. The rest of our party felt the same, and Mark headed out on his own. The next morning, we’d had a good night’s sleep, but Mark had a great story to tell.
He didn’t have far to go. The bar was directly beneath us, two floors down and tucked into the back of a large courtyard. There was a small table outside, with a couple of chairs piled with cushions and blankets. Mark gave a light knock on the door and then pushed inside to see a short bar with five stools lined up. Two older men and a younger woman were on the stools, and a woman was behind the bar. Behind her, Mark could see a small galley kitchen with a young man cooking food. They all turned to look at Mark as he opened the door, and immediately smiled and waved him in. They scooted down the stools to make room.
Mark assumed no one would speak English, so before going to the bar, he’d asked our sister-in-law Yoshiko to write his request on a piece of paper to hand the bartender: “I’d like some sake, please.” As the woman served his sake, he could sense that everyone was curious about him, wondering how he’d wandered into what was clearly a local gathering place and not the usual tourist spot. He pointed his finger straight up toward the ceiling, indicating our B&B upstairs.
“Nara Guest House.”
“Ahhhh.” Everyone smiled and switched into hospitality mode as they toasted. “Kanpai!”
They started offering bites of their food, some of it identifiable, some of it not. He thought he understood stingray fin, but wasn’t entirely sure what he was trying among crunchy, saucy, slivered offerings. Mark offered to share his sake, including passing a cup back to the cook. The warmth and hospitality notched even higher.
Mark pointed to the wedding ring on his finger and made a sleeping motion with his hands to say his wife was asleep upstairs. He let them know that all of us went to bed and that’s how he ended up there alone. Everyone nodded and chuckled. In the background, a television hanging above the bar played a Japanese prank show and, every once in a while, they would laugh at some exploit on the show.
The younger lady tried using a translator app to pass one-word communication between them. They knew a few words of English and would work at remembering them, consulting with each other to confirm key words. In the swirl of gestures and accents and searching for words, Mark heard the word “mayor,” and learned that one of the men was the mayor of Kawai Town, the 20th largest town in the Nara Prefecture.
This was an especially fun bit of information for Mark, who was the Chamber of Commerce board chair for the town where he works as a college vice chancellor. Not only does he spend a lot of time interacting with all levels of government, he’s always been a bit of a political junkie. And so it was an even bigger delight when he found out the mayor’s friend was the chair of the Kashiba City Council and Chairman of the National Association of City Council Chairpersons for Japan. They all exchanged business cards, of course.
At one point, the young lady took some persimmons out of her bag and started cutting one in pieces to share. Somehow, they communicated that persimmons were a big deal in the Nara area, and she insisted that Mark take some back to the B&B to share with us.
I talked to Mark a few days ago to hear this story again and to be sure I got the details right. We agreed it was a great example of talking to strangers.
“That’s not me. I don’t go into bars and start talking to people. I figured I’d go in, hand someone a piece of paper, get my sake, and quietly drink it.”
His new friends in Nara invited him back again, but he had to politely decline, telling them we were going back to Tokyo the next day. But Mark will definitely be looking for more opportunities to talk to strangers.
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Tips & Recommendations
We stayed in Nara City, which is the largest city in Nara Prefecture. Japan has 47 prefectures. You might be tempted to think of them as “states,” but their authority is different and more closely tied to the national government. Here’s a good explanation of Japan’s administrative structure.
Our B&B was right off of the Higashimuki Shopping Street, a covered street adjacent to the Kintetsu-Nara Railway Station. It’s called the busiest pedestrian area in Nara. We got lucky in choosing a place right around the corner.
If you’re really into sake, here’s a guide to great places in Nara, which has a fine history of sake brewing.
I wish I’d found this list before I went to Nara. I really want to go back and check out the Harushika Sake, the mochi shop, and the traditional tea ceremony.
Persimmons are a specialty in Gojo City, Nara Prefecture, with the highest persimmon production in Japan by municipality. The Persimmon Harvesting Experience is in November.