This is a lot.

結構多いな、これ！

Mm hmm.

日本に住み始めて長いけど、

Mhm I feel like no matter how long I live in Japan, I will never be able to see and do everything.

今でも日本の全てを見たり体験したりしきれてないって感じます

There's just so much to experience.

やってみたいことはまだたくさんあって

One thing I always wanted to do was go sake tasting and learn about the art of sake.

その中の一つが

Yes, sake is art to me why you may ask.

日本酒のテイスティングをして 日本酒というアートを深く知ること

It's because making sake has so much hard work put into it and each step takes either weeks or years to complete.

そう、私にとって日本酒はアート

Today I'm in Echigo yuzawa to explore kokoro Yuzawa Gangjee Dori Street located in the station building and discover some amazing hotspots for tourists who would like to go a little out of their way to explore deep Japan.

なぜなら日本酒を作るのには

Hey guys, welcome back to my channel, your virtual ticket to Japan.

様々な作業が求められるし、

So today I'm in Echigo yuzawa and we're going to explore this place.

それぞれの工程に何週間、 時には何年もの時間を要するから

We're going to see some sake breweries, we're going to try some food, lots of things.

私は今日、越後湯沢の駅ビル

So today, the first thing that we're going to do is go to coca cola used yellow which behind me is the shopping center so you can get sake, you can get, oh Miyagi which is um souvenirs.

CoCoLo湯沢・がんぎどおりと

If you want to bring that back home and they have lots of different things that you can try and eat.

周辺の素敵な観光スポットを巡ります

So we're going to go ahead and go shopping and explore a little bit.

皆さん、こんにちは！

So yeah, let's go Coco yuzawa Gangjee Dori Street is where you begin your adventure.

私のチャンネル、日本バーチャルツアーを また見に来てくれてありがとう

It's basically a shopping center full of delicious foods and popular gifts to take home.

今日私は越後湯沢にいます。

This place is especially known for sake.

日本酒造りや美味しい食べ物などを体験しますよ

You can buy tons of bottles of sake to drink or you can buy sake for your skin.

今日最初に体験するのは、私の後ろにあるCoCoLo湯沢

Yes, sake is very good for your skin and overall health.

日本酒やお土産が買えるショッピングモールです

So they sell a lot of beauty products that contain well sake.

日本の思い出になる食べ物などを持って帰れますよ

So I'm getting Sasa dango and sasa dango is just red bean paste inside.

それでは早速ショッピングに行ってみましょう！

It's inside this sort of like plants.

越後湯沢に来ればまず訪れることなるCoCoLo湯沢・ がんぎどおりでは

So the plant is called sasa and then inside is the red bean paste.

たくさんの美味しい食べ物や人気の お土産品を見つけることができます

So you can get the chunky kind or you can get the smooth kind.

特にここは日本酒の品揃えが豊富

So I got the smooth kind.

飲む日本酒だけではなく、

Sasa is a kind of bamboo leaf and django is a traditional japanese rice cake.

日本酒のスキンケア商品もあります

Thus, Sasa dango literally means rice cake inside a bamboo leaf.

日本酒は肌にも健康にも良いんですよ

The tradition of Sasa dango began in the Edo period when sasa leaves were commonly used as a way to preserve food.

ここには日本酒を原料にしたコスメが たくさん売られています

It took a while for me to open it, but once I did it revealed a green emoji like treat.

これから「笹だんご」を食べます

Very good red bean paste inside.

笹だんごにはあんこが入っています

That's really good.

この中には…この外側に巻いてあるのが 笹と呼ばれる植物です

Our next popular food item here at Coco yuzawa is in the far back of the station deep within Gangjee Dori Street Central Market past the drunk people statues to find it.

この中にあんこが入っています

Are you okay?

粒あんとがこしあんがあって、

This is by far the largest spaghetti or rice ball you will ever find in Japan.

私はこしあんを選びました

There are tons of different flavors to try but salmon is the number one most popular rice ball here.

笹は竹の葉のことで、だんごとはお米で作った日本の 伝統的なお菓子です

So I opted for that.

だから笹だんごは文字通り笹で包んだ お団子ということ

The rice ball was as big as my face and we'll fill you up fast.

笹だんごの起原は、８世紀に遡ります

So eat with caution.

もともと笹が食品の保存に使われていたそうです

You also get some miso soup to go with it.

笹をはがすと緑色の餅が現れます

Okay, so I just got the biggest rice ball in Japan.

中には美味しいあんこが入っています

So I got sake, which is basically uh, salmon.

CoCoLo湯沢で、次に試してみたい人気の食べ物は

So it's not like sake to drink.

駅の中をずっと進んで行った先の 雁木通りの中央市場にあります

Some people get confused with that, but it is a massive ball of salmon.

酔っ払いの人形が目印の市場です

You can get this and in niigata.

大丈夫？

So I highly recommend this because it's as big as my face.

ここには日本で一番大きい巨大な おにぎりがあるそうです

It looks delicious.

おにぎりの具の種類は数え切れないほどありますが、 一番人気は鮭

Oh my gosh, I can't even eat it.

私も鮭おにぎりを試してみることにしました

Oh my God, there's no salmon.

ここのおにぎりの大きさは私の顔くらい

My lipsticks on it, but there's no salmon.

お腹いっぱいになること間違いなしなのでご注意を

My mouth is too small.

おにぎりを注文するとお味噌汁がついて来ます

Okay, we're gonna do it again.

これが日本一大きなおにぎりです

Mm hmm.

私は鮭おにぎりを選びました

Oh God, the fish is right inside.

飲むお酒ではありませんよ

Oh, it's so good for, so this is enough for your lunch.

紛らわしいですけど

You don't need anything else but this and they just like put tons of salmon inside and they lightly salted.

本当に巨大なおにぎりです

I'm gonna eat this now.

新潟のお米を使っています

I'm probably gonna be really full after this.

これ本当にオススメ！私の顔くらいの大きさです！

But yeah, let's eat schemas.

美味しそう！

After eating.

でもどうしよ、食べられるかな？

I headed over to the sake tasting room.

今一口食べてみたけど…口紅ついててごめん…

There are 90 different brands of sake to try all from Niigata as well as some wines you can choose low or high alcohol percentage depending on how much you can handle.

まだ鮭が見えない

So basically when you come to this place, you can get a small sake cup and five points to try some sake But it's 500 yen to get the cup and the coins.

私の口が小さ過ぎるかな

So I just got my cup and my coins.

もう１回食べてみますね

So I'm gonna try some of the sake.

美味しい…

We have so many different types here.

お魚の具が真ん中に入ってます

So I'm really excited to try all of this.

美味しい！

Okay, so I just learned that basically not all of this is sake.

ランチはこれだけで十分ですね

You can also get wine or plum wine, which is in japan.

他に追加しなくても大丈夫

I love you.

鮭がたっぷり入っていて、 お米は薄めの塩味がついています

So maybe we'll try like a couple of different varieties of things.

これを食べきりますよ

And yeah, test it out.

お腹いっぱいになりそう

Excuse my lipstick situation.

でも食べちゃう！いただきまーす

I just ate a big bonus to help you decide what to order.

おにぎりを食べた後は日本酒テイスティングが できるお店へ

You can check the chalkboard that tells you what the most recommended or popular sake is.

ここには９０種類の日本酒があって

Okay, so this, this one caught my eye because it has like a sort of mango aftertaste.

新潟産の日本酒やワインを テイスティングできるんです

So we're gonna try that right now.

アルコールの度数の低いものから高いものまであるので 自分のお酒の強さに合わせて選べます

So you just put your cup into the machine, you put the coin inside, push the button, I think, oh wow, So convenient and we can have a little taste of this.

まず日本酒を飲むためのお猪口と

So here we don't, don't really taste the mango, but it's very good.

５個のコインをもらいます

It's very smooth and you can definitely feel the alcohol.

このコインを使ってお酒をもらいます

So it says on here, the alcohol percentage, the acidity, the sake meter value.

このセットで500円！

So if it's plus then it means it's not sweet.

それではお猪口もコインももらったので早速利き酒をしてみたいと思います

If it's minus then it means it's sweet.

本当にたくさんの種類の日本酒があるから楽しみ！

And then it says if it's in stock or not.

今聞いたんだけど、

So lots of information.

ここには日本酒だけじゃなくてワインや 私の大好きな梅酒もあるそうです

This is a lot.

これからいくつか試してみたいと思います

But this one is caught my eye because it said it has like an aftertaste of chocolate.

口紅が取れちゃっててごめんなさい

So that was really interesting.

さっき大きなおにぎり食べたから（笑）

But you have to wait a while.

何を選ぶか迷ったら、黒板におすすめのお酒や

It says you have to wait a while and then you'll start to taste the chocolate.

人気のお酒が書かれているので 参考にするといいですよ

So I think you have to do that a lot with a lot of these, the flavors don't come until after you drink it.

これが気になります

So they give you a lot.

後味がマンゴーの風味なんだそうです

Thank you.

じゃあこれを試してみましょう

Mm This one is much easier to drink than the other one waiting for the chocolate to happen.

使い方は、まずお猪口をマシーンの中に 置いてからコインを入れます

Ah there it is.

このボタンを押すのかな、多分

You can definitely taste a little hint of chocolate.

おー！

That's weird.

すごい便利〜

Okay, so I was saying that this is a lot of alcohol that I'm drinking today.

じゃあ早速飲んでみますね

So if you can't finish it and you just want to taste a little sip of it, you can put the rest of it in this little container here like this.

正直マンゴーの味はそんなにしないけど、 喉越しが良くて美味しいです

And then when you're finished, you can return it over here.

しっかりアルコールを感じますね

But we're not done yet.

ここにアルコール度数と酸度、

So on this station is water.

日本酒度が書いてあります

So, okay, I'm ready for more various types of assault mesh well with the sake that you drink.

これは＋５だから甘くないということです

You can purchase a cucumber and some miso to make the salt stick and eat it as a snack while you go on your sake tasting adventure.

これがマイナスで書いてあったら甘いということです

So you get a cucumber here, you get a cucumber and you can put miso and salt on it.

ここには在庫があるかどうかが書かれています

This is a nice cucumber.

わかりやすいですね

It's so green.

これ、結構多いな！

So basically if you come over here you can get the miso and you can get salt.

これも目に留まりました

So they have a bunch of different types of salts over here.

チョコレートの味がするらしいので気になりますね

Um, I can't have the miso.

飲んでしばらくするとチョコレートの味がするそうです

So I'm just going to put some salt on it and eat it.

あんまりお酒を飲んだ後だと風味が良くわからなくなりそうなので

You come over here, they have butter salt and they have hibiscus salt, which is very interesting.

今のうちにこれ飲んでみますね

Discus.

またいっぱい注がれちゃった（笑）

Yeah, all sites sorts of different salts.

こっちの方がさっきのよりもずっと飲みやすいです

So I'm going to try the Macha but you just take a little bit and I don't know if it'll stick but put it on top and you eat it.

チョコレートの風味がやってくるかな

Usually you put miso.

うん！来た！

So keep that in mind.

わずかにだけどチョコレートの味を 感じることができます

Mm hmm.

なんか変な感じ！

Mm That's really good.

今日はお酒いっぱい飲んじゃうな

It's like a hint of macho for sure, wow.

もし飲みきれなかったら、味を試してみた後残りを

So you can buy all of these here if you're interested in, if you like it.

ここに流し込んでもいいんですよ

What is you?

５つ試し終わったらお猪口をここに戻します

You can buy any of the sake that you tried in the sake corner if you'd like.

でも私はまだ終わってないから（笑）

So don't forget to take one or a lot home for your family and friends to try or you can drink it all yourself.

ここでお水を飲むこともできます

All right.

OK、じゃあ次行きましょうか（笑）

It was time to do some more sake tasting and find out what all the sake is about.

ここにはいろんな種類のお塩も準備されています

I knew very little about how they made sake and I have to tell you after getting a tour of the sake brewery.

きゅうりを買っていろんな味噌や塩をつけて

I had so much more respect for the sake.

お酒のつまみにすることもできるんですよ

I was drinking.

ここできゅうりを売ってるんですね

We were guided by a woman who worked here as a sake tester.

きゅうりに味噌や塩をつけて食べてみようと思います

She said she is the one who taste the sake before it is bottled and does some tests before packaging.

美味しそうなきゅうり！

Mm hmm.

緑色が濃い！

She led us into a room where you could see them bottling the sake.

こっちに来ると

She told us that they package about 10,000 bottles a day.

いろんな種類の味噌とお塩があります

That's insane.

私は味噌が食べられないので、

Yeah.

塩をつけて食べてみますね

In order to enter the sake factory, we had to put on some boots and a hairnet for sanitary purposes.

これは茶塩

Yeah.

これはハイビスカス塩です

Mm hmm You have to put on some socks and some boots before you enter.

面白いですね、ハイビスカス風味の塩なんて

I wore sandals today stylish.

本当にたくさんの種類の塩があります

Yeah.

まず茶塩をちょっとつけてみますね

What you have to wash the boots.

これでちゃんと塩がくっつくのかな

Yes.

ちょっとかけて…食べてみます

Mm hmm.

普通は味噌をつけて食べるそうなので 覚えておいてください

She explained to us that only the polished rice to make sake come to this factory and this room is where they wash and soak the rice before beginning the sake process in general.

すごい美味しい！

There are three basic types of jin soo jin Joshua in Joshua.

薄っすらと抹茶の香りがします

Each requires different brewing missiles and the different percentage of rice polishing to smaller allies.

ここではこういうものも買って食べられるんですよ

A good excellent.

酒コーナーでテイスティングができる お酒は全て購入することができるので

She pataki sake brewery dates back 160 years ago.

ぜひ家族や友達、

Outside the brewery was this large brownish decoration.

自分へのお土産に買ってみてくださいね

When this decoration is hung up, it means new sake was just made and finished next.

日本酒の飲み比べをしていろんな日本酒を

We headed inside to try some amazing sake.

体験することができましたが、

I can't fit all of what I tried in one video but let's just say I liked a lot of it and ended up taking home a lot of it.

実は私も日本酒がどのように 作られているのか知りませんでした

Mm hmm.

この酒蔵ツアーに参加して、

It has a very fresh taste.

今まで飲んでいた日本酒を一層 リスペクトするようになりました

Sake tasting is a big deal in Japan.

この蔵元で利き酒師を務める女性が 中を案内してくれました

Just as wine tasting is popular in Western countries.

彼女が瓶詰めする前に酒の味を 確かめたりテストしたりしています

But what I love about sake is how much history it has and how many more flavors you get from sake.

最初に案内されたのは日本酒を 瓶詰めする作業をしている部屋でした

It's a unique taste.

彼女によると1日に１万本の日本酒を 瓶詰めしているそうです

After drinking all that sake.

すごいですよね！

I was ready for food at Echigo yuzawa station.

酒造りをしている場所に入る前には 衛生管理のためブーツと

They have a food street where you can get all sorts of traditional Japanese cuisine.

ヘアネットを身につけます

I went for the soba because I heard it was quite popular here.

ソックスとブーツを履かないといけないそうです

Unfortunately I couldn't eat the sauce.

今日私サンダルで来ちゃった（笑）

So they gave me a different sauce to dip it in which worked just as well.

スタイリッシュ！（笑）

You know?

ブーツをこれに浸けて

Yeah.

彼女によるとこの酒蔵では磨いたお米だけを 使って日本酒を作るそうです

The main reason besides sake people come to Mexico Yuzawa is for the winter sports.

ここは酒造りに使うお米を洗って 水につける作業をする部屋とのこと

You can go to the resort expo to buy all of your winter sports gear such as jackets, hiking gear and more.

一般的に日本酒は３つの種類に分けられます

If you love snowboarding or skiing, this is the place to be my God, I want these.

純米酒、吟醸酒、大吟醸酒と言います

I want these.

これらはそれぞれ醸造する容器や

I want these.

米の磨き度合いが異なります

These are nice to top off the day.

小さいお米の方が美味しいです

I went to a famous latte shop called koji latte.

小さいお米で作ると上質な日本酒ができます

You can get a latte with ice cream in it.

白瀧酒造は創業１６０年の歴史深い老舗です

Plain hot lattes or iced ones.

酒蔵の外には大きな茶色い飾りがありました

My audio cut out here, but I basically talked about how amazing it was because I don't know about you, but I always crave coffee after a large meal.

これが表に吊るされていると、

One more thing worth mentioning is the bathhouse right next to the coffee place.

新酒が完成したという意味だそうです

They even have a bath infused with sake.

この後中で様々な素晴らしい日本酒を 中でテイスティングしました

Like I said, it's good for your skin.

１つの動画で紹介しきれない程の たくさんのお酒をいただきました

So I just learned that Nigata alone has 88 different sake breweries.

全部はお見せできませんが、とても美味しかったので たくさんお土産に買って帰りましたよ

So this is the best place to have the best place to have sake and they have the best rice fields.

うん！これは舌触りがフレッシュ！

So they have the best sake, wow, you have to see these magnificent hanging hina dolls.

欧米でブラインドテイスティングが 人気を集めているように

These dolls are handmade and usually used as decoration for hina matsuda or for girls day festivals.

日本でも日本酒のテイスティングは とても人気があります

The day was coming to an end and I needed to do a little more souvenir shopping before heading home.

私が日本酒を好きなのはその歴史の深さと

So I bought a ton more things and set off with more amazing experiences I can add to my diary.

様々なフレーバーが楽しめるところです

We are about to head home and I'm just getting some last minute oh Miyagi which is souvenirs to bring home and try out and use and yeah, there's so much here.

日本酒には独特の味があります

It's really hard to choose which one I want.

日本酒をたくさん試した後は、お食事に

But yeah, I got a lot of stuff.

越後湯沢駅には飲食店街があって

I need to stop buying things.

伝統的な和食を楽しむことができます

I hope you guys learned a lot about HBO yuzawa and cocoa yuzawa Gangjee Dori street.

ここはお蕎麦が有名な地域と聞いたので、私はお蕎麦をいただくことにしました

I know this place isn't talked about much but if you're looking for a very different experience apart from the touristy attractions.

私は普通のダシを飲めないのですが、

Try going for some sake tasting or eat a large rice ball as big as your face, Your stories about Japan will be much more exciting.