Andy & Yukko

Standing in the rice cooker
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Finally...

Our friends in Toyama!!  Andy and Yukko were wonderful enough to be our hosts and tourguides for a few days.

Andy took us on a tour of the sake factory he works in.  We saw almost the entire process for making sake.  We also got to sample the sake at many different stages....Mmmmmm.

One of our other favorite activities so far on this trip was our visit to Andy and Yukko's favorite local onsen (hot spring).  It is up on one of the hills on the outskirts of Toyama so the men get to sit outside in the hotsprings gazing at the stars and looking out over the city.  The women get to look at the rocks dividing the women's side from the men's (who decided that was fair?).  There were many steps to having a full onsen experience.  First you must scrub yourself Japanese-style (you get a shower space, a tiny stool to sit upon, and a wash basin full of water), from there you could move on to your choice of the outdoor pool, the indoor hot or cold pools, the lavender pool, the sauna (96 degrees CELSIUS!), or the wonderful waterfalls that work beautifully for beating tension out of your shoulders.  After you get your fill of soaking and scrubbing you can retire to the resting room where there are tables and cushions upon which to sit.  Sorry guys, no photos of that experience.

Stirring one of the first stages of sake
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We left our friends Andy and Yukko as they were preparing to head off to Hawaii to get married!  Have fun guys!