@ray: まー、バタ臭い人もいるし、酒臭いのもいるね。

so rare that “Akita” and “Lake Towada” get mentioned together in the national news. Many people don’t even remember that Lake Towada touches Akita until you remind them….

ところで、バターのない日本の中で頑張っている外人って、まだバター臭いの？　

The story does sound a bit iffy. Someone probably got some kickbacks somewhere along the way.

It always surprised me too that a country like Japan, much larger in terms of population than New Zealand should have a much smaller range of beer available. Although we are starting to get a few kiwi beers here which is great!

It is a shame that more Japanese don’t appreciate good beers. I went to the Ebisu beer festival once and the selection of micro brews was wonderful. All sorts of ales and IPAs and what not. Great stuff. The problem is you can’t buy it anywhere except directly from the producer (most of whom don’t have websites or easy ways to find them).

Great Nikka story, by the way. I think I might just go around asking random expats like the both of us about their Nikka experiences. I’m sure I could make a book out of it.