Are you fed up with Japan’s dysfunctional politics? If you want to have a strong spirit to try to change it, this might help you: “Fushimi-no-Ryoma (Ryoma in Fushimi)”.
It is a Japanese sake. It consists of less than 60% of polished rice, and is fermented slowly at low temperature. This sake has a clean finish.
Fushimi is famous for the production of sake. The town is in Kyoto and is a popular sightseeing spot. There are many Japanese sake companies in the area. Among them is Kizakura, which produces and sells Fushimi-no-Ryoma. You can see and taste its various products such as sake and beer in its Kappa Country.
Ryoma Sakamoto makes this product different from other sake. He was one of the most important players in the late 19th century to reform Japan’s ancient political system and modernise the country. He often came to Fushimi and stayed in Teradaya, a Japanese inn, which continues to operate today. NHK, a Japanese public TV company, has been broadcasting Ryoma-den (story of Ryoma) since January. It has caused a boom of Ryoma, providing financial benefits for tourism industry in local places related to him.
Today, Japanese politics is changing slowly. Its relationship with the United States is different from the past. With greater influence in the world, China is outpacing Japan. It is those two countries that considerably affects Japan. When Ryoma was alive, it was United Kingdom and France that manipulated the Asian country.
According to Ryoma-den, he tried to defend Japan from invasions by foreign countries by building a navy with support from United Kingdom. What should Japan do today to be really an independent country while cooperating with foreign countries? It is time to think of it with Fushimi-no-Ryoma.
Ryo Kubota is a staff writer at Transpheric Management in Tokyo as well as a freelance writer. He has covered Sports for the Nippon Newspaper Company in Tokyo and teaches at a private tutoring school in Iruma, Japan. Having studied in both Tokyo and England in the areas of sociology, he has a keen interest in the world at large.
