Shikoku Island is home to one of the great pilgrimages of the world. Each year, thousands of Buddhists walk 900 miles around the entire island, stopping at each of the designated 88 temples dotted along the path.
On average it takes 40-60 days to complete the circuit, and devotees believe that walking the entire route brings you one step closer to enlightenment.
Along their route, pilgrims looking for sustenance can hope to find sake served with some of their meals, sometimes offered as a form of oblation to weary travelers.
A local sake a pilgrim might sample is Mutemuka Junmai Muroka Nama Genshu from Mutemuka Shuzo in Kochi.
I first sampled Mutemuka Junmai Muroka Nama Genshu sake in Kyoto two years ago. Now my friends Linda and Deborah from Floating World are importing it into the USA.
It's truly a formidable sake—one of my favorites. Rich, creamy, zesty, delicious. Most Americans, even some of my sake otaku friends, have rarely tried such a sake.
If you have a chance to sample this sake, please do. I give it my highest recommendation. On my path to sake enlightenment, I consider finding it a boon and a blessing.
PS: Mutemuka Shuzo is a pioneer in the organic sake movement in Japan. They are also famous for making kuri-jochu—a shochu from chestnuts.
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