Flowers

My daughters have final exams at school next week, so they’ve been studying hard these days.

So, my wife decided to go out today together and let them stay home alone to study.

We didn’t go far nor for long. My wife prepared lunch for the four of us (my youngest isn’t home…she’s currently on a ski-trip in 新潟 (Niigata). Click here to read about that.), we ate lunch together…then we left them to study. We were back before dinner.

We went on a bicycle ride to a nearby park and had a beer together and talked for awhile.

There were a number of trees with 寒桜 (Kanzakura)…which is a type of Sakura cherry-blossom that blooms in colder weather (earlier than other cherry-blossoms):

And 梅 (Plum Blossoms):

And here’s pictures of 水仙 (Daffodils) that were there:

一番好きな花は何？ (What’s your favorite flower?)

Mine is 「ハエトリグザ」 (Venus Flytrap). Is that a flower? No?
OK, then, I’d say my favorite is 桜 (Sakura cherry blossoms).

Japanese beer

Do you like beer?
Have you ever tried Japanese beer?

I ♥ beer!

「麒麟ビール」 (Kirin Beer) is my favorite…but I’ll take any cold lager!

Kirin Tanrei Double

Japan has five major brewers:

• Kirin Beer – This beer began in the late nineteenth-century in 横浜 (Yokohama, Japan). It’s named after a mythological creature called a 「麒麟」 (kirin) that looks like a dragon (it’s featured on the beer cans)…not named after a giraffe (which is 「キリン」 (kirin), also).


A mythological "kirin".

Many people don’t know that hidden in the creature on Kirin Beer cans is the word 「キリン」 (kirin):



「キ・リ・ン」 (Ki-ri-n) written in the creature's mane.

(I wrote another post that mentions Kirin Beer. Click here to see it.)

• Asahi Beer -Started in 大阪 (Osaka, Japan).





The Asahi Beer brewery is a Tokyo landmark.

(I have pictures of old Asahi Beer posters on the end of another post. Click here to see it.)

• Suntory Beer – Also started in 大阪 (Osaka, Japan).
  Suntory Beer got it’s name because the founder’s name was Mr. Torii…or Torii-san. So, he took the words Torii and san and reversed them into San-torii and changed the spelling to Suntory.

(Another famous Japanese company got their name in a similar manner. The Bridgestone company was founded by Mr. Ishibashi…which translates into Stone bridge, which he reversed to Bridgestone.)



Suntory Beer

• Sapporo Beer – Started in 北海道札幌 (Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan).


Sapporo Beer

Sapporo Beer bought the Yebisu Beer brewery (which was from Tokyo), so they make that beer as well.



Yebisu Beer (pronounced "Ebisu")

• Orion Beer – From 沖縄 (Okinawa, Japan)


Orion Beer

Have you ever tried Japanese beer? Which ones have you tried? Did you like them?
What’s your favorite beer in the world?

As I said above, I like 「麒麟ビール」 (Kirin Beer) best…and probably オリオンビール (Orion Beer) as my next favorite.