新酒 newly brewed sake

Have you seen a cedar ball
hanging under the eaves of Japanese houses?
These are the signs of sake breweries!

When sake is freshly brewed
a new cedar ball would appear at the entrance of a brewery.
By looking at the color of a hanging cedar ball
you are able to tell how mature the sake has become.

Yesterday, there was a ceremony to celebrate the new sake
and putting up of a new cedar ball at Funasaka Brewery in Takayama.
New sake was served to the customers in a tiny wooden "masu."

Yay, new sake season has begun!!

軒先にぶら下がっている杉玉は
「酒蔵」のサインです。

新酒が完成すると新しい杉玉が吊るされます。
杉玉の色を見て、酒の熟成具合がわかるのです。

昨日は高山の船坂酒造で、「杉玉奉納会」が行われました。
ちび枡に入った新酒も振る舞われましたよ！

やった、新酒のシーズン到来♪