From the remnants of his family’s shuttered distillery, one man makes a name for himself in Japan’s soaring whisky industry.
As the aging, emphatically not-a-bullet-train Seibu Red Arrow clattered west, double stacked highways and densely tangled power lines slowly gave way to the running streams and forest passes of the Kanto mountains. Even though our destination was only fifty miles from Tokyo, the landscape became increasingly remote, ghostly, and incredibly beautiful. As a rolling fog wended through the trees, it was easy to see why Saitama Prefecture has long attracted renegades, dissidents, poets and pilgrims.
Continue reading
Access this and all our other premium articles by joining our membership program. Plans start at $6.50 per month and include twice-weekly digital features, access to in-person events, and more.
