The Roving Ronin Report

ISHIDA MITSUNARI A couple of years I went to a festival to celebrate one of the most famous and decisive battles in Japanese history - the Battle of Sekigahara. Two great armies fought for supremacy of Japan in 1600 and the outcome changed the history of Japan. At the festival I bought 5 locally-brewed beers which were based on 5 of the leaders at the battle. I originally planned to talk about the beer but got sidetracked and talked more about the battle, Japanese history, and the individuals the beers were commemorating. Instead of making the viewer suffer thru an entire hour I broke into 5 parts. This part is on the leader of the Western Army - Ishida Mitsunari. He was commoner who like his master Toyotomi Hideyoshi rose to great fame and power but unlike Toyotomi, Mitsunari was not well-loved and this came to haunt him at the Battle of Sekigahara. All video was shot by me and most of the photos are from me or Wikipedia. UKITA HIDEIE Ukita Hidiei owed a lot to Toyoto...

Sapporo Beer Museum Offers History and Beer Museum visitors learn about brewing history in Japan while sampling the wares The Sapporo Beer Museum Ever since man raised himself from his animal-like state of existence and achieved conscious rational awareness, he has used his thought process to devise various and illicit ways of removing this burden of consciousness and returning to his former state. One of the earliest relievers of this burden was the divine elixir known as beer. Beer brewing can be traced back over 6,000 years ago to the resourceful Sumerians. The Sumerians were so taken by this brew they dedicated hymns praising their gods for this divine drink. They even had a goddess of beer brewing. Old Beer Bottles from the turn of the century Beer came late to Japan -- about 6,000 years later. The Japanese, however, were not slack in the "altering of consciousness through liquid means" department. They had been brewing their rice wine for countless generations before be...