I am moving to Japan...!!!

Reads 1742 • Replies 15 • Started Saturday, February 6, 2016 12:01:19 AM CT

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Message HonusWagner beers 2248 º places 11 º 00:01 Sat 2/6/2016 So in March I am moving to Japan for a year to teach English. I’m flying into Osaka on the 21st and will be living in Wakayama. Very far away from any beer as far as I can tell. Will I be able to find craft beer at all in my smallish rural town, and if not will there be good enough stores that a monthly or so trip to Osaka will let me stock up?
Message shoulderbroken beers 4258 º places 393 º 01:13 Sat 2/6/2016 You should post this in the Japan forum. I can’t help myself but there are probably people who can.
Message left_bank beers 106 º places 107 º 01:26 Sat 2/6/2016 I do not know what beers are available to buy in Wakayama,but I do know that if you like fresh fish with your beer(you can watch the fisherman catch what you will be eating later in the day)or you like a beer while being in an onsen...you are in a good place!
Message Homer321 P beers 5369 º places 54 º 02:05 Sat 2/6/2016 Congrats. But I thought this would be about Drake getting into law school.

Message KansaiBeerLvrs beers 8474 º places 567 º 02:06 Sat 2/6/2016 wakayama has a craft brewery Nagisa Beer which has a restaurant and recently there’s a craft beer bar in Wakayama City but I don’t remember the name and don’t think it’s on RB yet. I’ll add it for you when I have the chance. This place also organizes small beer fests a few times a year it seems and depending where you are in Wakayama you may not be far from Sakai and Namba which both have many bars. In Japan you can order beer online and have it shipped to your door wherever you live and Lawsons has Yo-Ho craft beer oftentimes. Check my FB page Kansai Beer Lovers to know about events/bars/etc. And as shoulderbroken said you’d be better off posting this in the Japan forum it’s quite easy to overlook in Beer Travel.
Message Travlr beers 33863 º places 4576 º 02:41 Sat 2/6/2016 Originally posted by Homer321 Congrats. But I thought this would be about Drake getting into law school. all threads are required to mention this
Message Travlr beers 33863 º places 4576 º 02:42 Sat 2/6/2016 Congrats also! Interesting beer scene, great people. Good luck!
Message TimE P beers 8459 º places 409 º 03:02 Sat 2/6/2016 Originally posted by HonusWagner So in March I am moving to Japan for a year to teach English. I’m flying into Osaka on the 21st and will be living in Wakayama. Very far away from any beer as far as I can tell. Will I be able to find craft beer at all in my smallish rural town, and if not will there be good enough stores that a monthly or so trip to Osaka will let me stock up? Just order online. Shipping in Japan is ridiculously cheap (like maybe 600 yen for like 12 bottles at the lower end) and you can order directly from breweries/stores. You can also have the beer delivered cold and within a two hour time frame, ie. Friday at 6-8pm, which makes it nice to open and tuck into the beer right away. Online store, I would definitely recommend Antenna America, Taniguchi World Beer and Ohtsuki, though the last two require some Japanese reading, but AA can be done all in English. Osaka doesn’t really have a good beer store (except Ohtsuki, which is only Belgian beers), so no real point to go into Osaka to load up. Kyoto has Yamaoka, but I don’t know anyone living in the countryside that actually goes to physical store to buy beer. In your little town, I am 100% you will be SOL for good beer. Probably best to look for good local sake, though Wakayama isn’t particularly known for sake I am sure there are some good breweries. Lots or RB guys in Osaka/Kyoto, which I am sure you could meet for a night out at some point. Tim

Message KansaiBeerLvrs beers 8474 º places 567 º 08:51 Sat 2/6/2016 TimE what are you talking about??? Asahiya is the BEST shop in Japan in terms of service bar none. Tanakaya are a bunch of stuck up snobs in comparison. His selection is fairly solid and Craft Beer Base is also decent for Antenna America beers, especially now that Nagano Trading require all shops to do cold shipping which is pricey and pointless in winter. TNT in Taisho is a bar that does take out bottles so if you don’t want to order online (or can’t if you don’t have a credit card) you can definitely find places worth spending your money in Osaka. Rakuten is also available in English now so you should be able to order from Sake no Taniguchi/World Beer Market without any major issues but knowing Japanese it is much simpler. Look up the graphic novel Tonoharu which seems to be about exactly what you’ll be doing which I am guessing is being at ALT in rural Wakayama. Also you can take up homebrewing if you drink a lot. Craft Beer is pricey here.
Message KyotoLefty P beers 15089 º places 1059 º 15:29 Sat 2/6/2016 There are tons of great bars and stores in Osaka now. The commuting time depends completely on where you will be in Wakayama, though, as it can be the most inaccessible prefecture in Japan. If you are in Wakayama city, then it’s only about 75 minutes to Osaka station. If you are down in the south, it could be 4 hours. There are lots of fun events too, in which case it would be worth getting an air bnb or a business hotel and staying the weekend. Get in touch after you get settled in, and we can meet up for some beers.
Message tdtm82 beers 1704 º places 138 º 16:28 Sat 2/6/2016 Wow what a trip. Hook up with TimE and KyotoLefty though.