Kotaro Koizumi came to Hankyu Nishinomiya Gardens on Tuesday, March 17.
Here↓
It was the annual “Spring Cherry Blossom Viewing Party” event, and this year marks Gardens’ 17th year since opening!
Just like last year, there were lots of media people there again this year,
The main cherry tree. It hadn’t bloomed yet〜
The variety is called Jindai Akebono (じんだいあけぼの), which sounds pretty cool. Apparently it blooms a little earlier than Somei Yoshino
The first person to appear was Miho Shibata, the director of Nishinomiya Gardens! She talked about how a total of 11 stores will newly open or reopen after renovations this spring〜
Nishitsu has written about this before too〜
And next up to be called on was〜〜
Kotaro Koizumi is hereーーーーーー!! He appeared wearing a haori〜〜. His presence really is amazing.
He said the haori was yamabato-iro (山鳩色),
and when I looked it up, it seems to refer to the familiar Oriental turtle dove. I found myself thinking, “There’s a color name for that?”〜
He Was Drinking Local Nishinomiya Sake
What appeared here was Nishinomiya sake,
The answer was〜〜
“Hakutaka Miyamizu no Sato Daiginjo Junmai”〜
Since it was selected by “酒style‐AzumaZuru(東鶴)” on the 1st floor of Gardens Plus, it makes sense that they made a great sake choice featuring Nishinomiya’s “Miyamizu” right in the name!
The moment Koizumi took a sip, he said “A wonderful sweetness spreads out,” and “It’s a sake with such a strong sense of happiness”!
And since Koizumi has a sweet tooth, he apparently recommends pairing sake with yomogi mochi, sakura mochi, and other “sweet mochi” as snacks.
There was a Q&A segment, and he was asked, “What was Hankyu Nishinomiya Gardens built on the former site of?”
At first he seemed to have no idea, but when the host gave him a hint, saying it was “something Koizumi was really into during his student days,”
he got it: “Ahhhh! Is it related to the Hankyu Braves? Hankyu Nishinomiya Stadium!”
Koizumi has loved baseball since he was a child, and he knew the Hankyu Braves well too. He even immediately brought up the name of Boomer, who was active back then, which was a surprise lol So nostalgic
Koizumi himself was a baseball kid and dreamed of Koshien, but he apparently injured his back in high school and had to give up on becoming a player.
Then, 16 or 17 years ago, when he visited Hanshin Koshien Stadium for work for the first time, he looked around the stands from near the mound and thought, “This is the place I dreamed of”, and apparently tears came to his eyes.
What’s more, when he was encouraged to take a commemorative photo, he said, “Someone like me can’t step on the plate”, and out of respect for the sacred ground, he declined to step on the mound plate and had the photo taken slightly off to the side instead.
