Did you know that back in 1930, a giant object was set up proclaiming “Hakushika is No. 1 in Japan”?
Here it is↓
This was at Ise’s “Gosengu Celebration Shinto Expo” in 1930. It was a comprehensive exposition, kind of like what we’d now call a local expo, held to celebrate the Shikinen Sengu(しきねんせんぐう・a ceremony held every 20 years in which Ise Jingu Shrine is rebuilt and renewed, and the deity is ceremonially moved into the new shrine).
Quoted from Exposition Materials COLLECTION | NOMURA Co.,Ltd.
The event drew around 500,000 to 700,000 visitors. There were pavilions from various regions including Taiwan, Korea, Hokkaido, Karafuto, Manchuria and Mongolia, as well as a flying tower, and apparently Ise turned into an exposition city almost overnight.
Still, the fact that Hakushika had a giant object like this because it had the highest sake production volume in Japan at the time is pretty amazing!
It doesn’t have a direct connection, but there’s also a Hakushika-like object at the ongoing Kansai Osaka Expo. It feels like a lucky charm, so if you go, be sure to take a commemorative photo.
Starting September 13, the Hakushika Sake Museum will hold “Hello People of the World: Sake and Expositions.” Medals and certificates from the Paris and Chicago World’s Fairs will be on display, along with booth design drawings from the “Go-yu-kai” group of 12 Nada Gogo sake breweries at Expo ’70 Osaka. Sounds like a good chance to learn more about sake.
