Kin Kannon-do

Trying to sneak in all the outings we can with Dr. Tom before he leaves the island, today the kids and I (Stevie was on call) took him to an awesome spot that we had originally gone to back in November. The seclusive place is called Kin Kannon-do and it's located about half way up the island on the eastern side. This place is another one of those unique Japanese combo businesses - it's a temple and an awamori distillary.

The temple is the only one on island that did not get bombed to smithereens during the Battle of Okinawa so it's really quite old. This temple is dedicated to the Goddess Kannon who is the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy.

But the most interesting part of this tandem business is the little natural cave opening you see off to the right when you stand before the temple. By purchasing tickets in the nearby store, you can descend some pretty steep, and a little trecherous due to the recent rains, steps into a natural cave system.

And what is in these caves? Not bats, not rare blind cave crickets, but stacks and stacks of bottles of awamori!

Awamori is the unique drink made on Okinawa which is a distilled rice liquor versus sake which is a brewed rice liquor. The distillary that sits just behind the temple offers a unique opportunity. Purchase a bottle of awamori and for 1,000 Yen extra you can store it in the cave to age for 5 to 12 years! Each bottle (and we estimated that there are several thousand bottles in the cave) has a tag attached to it with the date, catalog number and a message from the owner. Although most are in kanji and cannot be read by my eyes, some have English messages with Happy Birthday or anniversary or one today I saw had a newborn baby's footprint on it!

It really is an incredible site to see all these bottles tucked neatly into wine racks preserved alongside the stalagmites and stalactites!