5. Nature

        In Niigata prefecture, a lot of snow falls in winter, but the amount of fallen snow varies depending on places. The amount of fallen snow is large in the places along the foot of mountains, such as minamiuonuma city, uonuma city and tsunan city. But snow does not fall much in the plain area, such as niigata city. The reason for falling a lot of snow is wet wind from the Sea of Japan and mountains. The wet wind is cooled and become cloud. When the cloud reaches mountains, it rises along mountain and become cooler, and then snow falls. In winter, traffic accident is likely to occur and trains often stop because of snow. People who live in Niigata prefecture remove snow near their house when snow falls. The snow which falls in Niigata prefecture is very heavy because it is wet, so removing snow is very hard work. In this way, there are some inconvenient points in the place which a lot of snow falls.

Road in winter



But there are many good points there. People can enjoy skiing in the place which a lot of snow falls. There are many ski resorts in Niigata prefecture, and Niigata prefecture is the birth place of skiing. People can ski in nature freely, and it is very exciting and refreshing. The snow which covering mountain melts in spring and it becomes water. This water is very clean, so it is used for rice farming and making rice wine. Snow is also important for foods.

Naeba ski resort

Japanese crested ibis what is called Toki is breeding in Sado island of Niigata prefecture. Japanese crested ibis in Japan became extinct in the wild because of overhunting. In 1999, a pair of Toki is given from China, and this pair of Toki is breeding in Sado Island. Then the number of Toki has increased, and Toki was divided into various places of Japan in order to prevent annihilation by infection, such as, bird flu. About 200 Tokis is breeding in Japan and about 50 Tokis live in the wild now.

Toki



Niigata prefecture facing the Sea of Japan and Shinano River is running in Niigata prefecture. People can get a lot of seafood from the Sea of Japan. Sinano River is the longest river in Japan. Further, there are many mountains in Niigata prefecture, so people can mountain-climbing in summer and skiing in winter.



In this way, there is a lot of nature in Niigata prefecture.

 

 

I used the following website.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%88%E3%82%AD

 

 

 

 

4. Rice Wine

    Niigata prefecture is also famous for rice wine as it is called Nihonshu. The production of rice wine in Niigata prefecture is the third largest in Japan. The reason for large production of rice wine is that a lot of rice is harvested in Niigata prefecture. And the amount of consumption of rice wine in Niigata prefecture is the largest in Japan. The amount of consumption of other liquor in Niigata prefecture is large, but it is not the largest in Japan. The consumption of rice wine in Niigata prefecture is 2.6 times as large as average of Japan.

Rice wine

    Rice wine is mainly made from rice, water and koji of rice, so quality of these is very important. Koji is grain which is developed microorganisms, and it makes foods ferment. So it is used when people make variable fermented foods, such as, miso, soy souse and rice wine. The microorganisms used in koji is mainly mold, but the mold used in koji hasn’t poisons. It just helps foods to ferment.

  


Koji

Moromi

    There are many processes in making rice wine, and people who make rice wine is called toji. First, rice is polished because outside of rice contains many protein and fat, and they make taste of rice wine bad. The taste of rice wine becomes much elegant if the rice is polished deeper, but the higher skills are required in later process. The rice polished has much heat, and the quality of rice is unstable, so the rice need cooled down. It takes more than three weeks to cool down it completely. After the rice cooled down completely, it is washed carefully, and the rice is soaked in water. This process is very important because the taste of rice wine differs depending on the length of soaking time. Next toji make koji and shubo. Shubo means cultured yeast. Then toji mix rice, koji and shubo in tank, and it is called moromi. Alcohol is created by yeast, and koji convert starch into sugar. It takes more than 20 days to finish fermentation. After fermentation finish, moromi is separated into liquid and solid, and the liquid called namazake. Then namazake is filtered in order to remove impurities, and it is sterilize with heat because rice wine change in quality by yeast. Finally rice wine is matured for a long time. The taste of rice wine become more delicious by maturing.

    These days, rice wine is popular in the world.



I used the following website.
http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E9%85%92