hanks to Yokohama’s oldest surviving place of worship, Gumyo-ji Temple (ぐみょうじ) – which was apparently built a millennium ago – comes one of those joys you stumble across anew even after almost a decade in Japan. In this case that joy is something that combines two of my favourite interests: beer and sakura (cherry blossoms).

Sakura Beer is a specialty of Gumyo-ji, one I had no idea about until today when my student Toshie – a Yokohama native – presented me with a bottle of the stuff wrapped in Disney character face-cloths (Pluto and Donald, luckily, rather than Mickey). According to the label, it was brewed using yeast sourced from cherry blossoms grown in the temple’s own grounds, and the bottle needs to be gently rolled rather than shaken prior to opening – which I figure is the case with most beers anyway; common sense is international after all.

While this brew is the day’s undoubted treasure, the temple itself is also a treat. It was established by the Shingon sect (supposedly by a priest named Gyoki) somewhere between the 8th century and the 11th and is dedicated to the Goddess of Mercy, the Eleven-Headed Kannon… a fairly formidable 1.8-meter tall carving that also dates back to around 1,000 years. Now for that beer.

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Andrez Bergen is senior editor of Impact magazine in the UK. He’s a long-term writer on Japanese pop culture, music, anime, movies and weird stuff who has covered the space since 2001. Andrez also runs Tokyo-based IF? Records, makes music as Little Nobody, writes a personal blog called JapaneseCultureGoNow!, and can be found on Twitter @andreziffy