Chubu
Browse places in Chubu by prefecture.
Nagaoka, Niigata
The Niigata brewery behind Kubota sake. The 20-minute tour runs all year, free, with no reservation needed for individuals. A 60-minute course (reservation required), available from December to late April, shows the actual production process.
Niigata (Nishikan-ku), Niigata
A daily winery tour of about 60 minutes at 11:00, with tasting included. Booking is online, by the day before.
Minamiuonuma, Niigata
A special tour of the Daini Kowa Kura brewery, normally closed to the public, followed by the Hakkaisan Snow Cellar that stores sake using cold air from snow.
Itoigawa, Niigata
Founded in 1650, the brewery offers tours following the production process from outside the building.
Shibata, Niigata
A paid tour along glass-walled corridors overlooking the Setsugoro Kura brewing floor, plus a guided look at the Sake Culture Institute's archive of sake vessels and over 16,000 documents.
Yuzawa, Minamiuonuma, Niigata
A brewery five minutes' walk from the station, with a brewer-escorted or bilingual guided tour and a tasting of limited-edition sake.
A sake museum on the Yoshinogawa grounds where you can learn about, taste and buy sake. It has a sake bar for tasting flights and a glass-fronted craft beer brewery to look into.
Kurobe, Toyama
A tour of the Maboroshi no Taki brewery. Guide availability is limited by staffing, so please inquire beforehand.
Tonami, Toyama
Saburomaru Distillery in Tonami, Toyama offers a guided distillery tour with tasting, booked online.
Kanazawa, Ishikawa
Courses are held at the Fukumitsuya Kanazawa store next to the brewery: a brewery-interior tour and tasting courses. Visitors are also shown the Hyakunen-sui brewing water.
Maruoka, Sakai, Fukui
Visitors hear about the brewery's history and sake making, tour the brewery and taste sake. The brewing season, November to February, is recommended.
Koshu, Yamanashi
Guided tours of the Japan Heritage wine museum, vineyard, fermentation facilities and underground cellar, ending with a tasting. Three tour courses are offered.
Katsunuma, Koshu, Yamanashi
Based in a 140-year-old house, with a staff-led course on Koshu grape growing and history and a tasting course using wine dispensers.
Fuefuki, Yamanashi
Reservation-only guided tours of the vineyard, the winery building, the underground cellar and the stone fermentation tanks, a nationally registered tangible cultural property.
Visit the normally closed underground cellar and barrel room, then enjoy a seminar and tasting of three wines or two juices in the Solaris Room.
One of the oldest wineries in Katsunuma. A 15-minute tour covers the tasting room, underground cellar, gallery and barrel aging area.
See the production line and taste wine. Groups under 10 need no reservation and register at the shop on the day.
Kofu, Yamanashi
A winery a five-minute walk from JR Kofu Station. The tour explores an underground cellar of roughly 700 tsubo and includes one glass of a recommended wine.
Hokuto, Yamanashi
Suntory’s distillery in Hokuto, Yamanashi. Seeing production is on lottery-based paid tours (in Japanese); the free Whisky Museum and Central House has exhibits and a paid tasting lounge but no production tour.
The Shichiken sake brewery in the Daigahara post town on the Koshu Kaido. Staff-led tours cover Anzaisho, the room where Emperor Meiji stayed, and Denso-gura, which displays the Kitahara family’s art and documents.
Shiojiri, Nagano
On public-opening days you can take a winery tour (reservation, fee, limited places) and taste in the fermentation building.
A 15-minute walk through the company's vineyard, free and without booking, with tasting at the shop.
Miyada, Nagano
A distillery in Miyada, Nagano. The visit is free (tasting is paid). You can enter without a reservation, but bookings take priority when busy.
Komagane, Nagano
A free facility where you can freely see how Yomeishu is made without booking, including the bottling and packaging lines.
