Sake TabiA guide to visiting Japan's sake breweries, distilleries, wineries and more
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Exterior of Furano Winery
Wine
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Furano Winery

Furano, Hokkaido

A staff-guided winery tour with a barrel-aged wine and Furano Cheese Workshop cheese tasting. A premium course adds a vineyard visit with a specialist.

Booking: Reservation required
Exterior of the Hokkaido Wine head office
Wine
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Hokkaido Wine (Otaru Wine Gallery)

Otaru, Hokkaido

A reservation-based tour covering the company history, a virtual vineyard, the oak-barrel cellar and a tasting in the underground Keller3 room.

Booking: Reservation required
Front of the Ikeda Wine Castle, with a red brick stairway leading up to the entrance
Wine
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Ikeda Wine Castle (Tokachi Wine)

Ikeda, Hokkaido

A castle-like facility known as the Wine Castle, home of Tokachi Wine. Admission is free, with the underground aging cellar and brandy distillery room open to visit.

Booking: Check the official site
Entrance of Kirin Brewery Hokkaido Chitose Brewery
Beer
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Kirin Brewery Hokkaido Chitose Brewery

Chitose, Hokkaido

The Kirin Ichiban Shibori tour lasts about 90 minutes, including a 65-minute brewery visit and 25 minutes of tasting.

Booking: Reservation required
Exterior of the historic Kunimare Sake Brewery
Sake
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Kunimare Sake Brewery

Mashike, Hokkaido

The visitor facilities of Kunimare in Mashike, Hokkaido include a brewery tour, a stone-warehouse archive room and a free herring boat exhibit, plus a tasting corner.

Booking: Reservation recommended
A worker adding coal to the fire under a pot still
Whisky
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Nikka Whisky Yoichi Distillery

Yoichi, Hokkaido

A distillery in Yoichi, Hokkaido. The free guided tour (with tasting) is by reservation and in Japanese only.

Booking: Reservation required
The Otokoyama Sake Brewery Museum building with its rooftop sign
Sake
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Otokoyama Sake-Making Museum

Asahikawa, Hokkaido

A free-admission museum displaying sake-making tools, Otokoyama’s history and ukiyo-e prints. The tasting and shop area has moved to the newly built shop next door.

Booking: Check the official site
The red-brick exterior of the Sapporo Beer Museum
Beer
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Sapporo Beer Museum

Sapporo, Hokkaido

A museum on the history of beer-making that began in Sapporo. Choose a self-guided visit or a guided tour with tastings. There is no brewing equipment on site.

Booking: Reservation recommended
Exterior of the Sapporo Beer Hokkaido Factory
Beer
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Sapporo Breweries Hokkaido Brewery

Eniwa, Hokkaido

A 60-minute tour in which a brand communicator explains the ingredients, brewing process and history of Sapporo Classic, ending with a tasting.

Booking: Reservation required
The snow-covered entrance of the Meiji-era Takasago Shuzo brewery
Sake
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Takasago Shuzo Meiji Sakagura Brewery Tour

Asahikawa, Hokkaido

A guided walk through the 1929 brewery with explanations of its history and sake-making process. In winter (late October to end of March), the morning tour may let you see brewers at work.

Booking: Reservation required
The Hachinohe Shuzo shop and brewery frontage
Sake
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Hachinohe Shuzo Brewery Tour (Mutsu Hassen)

Hachinohe, Aomori

A roughly 40-minute tour of the brewery's working floor and process in Taisho-era buildings designated as registered tangible cultural properties, with tasting included.

Booking: Check the official site
Exterior of the Rokushu Brewing Workshop
Shochu
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Rokushu Brewing Workshop Tour

Rokkasho, Aomori

At Rokushu Brewing Workshop in Rokkasho, visitors can view distilling, bottling and other processes through glass.

Booking: No reservation needed
Exterior of the Asabiraki brewery
Sake
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Asabiraki Brewery Tour and Local Sake Shop

Morioka, Iwate

A free guided tour of the Showa Asahi-gura, which has both hand-made and modern lines, and the bottling plant. The shop offers free tastings.

Booking: Reservation required
Brownish-red building and sign of Baeren Brewery
Beer
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Baeren Brewery (Kitayama Plant)

Morioka, Iwate

A roughly 20-minute staff-guided tour of the Kitayama plant with three options: free, one drink, or 30 minutes of unlimited drinks.

Booking: Reservation required
Exterior of Wine Chateau Ohasama with its timber gabled facade and a tulip flower bed
Wine
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Edelwein Winery Factory Tour (Wine Chateau Osako)

Hanamaki, Iwate

A factory tour covering wine bottling, fermentation and the barrel cellar.

Booking: No reservation needed
Exterior of Iwate Kuzumaki Wine
Wine
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Iwate Kuzumaki Wine Factory Tour

Kuzumaki, Iwate

A tour of the winery's wine factory in Kuzumaki. The shop offers free tasting.

Booking: Reservation required
Exterior of the Nanbu Bijin headquarters and brewery
Sake
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Nanbu Bijin Brewery Tour (Hongura)

Ninohe, Iwate

Dress as a brewer in a happi coat and towel and tour the well, rice washing and steaming, yeast starter room, brewing hall, pressing area and whisky distillery, with a photo and original-label experience.

Booking: Reservation required
The former work area and boiler house of Sekinoichi Shuzo, now the brewery restaurant
Beer
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Sekinoichi Shuzo Iwate Kura Beer Brewery Tour

Ichinoseki, Iwate

A staff-led tour of the craft beer brewing process, with hands-on contact with malt and hops and an optional tasting of four beers.

Booking: Reservation required
The entrance and grounds of Ichinokura
Sake
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Ichinokura

Osaki, Miyagi

A free tour: watch a short video on sake making, then walk a dedicated corridor and view each work area through windows, followed by tasting.

Booking: Reservation required
The grounds of the Miyagikyo Distillery
Whisky
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Nikka Whisky Miyagikyo Distillery

Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi

A distillery in a gorge west of Sendai. The free guided tour is by reservation and includes tasting; a paid tasting bar is also open.

Booking: Reservation required
Exterior of Kimura Brewery (Fukukomachi)
Sake
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Kimura Brewery (Fukukomachi)

Yuzawa, Akita

A Yuzawa brewery offering reservation-only tours of about 40 minutes. Tours stop during the brewing season.

Booking: Reservation required
Exterior of the Fukunotomo Brewery
Sake
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Fukunotomo Brewery

Daisen, Akita

A brewery three minutes on foot from Jingūji Station. The production floor isn't shown, but you can tour the buildings, taste sake and visit the gallery and shop.

Booking: Check the official site
Akita Meijo head office and factory
Sake
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Bishu Ranman (Akita Meijo)

Yuzawa, Akita

A reservation-based tour down through the five-story brewery, with a museum visit and tasting.

Booking: Reservation required
Akita Shurui Seizo head office and brewery
Sake
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Takashimizu Brewery Tour (Akita Shurui Seizo Head Brewery)

Akita, Akita

A roughly 45-minute visit combining a process video, a guided walk and tasting/shopping. The head brewery includes Senshu-gura and Sennin-gura, where traditional hands-on sake brewing is practiced.

Booking: Reservation required