DRINKS TOURS · BREWERY TOURS IN JAPAN
The 15 best brewery tours in Japan you can book right now, with what each one costs, how long it runs and how much drinking is included. Start at number one.
Learn how sake is made, taste 10 styles, and pair them with Japanese snacks on this friendly three-hour Kyoto tour.
“This was our favorite tour of the trip! Very educational and you get a LOT of sake in the tasting portion. I feel like I can order sake confidently at a restaurant now :)”
Explore Kyoto’s Fushimi Sake District, tour a historic brewery, taste 10+ sakes, and learn bottle labels, styles, temperatures, and pairings.
“This is a great tour, totally worth your time especially if you want to learn more about Japanese culture and be less afraid when ordering drinks at a restaurant in Japan (or elsewhere that serves Sake!). Kyōko is the perfect tour guide, super professional, friendly, patient and is very passionate about teaching people about the history and culture behind Sake (Nihonshu 😉). She is very approachable and is an awesome teacher, her approach to teaching you how to find what flavours you enjoy was refreshing and made me very motivated to get into the world of Nihonshu You learn many methods along with how to read the labels and what…”
Explore Kyoto’s Fushimi sake district, visit the Gekkeikan museum, and taste up to 18 local sakes on this small-group walking tour.
“We had a great time with Karen (Karie) on our sake tasting tour. She was great to hang out and talk with and the sake and food (food purchased separately at sake tasting restaurant) was very good. It ended up only being myself, my wife, and another adventure loving tourist along with Karie but that made it nice and quant and simple. Definitely recommend. Oh, and we drank “all the sake” and had a strong “buzz” but by no means was “drunk”, so it was a good balance and we learned a lot at the museum as well as during our sake tasting/meal.”
Explore Kobe’s Nada sake district, taste premium brews, visit historic breweries, and learn local traditions on this small-group walking tour.
“This whole experience was EXCELLENT! The sake breweries were all unique and our guide Hiro was very knowledgeable about the region and sake making. I would definitely recommend this tour if you’re planning a trip to Kobe.”
Taste eight sakes at seven Saijo breweries, learn Hiroshima’s sake traditions, and enjoy a relaxed 2-hour walking tour with an English guide.
“thanks to Grand guide, and young lady, They are eargerly explaining and best efforts for me, thanks again! BongKun Cho from Seoul”
Explore Kobe’s Nada sake district on a small-group tour with brewery visits, tastings, tofu snacks, and an English-speaking guide.
“Hiro and Fuma were fantastic guides. they were friendly and passionate about their sake. Able to taste varies types of sake and learn so much about them. would definitely recommend.”
Tour Fushimi’s sake district, visit Gekkeikan Museum, explore shrines and canals, and taste 18 Kyoto-made sakes with a local guide.
“Fantastic Tour - our guide, Shinya, was very knowledgeable about the sake brewing history of Fushimi and all-round a very interesting guy! The sake we got to try was delicious (and a very generous amount!) Highly recommend this tour while in Kyoto.”
Taste five local sakes in Takayama’s historic brewery district, learn the craft, and enjoy an easy 30-minute cultural experience.
“bardzo miły i mądry przewodnik. Fajnie opowiedziana historia i proces tworzenia sake. Degustacja też była pyszna.”
Review of Kobe’s private sake and Japanese life tour, with brewery tastings, local shopping streets, costs, guides, and practical booking advice.
“Not fun and not really as described. Admit the Sake Brewery museum was interesting. We thought tour would be more like a food tour only with sake stops instead of food stops. Turned out our guide doesn’t even like sake. So that lack of enthusiasm on guide’s part surely contributed to the blah experience.”
Taste 18 sakes in Kyoto’s Fushimi district, visit two historic breweries, and learn how Japan’s favorite drink is made in 150 minutes.
“our guide Yuko was outstanding! we got a lot of information, laughs, and insights. she went above and beyond for not only this tour, but recommendations for other sights to see. Can't thank her enough!!”
See Beppu’s hot springs, Yufuin, Hita, Dazaifu, and more on a flexible Kyushu day tour from Fukuoka for $55.
“C’est une activité à ne surtout pas manquer ! C’était génial ! Nous avons pu visiter pleins de choses essentielles en 1 jour ! On a eu le temps de profiter de chaque chose c’était super ! On découvre des paysages magnifiques ! Les guides sont formidables ! Super sympathique ! Ils sont à l’écoute, nous explique la culture et conseils de super bon restaurant ! Je referais l’activité sans hésiter ! Je recommande à 100%”
Explore Saijo’s sake culture on a two-hour English tour, tasting at up to seven breweries and learning how local water shapes its gentle flavor.
“Ami was a great Guide and we had a lot of fun during the tour. The breweries have been very interesting and we learnt a lot about Sake Production and its History.”
Tour Kobe’s Nada Gogo sake district, visit three breweries, learn traditional brewing, and taste distinctive sake with an expert local guide.
“We had Max, He was very friendly and super insightful. Max offered a lot of information about the history of Sake. This was a wonderful experience and would recommend it.”
Explore Kanazawa’s 1911 soy sauce brewery with a koji tour, miso-making, fermented lunch, doburoku tasting, and practical travel tips.
“This was one of the best experiences we had in Japan. We felt warmly welcomed by the whole team, who explained the history, the influence of fermented food on our gut health, and the production of their miso, shoyu, amazake, sake and more (!) with great excitement. The whole experience from engaging with the team, walking the historic production site, and enjoying an exceptional (!) four course meal is more than recommended. Thank you so much. We will keep remembering the experience after our return to Germany. All the best to the Yamato team, we loved our fermentation tour ❤️ #nokoujinolife ✌️”
Taste six Takayama sakes with an English-speaking brewery guide, learn your preferred style, and add an optional production tour.
“Vi är oerhört nöjda med vår guide William. Han lärde oss grunderna till hur sake tillverkas och hjälpte oss lista ut vad vi gillar. Det var trevliga bryggerier och den guidade turen på ett av bryggerierna var fantastisk. Vi kan verkligen rekommendera denna tur, vi är väldigt nöjda! :)”
Boat, brewery, crawl or tasting room.
