Sake Brewery Visit/Tasting Tour to Niigata Prefecture

Food & Drink

Takano Y.

5 / 5
(28 reviews)
Niigata
English
9 hours
Private tour (only you and your group)
Up to 2 people

Walking through old traditional streets in Niigata will bring you back in time where you will be able to feel the sense of the past times combined with modern.

Niigata is famous for its beautiful coastal and mountainous sceneries but Niigata prefecture is also well known for the brewing of "miso" "soy sauce" "sake" which have been carried out for centuries.

Day Trip from Toky Tour will start 8:00am at your hotel and take Shinkansen to Niigata prefecture where you spend half day.

Meeting Point

At your hotel in Tokyo

10:00 AM

Sake Tasting at a Sake Brewery which was founded in 16 century.

10:50 AM

Soy Source Tasting at Koshino Murasaki Brewery or Miso Brewery visit at Hoshino Honten.

01:00 PM

Sake Brewery Tour at a Sake Brewery known for best pure-rice daiginjo

The tour duration could be either 20 minutes or one hour depending on the day of your tour.

11:40 AM

Vsit to famous Saffron Wine Storehouse with colorful reliefs of zodiac animals on the plaster wall

12:20 PM

Lunch at a Japanese restaurant operated by sake brewery.

Enjoy sea food and vegetable Mini-Kaiseki dishes plus Soba noodle for lunch. Sake to match your lunch is a must.

Ending Point

At your hotel, or at JR Tokyo station

What to Expect

Taste traditional Japanese products, enjoy seafood and vegetable Mini-Kaiseki dishes plus Soba noodles and feel what it is like to live in a rural area on the Sea of Japan side, which is completely different from big cities on the Pacific Ocean side.

Learn the brewing process of top-quality Japanese sake from fermenting to bottling. Even a 20-minute brewery tour will give you a very good overview of the brewing process.

Meet Japan where traditions live hand-by-hand with modern times.


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Inclusions & Exclusions

What‘s included

guide fee, hotel pick-up in Shinjuku/Shibuya area

What‘s not included

・transportation fee (you and guide) --- If you have JR pass, then round trip transportation cost from Tokyo to Niigata prefecture on JR Shinakansen for you is nill. JR round trip tickets 18,000 yen per person is required.

Taxi cost for three ~four rides in the local area cost 6,000 yen

・lunch --- depending on your preference, several type of lunch can be arranged. My recommendation is to go for mini traditional multi-course Kaiseki lunch which costs 2,400 + per head. Sake to match your lunch is additional.

・sake and soy source tastings inside the breweries are free of charge.

・overtime guide fee $50 (or equivalent amount in JPY) per hour or $30 per 30 minutes if applicable.

・hotel pick-up fee $10 outside Shinjuku/Shibuya area


Important Information

Born and raised in Niigata prefecture, visit my mother and sister who live in Niigata city every month from Tokyo. Niigata has lots of attractions for tourists, including Yahiko Shrine/suspension cable car ride to the top of Mt. Yahiko, Northern Culture Museum where you can see the richest farmer's residence and garden, sake breweries with free sake tasting, castle towns like Shibata city or Murakami city, winter ski resorts with four meters of snow, delicious local sea food from Sea of Japan or from Sado Island/ fruits and brown edamame. It takes only two hours by Shinkansen train to reach Niigata from Tokyo.

Niigata prefecture and Niigata city each has a population of 2.3 Million and 0.8 Million, good sizes but much smaller than Tokyo, the biggest city area in the world. By experiencing both Tokyo on the Pacific Ocean side and Niigata on the Sea of Japan side, you can taste both modern gigantic city life/culture and traditional city/rural life/culture in Japan.

In addition to Greater Tokyo Area where I live, I will be happy to be your guide in any cities/areas on the Sea of Japan side as well.

My tour destinations outside Greater Tokyo area include Niigata-city, Nagaoka -city, Itoigawa-city, Sado island, Nagano city, Snow Resorts in Niigata and Nagano mountain areas, Yamagata city, Tsuruoka city, Sakata city, Kanazawa city, Oono city, Echizen city, Tsuruga city, Fukui city, Gokayama and Shirakawago which are World Heritage sites famous for Gassho-zukuri and Kyoto/Nara.




Advance reservation is recommended to join sake brewery factory tour

If you have JR Passes, Shinkansen cost will be minimum. If you do not, it will cost 18,500 yen to purchase Shinkansen round trip ticket per person.

Cancellation Policy

  • Free cancellation - 8 days prior to meeting time
  • 50% Refund - 3 to 7 days prior to meeting time
  • No Refund - Within 2 day(s) prior to meeting time

Reviews

D

Dana P.

5 / 5
May 21, 2023

The city of Tokyo

We only had one day in Tokyo and had a long list of things we wanted to do. We were able to accomplish everything with the help of Yoshi! Yoshi did a great job answering all of our questions, putting together a great plan, and he took us to the best tempura restaurant we have ever been to! We highly recommend Yoshi as a guide!

Takano Y.

It has been a pleasure to talk and walk with a very young people from Midwest as I was reminded of my younger days. You are such a nice couple that I am sure that both you and your husband will be able to visit Japan at your tenth, twentieth, even thirtieth wedding anniversaries.

P

Peter L.

5 / 5
May 20, 2023

Diverse Tokyo

An excellent customized tour with Yoshi San exploring the sights and sounds of this incredible city. Yoshi San is a delightful, wise, and affable guide that brings a wide range of perspectives in the culture, history, and modern day dynamics of Tokyo. We also enjoyed some wonderful meals as Yoshi San is a true foodie. I would highly recommend Yoshi San for a customized experience of Tokyo.

Takano Y.

Thank you for using my guiding service for two consecutive days in Tokyo. I have really enjoyed the company of you, your wife and your friends who are all very intellectual, yet can taste the difference between authentic/good Japanese food and the average one. Hope you have a safe flight back to Vancouver

B

Barry G.

5 / 5
May 12, 2023

A perfect day in Tokyo

Thanks to Yoshi we had a perfect day touring Tokyo visiting places he tailor made for us. His lunchtime choice of restaurant was a special treat and so delicious. I highly recommend him to you.

Takano Y.

Hi Barry san, It was a apleasure to walk, talk, eat and drink together with you, your wife and your friends. Now I know that healthy food is both tasty and filling. Rooibos tea you introduced to me will become one of my favorites. Please enjoy the rest of your stay in Japan.

M

Malcolm N.

5 / 5
Mar 29, 2023

Great family guide

Yoshi is a great guide. He is really knowledgeable about everything Tokyo and Japan. He is a great ambassador for his country. We spent a couple of days with him and he was so flexible as you need to be when traveling with children (6 and 9, boys) in our case. He was able to balance the sightseeing of the museums and gardens with interesting restaurants and cafes (the Ninja cafe is a must) and ways of getting around Tokyo. He also gave us tips on where to shop, museums and galleries to go to and things to do in Kyoto when we took a day trip there. We really valued his patience with us and all the stories and sharing. If you're going to Tokyo then get Yoshi to guide you when you're there and your trip will be even better than you hoped.

Takano Y.

Hi Malcolm san, It is good to hear from you I enjoyed touring with you, beautiful wife and two lively boys. Your small boys handled Ninjya blow weapons as if they were real Ninjyas. Also you have brought good warm weather to Tokyo and therfore were able to see esrly Cherry blossoms. Hope to see your family sometime in the future again. Yoshi

$358/ per group

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