Tokyo
Tokyo is where most visitors try sake properly for the first time: sommelier-led tastings in Asakusa, Tsukiji and Shinjuku, pairing dinners, and day…
Photo: DXR, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Where can you taste sake and tour breweries in Japan?
We list 66 bookable sake tours, tastings and pairings and 31 breweries you can visit, in Tokyo, Kyoto, Kobe, Saijo, Takayama and Suwa and more. Kyoto’s Fushimi and Kobe’s Nada have the most brewery visits; Tokyo has the most tastings.
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Places
Where to drink sake
Kyoto (Fushimi)
Fushimi, in southern Kyoto, is one of Japan’s great sake districts: canals, black-timbered warehouses and more than a dozen breweries within walking…
Photo: 663highland, CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
Kobe (Nada)
Nada, along Kobe’s eastern waterfront, is Japan’s biggest sake-producing district. Several of its famous breweries run free museums with tastings…
Photo: hslo, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Saijo (Higashihiroshima)
Saijo, in Higashihiroshima, packs seven sake breweries with red-brick chimneys into a few streets beside JR Saijo Station. Most open their shops for…
Takayama
In Takayama’s old merchant streets, the sake breweries are part of the townscape: look for the cedar balls hanging over their doors. Most let you…
Photo: Celuici, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Suwa (Kami-Suwa)
In Kami-Suwa, five breweries line a 500-metre stretch of the old Koshu Kaido highway. One ¥4,000 pass gets you tastings at all of them.
Photo: Sei F, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Nishinomiya (Nada)
Nishinomiya holds two of the five Nada Gogo brewing villages and the well that made the region famous. It is quieter than Kobe’s side of Nada and a…
Photo: Saigen Jiro, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Osaka
Osaka’s sake experiences are built around its love of food: sake with takoyaki you cook yourself, guided nine-sake flights near Dotonbori, and a…
Photo: Joli Rumi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Kanagawa
Within about an hour of Tokyo, Kanagawa has small breweries in the Shonan beach towns near Enoshima and in the countryside around Atsugi and Ebina…
Photo: Syced, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sapporo
Hokkaido is better known for beer, but Sapporo has one remaining sake brewery with a free museum, and local guides run evening tastings of Hokkaido…
Photo: Choi2451, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Experiences
Find the right sake experience
Private and sommelier-led sake tours
Photo: Eiraku Tokuzen, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Sake day trips
Photo: rumpleteaser from Nagoya, Japan, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Popular
Sake experiences to book
Prices are as shown on each booking page on 18 October 2026, in the currency shown; check the final price before you pay.
Kyoto Fushimi: Sake Master’s Tour of Japanese Sake Breweries
Brewery tours
Two or three Fushimi breweries from Chushojima Station, including the Gekkeikan museum, Kizakura and Aburacho, with a Jukkokubune boat ride option.
Saijo Sake Tasting Guided Tour (3 or 7 breweries)
Brewery tours
An English-guided walk from JR Saijo Station; the seven-brewery version visits every brewery on Sake Brewery Street.
¥7,700 7-brewery tour (3-brewery tour ¥5,500)Book on operator site
See price on site
Book on GetYourGuide
Book on GetYourGuide
See price on siteBook on Viator
3-Hour Sake Tasting + Insider Sake Brewery Tour
Brewery toursFood pairingPrivate & sommelier
Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum, then 10+ sakes chosen by a certified sommelier with otsumami pairings in the operator’s own tasting room.
¥12,300 per person (from; ¥13,000 for afternoon starts)Book on operator site
€73 per person
Book on GetYourGuide
Book on GetYourGuide
Kobe Sake Brewery Tour in Nada with Guided Tastings
Brewery tours
A 4 km small-group walk (1:00–4:30 p.m.) through Nada with about 10 tastings, from Ishiyagawa Station. The rating combines Viator and Tripadvisor reviews, as shown on the operator page.
¥17,000 per guest for 2–5 guests (¥34,000 solo)
Book on operator site
Book on operator site
See price on siteBook on Viator
Kyoto Fushimi Sake Brewery Tour – 18 Tastings in 2.5 Hours
Brewery tours
Gekkeikan, Kizakura and the Fushimi Sakagura Koji tasting hall, with about 18 small pours in total.
US$108 per person
Book on GetYourGuide
Book on GetYourGuide
See price on siteBook on Klook
1.5-Hour Sake Tasting Experience
Tastings & classesPrivate & sommelier
A 90-minute guided introduction to sake: a short lesson, then seven sakes.
¥9,800 per person (from)Book on operator site
See price on siteBook on Viator
Some “Book on” links go to GetYourGuide, Viator or Klook through our affiliate links: we may earn a commission if you book, at no extra cost to you. Links to operators’ own websites and Arigato Travel are not affiliate links. Commissions never affect which experiences we list. Details.
No booking needed
Breweries you can walk into
28 breweries in our directory welcome walk-in visitors, many with free museums or tastings. How walk-in visits work · Brewery directory.
Guides
Before you go
Fushimi sake district: a visitor’s guide
How to visit Fushimi, Kyoto’s sake brewing district: getting there, Gekkeikan Okura museum, Kizakura, canal boats, tastings and the best…
Nada sake district: Kobe and Nishinomiya
Visit Nada, Japan’s biggest sake district: the five brewing villages (Nada Gogo), free brewery museums, miyamizu water, how to get there…
Photo: PlusMinus, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Saijo sake town: a walking guide
Walk Saijo’s sake brewery street in Higashihiroshima: seven breweries near the station, brick chimneys, tasting tips, the October sake…
Takayama sake breweries: tasting in the old town
Taste sake at Takayama’s historic breweries in the Sanmachi old town: which breweries pour free samples, the sugidama cedar balls, winter…
Photo: lienyuan lee, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Free and walk-in sake brewery visits
Sake breweries in Japan you can visit without a tour: free museums, walk-in tastings and what to expect, with sources for admission, hours…
Photo: Norio NAKAYAMA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Sake basics for travellers
A traveller’s guide to Japanese sake: how it is made, junmai, ginjo and daiginjo explained, how to read a label, serving temperature and…
Photo: Bernard Spragg. NZ from Christchurch, New Zealand, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
How to choose a sake tour in Japan
How to pick the right sake experience in Japan: brewery tours vs tastings vs food pairing, private vs group, timing, prices, booking sites…
Photo: Asacyan, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Frequently asked questions
What is Sakebiba?
An independent English guide to sake tastings and sake brewery tours in Japan. We list bookable experiences and breweries you can visit, with sources, and link you to book.
Do you take bookings?
No. You book directly with the tour operator or a booking site such as GetYourGuide, Viator, Klook or Arigato Travel.
Where are the best places to visit sake breweries in Japan?
Fushimi in Kyoto, Nada in Kobe and Nishinomiya, Saijo near Hiroshima and Takayama in the Japan Alps all have several breweries within walking distance of each other.
How old do I need to be to drink sake in Japan?
20. Tour operators check this, and under-20s can usually join brewery tours without drinking.