Takayama: Authentic Sake Tasting at a Historic Brewery
Description
Takayama has a long sake-brewing history. More than 300 years ago, the town had 56 sake breweries, supported by its cold climate, pure mountain water, and craftsmanship. Today, seven breweries remain in the old town area, all within about 200 meters. This rare concentration offers a unique chance to experience Takayama’s sake culture in a short time. On this tour, you will visit one historic brewery and learn about sake-making, local traditions, and the characteristics of Takayama sake. The tour will be held at either Hirase Sake Brewery or Funasaka Sake Brewery, depending on opening hours, business conditions, and production schedules. Some production areas may not be accessible for hygiene and safety reasons. The tour will end at the brewery visited. Tours are conducted in English or Japanese. Alcohol cannot be served to anyone under 20 under Japanese law. This tour generally operates rain or snow, but may be canceled or adjusted if safe operation is difficult.
Tour Options
Itinerary
You can see inside factory and tasting in this place.
Highlights
What's included
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- All areas and surfaces are wheelchair accessible
- Transportation options are wheelchair accessible
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Wheelchair accessible
Reviews(70)
This was a really interesting tour with lots of background on how sake is made as well as lots of opportunity for tastings with explanations. Takumi gave us a thorough rundown or the whole process as well as explaining the differences in types of sake and how they affect tastes. Be warned though - you will need an extra bag to take home your supplies after the tasting!
Tour leader spoke poor English. The tour does not go to or past a working brewery. The guide tells you how Sake is made using plasticized A4 sheets. You don't see anything of the production anywhere. You can take a picture at two places at the entrance. The tasting was fine.
Thank you very much for joining our tour and for sharing your feedback!! We are sorry to hear that the experience did not fully meet your expectations. Regarding the brewery visit, we would like to clarify that the tour does include access to areas related to the production process. However, as sake brewing is a delicate process, production is not always visible or active depending on the timing. To help guests understand the process more clearly, our guides also use photos and visual materials during the explanation. We also sincerely apologize for the guide’s English level. We are continuously working to improve both our communication and the overall quality of the tour. We are glad to hear that you enjoyed the sake tasting, and we truly appreciate your feedback as it helps us improve for future guests. Thank you again for joining us, and we wish you a wonderful trip!!
We really enjoyed our small group Funasaka Sake Brewery tour. Satoe our friendly and expert guide clearly provided the historic context and explained about the different types of rice used in the production and brewing process, before taking us through our tasty and enjoyable sake tasting session. Would definitely recommend this tour.
This was such a lot of fun. We learned such a lot about making sake from our wonderful guide, and the tasting was amazing - we had never imagined there could be so many different varieties of depth and taste.
Our guide was so nice and very informative (thanks Sato). The tour went into the back rooms of the brewery. I learnt many new things about the complex process for making quality Sake. Next time I’d book directly with Happy Plus tours for less than half the cost. TripAdvisor is a complete rip off.
We really enjoyed our time and learned a lot. Yama was great. Worth it for the tasting and learning about sake. We also purchased some bottles to bring home
Detailed review of sake making process and the tastings were delicious. The host was knowledgeable and patient in answering questions.
Great tour, great tour guide! Super interesting seeing the oldest sake brewery in Japan! Also got to try some great sake as well.
The tour was very interesting and the guide was very friendly. He answered all the questions. The highlight was the tasting of 7 different sake bottles.
I was the only person booked into the tour so I got a private tour and tasting and it was excellent! Takumi explained everything throughly and clearly about the sake-making process and could answer all my questions. He was a great guide that kept things fun and relaxed. At the end I got to try 8 delicious different samples - would highly recommend this tour
