The brewery tour requires advance reservation, but you can visit the Sake Brewery Museum and product center without a reservation. The Sake Brewery Museum is open from 9:00 to 16:30, allowing walk-in visitors to explore traditional brewing tools and historical exhibits at their convenience. The product center, where you can sample and purchase sake, is also freely accessible during operating hours.
The brewery tour and product center are free to enter. The Sake Brewery Museum charges 200 yen for individual visitors and 180 yen for groups of 20 or more people. This modest fee grants access to exhibits showcasing the brewery's history since its founding in 1749 and displays of traditional sake-making implements.
Yes, sake tasting is available at the product center. The product building offers tastings of Chateau Chichibu wine and other regional products besides Chichibu Nishiki sake. Visitors can sample Yao's brands of sake and Danbe shochu at the attached storefront and tasting bar. This allows you to experience the different varieties and flavors before making a purchase, helping you discover your preferred style of Chichibu sake.
The name "Nishiki" references the fact that the sake is made with both Yamada Nishiki rice and Miyama Nishiki rice, two varieties considered top-class within the sake world. Chichibu Nishiki won first prize at the sake fair for seven consecutive years since 2002, demonstrating exceptional quality and craftsmanship. The brewery produces approximately 18,000 bottles of sake each year using high-quality water from the mineral-rich Chichibu region.
I visited on a tour after being invited by a family member. I'm not sure if it was exclusive to the tour, but we were able to sample some drinks. I'm not particularly fond of sake or shochu, so I bought some yuzu liqueur and some snacks. They were delicious.
This is a museum and directly managed sales outlet run by the brewery of the sake "Chichibu Nishiki." As the name museum suggests, there is no factory where the sake is made; only information on sake brewing is displayed here.
The store has a large parking lot and is easy to shop at. Stop by during your Chichibu sightseeing tour to try some sake tasting and then purchase your favorite sake.
In addition to koji, miso, pickles, snacks, and local beer, you can also purchase sake brewery T-shirts and soft serve ice cream with sake in it. You can also get a Chichibu tourist guidebook.
I stopped by the sake brewery open house festival.
There were stalls and food trucks selling Chichibu specialties like fried chicken, yakisoba, konjac, and miso potatoes, adding to the festive atmosphere. But the main attraction was the grand sake tasting event, where you could drink 10 small cups for 1000 yen.
The staff seemed to be sake brewers and brewery workers, I think?
They looked like they were having a great time working at the festival. The sunny and warm weather made the sake taste even better.
I like sake, but to be honest, I don't really know much about the taste. Even I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you for the delicious food!
I made a reservation by phone in advance at Yao Honten in Chichibu City, Saitama Prefecture, and enjoyed a tour of the sake brewery museum, tasting, and purchasing sake on Sunday.
It was about a 30-minute ride on the Gururin bus from Seibu Chichibu Station.
This sake brewery is quite old, founded in 1749 (Kanei 2). During the brewery tour, we were shown the brewing room, which is kept at a constant 12°C year-round. It felt quite cold!
The sake brewery museum (admission fee 200 yen for adults, 100 yen with a JAF membership card) offered fascinating exhibits showcasing the brewery's approximately 270-year history. (Is the mannequin handsome? (^_^;))
* Old accounting office and tools
* Old sake brewing paintings
* History of Chichibu Nishiki
* Sake brewing tools
* Sake vessels
* Small sake brewing tools
* Interesting sake brewing tools
* About the Toji (The Toji of this brewery is from Iwate Prefecture) (Moisture content)
• Introduction and paintings by the three artists
• Celebration masu (wooden sake cup)
It was also great that we could sample sake, shochu, plum wine, and craft beer produced here, as well as pickles and other foods.
The sake was dry, perhaps due to the limestone from Mt. Bukō.
The craft beer was easy to drink and delicious, and the plum wine was sweet and tasty.
Furthermore, it was great that we could purchase not only sake, but also Chichibu's specialty pickled plums and honey.
For 100 yen, you can sample one of three types of Chichibu Nishiki sake. The quantity is small because it's only 100 yen, but it was enough for me.
I regret not trying all three types for a comparison, since it would only cost 300 yen for all three.
Beer samples are also available for 200 yen.
They also have amazake soft serve ice cream and sake soft serve ice cream; I chose the sake soft serve with alcohol.
It was light but had a nice alcoholic flavor and was delicious.
When we visited, they were offering free plums from plum wine.
It was my first time eating plums from plum wine, and it was interesting.
Eating them plain was quite alcoholic, but apparently they're good in jam or something.
It was a nice way to kill time while waiting for the bus after visiting Muse Park.
