Sake Factory Tour - where?

My wife and I have never tasted sake. We think a factory tour with tastings would be enjoyable and educational.

Any suggestions of a suitable tour would be appreciated. .

We will be, during this coming October, in Kobe, Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Kanazawa, Takayama.

Thanks in advance for any replies.
Cheers

Ronzac

You know you could just type 'sake tour+cityname' on Google search and Bob's your uncle.
Is it that toooo hard ?
Comeback with better/sense question.

I have been to Gekkeikan in Fushimi, Kyoto.
https://www.gekkeikan.com/museum/
A little further away, there is also a Kizakura brewery.
https://kizakura.co.jp/en/husimigura/
Near Gekkeikan, there is Teradaya (a spot related to Ryoma Sakamoto), so please stop by if you are interested.
https://ja.kyoto.travel/tourism/single01.php?category_id=8&tourism_id=...
The boarding point for Fushimi Jukkoku-bune is also nearby.
https://kyoto-fushimi.or.jp/fune/
Kobe's Nada sake brewery is also famous.
https://www.sawanotsuru.co.jp/site/company/siryokan/?wovn=en
https://kobecco.hpg.co.jp/15024/

Like most wineries, there is really not much to see except for fermentation tanks and storage facilities. Tasting bar, if available, is where you spend most of the time, which is educational if you want to learn the differences between Ginjo and Dai-ginjo sake.

One brewery, that is educational as well as entertaining, is Hakkai, who makes Hakkaisan brand sake. They built their facility to be toured. I had such a wonderful time there I ended up listening to music in the library. Yes, library.

It’s in Niigata prefecture, not close to places on your itinerary. For anyone else that goes to Niigata, I highly recommend it.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/moRvhvREphf1UUKg9?g_st=com.google.maps.preview...

It may be a good idea to go to the Meishu Center to learn about your favorite sake.
https://nihonshu.com/2024/01/2675/

Hi haro1210, thanks for Meishu tip. We will go there on our 2nd day in Tokyo, October 4th, after they open at 12:00. This will solve the ' What Sake would you like? ' which we will hear in restaurants.

Re a brewery tour. I will go through your other links later today.

Cheers

Ronzac

Chance circumstances have led to us being lucky and having tours of a couple of sake breweries - and they were fantastic experiences- but I’d say that just finding a specialist sake bar at a quiet time of day and being polite, smiling and curious has probably taught me as much about it as anything.
I’m very far from being a sake expert though, so your needs may be different…

Thanks Winter Visitor for your reply. Tours can be enjoyable but I usually forget most of what I hear & see and only remember whether I liked the wine or beer!

I think going to Meishu as haro1210 suggested will probably be enough for us.

Cheers
Ronzac