Sake Tours — Local services in Tokyo

I would highly recommend anyone who would like to explore off-the-beaten track experiences in Japan to join Sake Tours. This is not only for sake lovers (though you would have an incredible learning experience into the world of sake if you do), but also for those that love Japanese food, culture, scenery, and who would like to get into the 'inner workings' of this world. My husband and I first joined their Niigata tour in 2016, and have since become addicted to their fantastic tours, joining them subsequently for Okayama in 2017 and Akita in 2018. We also love the small tour group size, giving us lots of personal attention from Etsuko and her team, and allowing us to forge unforgettable friendships with like-minded people from all over the world. These friendships have lasted beyond the tours and we meet up whenever we are in one another's home countries! Etsuko is a very knowledgeable sake samurai who loves to introduce foreigners to great, small sake breweries which are not accessible otherwise to the public, and her humility, warmth, care and attention to details makes all on the tour feel so well taken care of. We love the hands-on experiences which are different in each tour, from learning to play the Kodo drums, to making soba/tofu/potteries, not to mention experiencing remote onsens in mountains and eating local specialities in small local restaurants. I can't praise this tour enough, and can only recommend that you join one to experience it for yourself!

Cecilia and Charles...

An absolute must do for anyone with a keen interest in sake! Over five days my wife and I laughed, learned, walked, sang, and of course ate and drank endlessly and made some new friends from around the world. People you’d never imagine meeting from remote professions as well as locations, with a shared passion in learning about and in drinking sake. We even joined a group of sake industry veterans at an old school they had taken over to operate as a culture facility, to make onigiri together. At our request, their chief spontaneously and with eyes welled up, sang us the old school song, which he did daily as a boy at that school. The team who run it are amazing in curating deeply immersive visits to breweries that were only possible with good relationships, passion and knowledge. Indeed on our tour we even had an international sake and shochu judge Maki-san as one of our advisers to help us better appreciate the production processes and techniques. Keeping a culturally diverse group in control over five days of continuous sake consumption is no simple challenge that required patience and love, which Jason our tour chief performed with sincere and seasoned finesse! We came away not only with so much more knowledge and appreciation of the love behind sake, but more importantly had the privilege to feel how the Japanese enjoy simplicity and love in every little...

I have been on SAKE Tours' 2019 Niigata and Mie-Wakayama 2020 tours so far and am scheduled to go on their #3 Hokkaido tour soon. I am a repeat SAKE tour member because they are the best anywhere. So far, the tours I've been on have been 5-star A+ tours. A passion for Japan's great sake and to advance its greatness internationally have attracted sake enthusiasts from all over. I've met a very interesting mix of people from many places around the world. I have learned a lot about Japan's culture and tasted great regional cuisines. Our tours have been to picnics, lunches, dinners with the local people from the various regions we've been to and I have learned a lot and experienced things not possible with other types of tours. Mahalo to SAKE Tours for a great job! I'm looking forward to future...