Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum
Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum
4
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Monday
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Friday
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
Sunday
9:30 AM - 4:00 PM
About
At HAKUTSURU SAKE Brewing Co., Ltd., we have opened our old sake brewhouse in its original form to the public as the Sake Brewery Museum. Our hope in doing so is to give visitors a feel of the tradition of sake making that has been carried down through the ages and to broadly and deeply convey the "heart of Japan" to the sake making world.
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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.
Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.
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4.0
286 reviews
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91
Very good
150
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43
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1
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Steve M
Auckland, New Zealand838 contributions
Jul 2024 • Couples
The museum is set up as a self paced tour where at set points you can view & listen to the brewing process (includes English). The video points are mixed in with the old brewing memorabilia and the museum makes good use of some 1920s footage to show how technology eased the back breaking process of the past.
Don’t rush to the tasting and enjoy the effort that has gone into the museum.
The tasting was nice although largely self guided for non=japanese. The shop was good value and the ice cream at the end superb.
Don’t rush to the tasting and enjoy the effort that has gone into the museum.
The tasting was nice although largely self guided for non=japanese. The shop was good value and the ice cream at the end superb.
Written 5 July 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
いしこ
Suginami, Japan418 contributions
Jan 2024 • Solo
The history of sake brewing is well explained and well displayed.
The wax figures are great.
There is a tasting area and a well-stocked shop. The sweet sake soft serve ice cream (300 yen) was delicious.
The wax figures are great.
There is a tasting area and a well-stocked shop. The sweet sake soft serve ice cream (300 yen) was delicious.
Written 22 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
AGM9
Lausanne, Switzerland1,385 contributions
Mar 2024 • Couples
Pleasant exhibition on “old-fashioned” sake making. Different scenes are illustrated by mannequins, which makes it easier to understand. At the end, free tasting of three kinds of sake, possibility of extending the tasting to other kinds upon payment.
Written 12 April 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Niki P
Nicosia, Cyprus219 contributions
Aug 2024 • Couples
We liked the place, the tour was self guided, and we followed the path,watching documentaries that were available in English and Japanese.
Brewing sake was a significant part of Japan's history. The tour ends with a trial of 3 types of sake.
I would recommend it for someone who's in the area.
Brewing sake was a significant part of Japan's history. The tour ends with a trial of 3 types of sake.
I would recommend it for someone who's in the area.
Written 26 August 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
NRH2013
Vienna, Austria167 contributions
Jun 2022 • Solo
Educative museum, well done, also in English with a very nice shop. If it were in a nicer area, it would certainly get more visitors. But next to it sake is still made in an industrial setting and this is how it looks and smells around it. Worth the detour? It depends on how much time you have got.
Written 16 June 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
dcpalter
Los Angeles, CA76 contributions
Sept 2016 • Friends
Kobe is famous as the center of sake brewing, with most of the big manufacturers located in this industrial part of town near Sumiyoshi Station. And Hakutsuru, along with Kikumasamune and Gekkeikan are the biggest.
The Hakutsuru Museum has a nice self-guided display of old sake brewing tools, and a great explanation with old videos of the process in both Japanese and English. Afterwards, you get to taste 3 sakes, 2 umeshu (sweet plum wine), and 1 yuzu wine (the lineup probably changes regularly.) There is also a great gift shop where you can buy not only sake but Japanese pickles, cookies, sake rice, curry, sake ice cream, and other great things to take home.
No reservations required unless you have a big group, and admission (including tasting) is free. It's located less than a 10 minute walk from Sumiyoshi Station or a little further from Uozaki.
Even if you're not a sake drinker, the visit is worthwhile. One thing to note, though, is that Hakutsuru is a big, industrial sake maker, not one of the thousands of craft brewers, and even their better quality (more expensive) bottles have kind of an industrial taste to them. If you have time to visit only one brewery, this is probably the best one since it has the most extensive museum, tasting, and gift shop, but please don't come away thinking this is how all sake tastes.
The Hakutsuru Museum has a nice self-guided display of old sake brewing tools, and a great explanation with old videos of the process in both Japanese and English. Afterwards, you get to taste 3 sakes, 2 umeshu (sweet plum wine), and 1 yuzu wine (the lineup probably changes regularly.) There is also a great gift shop where you can buy not only sake but Japanese pickles, cookies, sake rice, curry, sake ice cream, and other great things to take home.
No reservations required unless you have a big group, and admission (including tasting) is free. It's located less than a 10 minute walk from Sumiyoshi Station or a little further from Uozaki.
Even if you're not a sake drinker, the visit is worthwhile. One thing to note, though, is that Hakutsuru is a big, industrial sake maker, not one of the thousands of craft brewers, and even their better quality (more expensive) bottles have kind of an industrial taste to them. If you have time to visit only one brewery, this is probably the best one since it has the most extensive museum, tasting, and gift shop, but please don't come away thinking this is how all sake tastes.
Written 19 September 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
alkeni
Monterey Park, CA435 contributions
Jul 2015 • Family
I really liked the yuzu and ume sake. You drink these cold....so refreshing on a hot day. Get off at the JR Sumiyoshi station and take a taxi. Don't even attempt to walk it. It is worth the 680 yen to the Hakutsuru Museum. They do a great job in a self guided tour on how sake is made. They have films in English. Also ask to see the big screen film in the theater in English. At the end of the self-guided tour, you can sample 4 different kinds of sake, and of course purchase what you like at the gift shop. When you leave the museum, there is a phone at the guard shack where it directly connects you to the taxi cab back to Sumiyoshi station.
Written 14 July 2015
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
XpandMyHorizons
Red dot south of Malaysia39 contributions
Nov 2012 • Business
Informative display with video and reproductions. Free sake tasting with an enthusiastic gentleman explaining (in halting English!) the finer points. And, of course, a shop to buy the wares! Location is a bit far off - not walkable from Sannomiya, so it's either train or taxi. Go if you have an hour or more.
Written 6 November 2012
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
ryansumo
Manila220 contributions
Mar 2011 • Couples
I had specifically wanted to visit a sake brewery while my wife and I were honeymooning in Japan, and fortuitously enough the Nada area between Kobe and Osaka is home to a cluster or such breweries. We picked the Hakutsuru brewery museum because it was free and promised English translations and a free tasting afterwards, and we weren't disappointed.
The little museum inside the brewery is incredibly well put together, with lifesize dioramas of how sake was brewed along with videos explaining the process. The sake (to my untrained palate) we tasted was quite excellent, and we bought a bottle of the hakutsuru sake and their plum wine as well. The bottles are now empty but serve as wonderful souvenirs of our trip to Japan.
The little museum inside the brewery is incredibly well put together, with lifesize dioramas of how sake was brewed along with videos explaining the process. The sake (to my untrained palate) we tasted was quite excellent, and we bought a bottle of the hakutsuru sake and their plum wine as well. The bottles are now empty but serve as wonderful souvenirs of our trip to Japan.
Written 30 August 2011
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Amanda C
Gold Coast, Australia1,924 contributions
This Brewery itself was established in 1743 and this building in the early 1900's. The Museum preserves the ancient traditions used in brewing sake. Sake is mostly viewed as an 'old man's drink' in Japan now and there is being much done to reintroduce it to a younger generation.
This brewery aims to showcase the traditional methods and hopes that 'the spirit of old Japan will come alive again.'
Parking is free here and the outdoor gardens are beautifully manicured. If the men at the gate try and put a sticker on you when driiving, it's so they recognise you as a driver and you're not offered a free sample at the end.
The day we went also was full of school kids on excursion, so it was a bit noisy but a great old building with the traditions spelled out well in an English handout.
Quite interesting, and you can be in and out within 30 minutes.
There's very few goods for sale at the end and sake can be purchased more cheaply elsewhere.
This brewery aims to showcase the traditional methods and hopes that 'the spirit of old Japan will come alive again.'
Parking is free here and the outdoor gardens are beautifully manicured. If the men at the gate try and put a sticker on you when driiving, it's so they recognise you as a driver and you're not offered a free sample at the end.
The day we went also was full of school kids on excursion, so it was a bit noisy but a great old building with the traditions spelled out well in an English handout.
Quite interesting, and you can be in and out within 30 minutes.
There's very few goods for sale at the end and sake can be purchased more cheaply elsewhere.
Written 28 November 2010
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hi, How much time will you be spending here on an average? How long is the tour + the amount of time you'd possibly be spending in the gift shop?
Written 5 February 2018
2 hs you cover Tour, tasting and shopping
Written 11 February 2018
Which station (and line) do we take to get to this museum? We are coming from Osaka (Namba). Thank you!
Written 5 November 2017
Take Hanshin line towards Kobe. Get off at Sumiyoshi stop. Then 5 minute walk.
Written 5 November 2017
Hi everyone! Do I need a reservation for this museum? Are walk-ins welcome anytime? Thank you!
Written 17 March 2017
hakutsuru
Kobe, Japan
Thank you for your interest in your visiting to Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum . Our brewery museum opens to public, 9:30 to 16:30. No appointment/reservation necessary. Please note that its door closed at 16:00PM.
We hope you have a pleasant trip.
Written 21 March 2017
yes - this is an interactive museum with dioramas - good for kids.
Written 20 January 2017
Hi, may I know if it's necessary to make a reservation before visiting the Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum, or we can just walk in during their business hours?
Thanks!
Written 13 August 2015
No reservation is required to visit the brewery museum. Just walk straight in, and feel free to wander around as you please, and take as many photos as you want. There are a series of videos at various points in the self-guided tour which are in Japanese and English, and they are very informative. Don't forget to sample some sake at the end of the tour - all completely free.
Written 14 August 2015
valeriazh
Berkeley, California
Hi,
I am wondering if you allow tattoos?
Thanks!
Written 26 February 2015
Tattoos is normally ok, except in spa, onsen and swimmingpools. But it is always better to hide it, since Tattoos is mainly used by the Yakusa (Gangsters) in Japan and nobody likes gangsters.
Written 24 March 2017
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