- Duration
- Half day (Ome) or 1.5 hrs (central)
- Season
- Year-round; new sake late Nov to Feb
- Group
- 2 to 8
- Price band
- € to €€
Tokyo is not a sake region, which is exactly why this is interesting. In the western hills at Ome, Ozawa Shuzo has brewed Sawanoi on Tama river groundwater since 1702, a valley of cedar and gorge water an hour from Shinjuku that does not feel like the same prefecture. And in Shibadaimon, a few minutes from Tokyo Tower, a narrow multi-storey brewery makes sake vertically in the middle of the city, gravity doing the work of a hillside.
What you'll do
- Tour a 300-year-old brewery in the Tama valley, then drink in its riverside garden
- Or visit the tiny central Tokyo kura and see brewing stacked floor by floor
- Taste shinshu, new-pressed sake, if you're there between late November and February
- Learn why Tokyo brewing nearly disappeared, and what brought a little of it back
Pair it with
Hakone. Both are day trips west of Tokyo and both are about water coming out of rock.
Practical
Ome is about 1 hr 15 from Shinjuku on the Chuo and Ome lines.
Before you book
- Central Tokyo brewery visits are limited and often require booking well ahead. Confirm current visitor policy first.
When it runs
JJanuary: peakFFebruary: peakMMarch: availableAApril: availableMMay: availableJJune: availableJJuly: availableAAugust: availableSSeptember: availableOOctober: availableNNovember: peakDDecember: peak
Solid ochre marks peak months. Pale ochre marks months it runs in a quieter form.
