Things to Do in Hiroshima Prefecture: Enjoy luxurious drinks and gourmet food in the sake town of Saijo

Summary

This trip took us to Saijo, Hiroshima Prefecture! This place is famous for its sake breweries.sake brewry offers a set of tastings so you can find your favorite sake ✨ This time, we tasted 15 kinds of sake in one day… A must-see Hiroshima travel plan for sake lovers.Please refer to this page!

*Please note that information and prices listed are subject to change.

Travel Itinerary

1:00pm Hiroshima Station（広島駅）

Departure is from Hiroshima Station! First, we will take 40 minutes to Saijo Station.

train bound for Shiraichi

It’s only one train ride away.

Hiroshima Station, located in Matsubara-cho, Minami-ku, Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, is a station of West Japan Railway Company (JR West) and a terminal station where all trains of the Sanyo Shinkansen stop. Many people use the station as the gateway to Hiroshima for sightseeing and business.

1:45pm Saijo Station（西条駅）

Arrive at Saijo Station. We start our sake brewery tour!

in front of station

Saijo Station, located in Saijo-cho, Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, is a station on the Sanyo Main Line of the West Japan Railway Company (JR West). The tourist information center offers free tours of sake breweries on the 10th of every month. Saijo, a town of sake breweries, is located in the vicinity, and visitors can experience the local charm of the area.

2:00pm Kamotsuru Sake Brewery（賀茂鶴酒造）

The first stop was Kamotsuru Sake Brewery.It is one of Hiroshima’s leading sake breweries, known for being the first in Japan to begin producing ginjo sake (This alcoholic beverage is made from rice that has been polished to less than 60% and fermented slowly at low temperatures, and is characterized by a fruity aroma).

Exterior

landmark

First, watch a movie about sake brewing

You will definitely enjoy watching the movie before your visit✨

Chairs made from real barrels

What a carpenter made it!

Observation Room Sales Office

Here you can enjoy not only alcoholic beverages, but also goods for sale and sweets made from sake lees (Sake kasu is the leftover bits from the sake making process) so that you can enjoy them even if you are not a drinker.

Sale of Goods

Frozen

Sukiyabashi Jiro

The most famous sushi restaurant in the world.

Former Prime Minister Abe and former President Obama

Display of tools

Tools used for sake brewing!

Reproduction room of Koji (rice koji is a kind of mold that is made from steamed rice) room

photo spot

Tasting Corner

Menu

You can choose from a large variety of tastings!

Comparison of three types of drinks

Junmai Daiginjo Hirokei-shu 33 has a light aroma and is easy to drink, Daiginjo Futakaku Kamotsuru has a strong aroma but is easy to drink. Junmai Daiginjo Hiroshima Nishiki is mellow and has no corners. It was!

Kissho Kamotsuru

It is served on government planes, and Prime Minister Kishida also drank it! The moment you put it in your mouth, it’s easy to drink like water, but when you drink it, the aroma that lingers on your palate is picky✨

Tenrin

The most expensive sake here, 16,500 yen per bottle…

Kamotsuru Umeshu

Junmai Ginjyo Old Sake Brewed Ume Sake

Kamotsuru Sake Brewery, located in Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, is one of Hiroshima’s leading sake breweries and is known for being the first in Japan to sell daiginjo sake. The brewery has an extensive public tour section where visitors can see the process of making sake. The “Special Gold Kamotsuru”, a daiginjo with gold leaf, has been a long seller since 1958.

3:00pm Fukubijin Sake Brewery（福美人酒造）

Next came the Fukubijin Sake Brewery.It is a sake brewery that was founded with investment from sake brewers from all over the country!

Exterior

Entrance

inside a warehouse

inside a warehouse

Donation barrels helped Hiroshima Carp’s financial difficulties

Sales of alcoholic beverages

sake lees soap

Soaps are 950 yen each.

Tasting Corner

Himeama

The recommended accompaniment for this drink is fruit.It is a very sweet drink, which is evident when you drink it!

Junmai Ginjo Genshu

This sake, which is not watered with water, is rich but easy to drink!

Shizuku-shu Daiginjo

Clean alcohol with no waste! The aroma is pleasant and escapes through the nose.

Located in Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Fukubijin Sake Brewery was founded by investment from sake brewing companies from all over Japan. The brewery has been brewing sake since 1917, and is commonly known as the “Saijo Sake Brewing School” as people from all over Japan came to learn how to make sake. The direct sales office is also a popular photo spot, marked by its 25-meter red brick chimney.

4:10pm Kamoizumi Sake Brewery（賀茂泉酒造）

Next came the Kamoizumi Sake Brewery.It is a pioneer of junmai sake, which was one of the first to begin producing junmai sake made only with rice and rice malt.We were not allowed to enter the brewery on the day we visited, so we headed to the nearby Sake Cafe Shusenkan!

Sake Cafe Shusenkan（お酒喫茶 酒泉館）

Kamoizumi Sake Brewery, located in Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, is both a brewery and a sake store. Known as a pioneer of junmai sake, the brewery produces junmai sake made only with rice and rice malt. Tastings are available at the nearby Sake Cafe Shusenkan, where visitors can taste Kamoizumi Sake Brewery’s sake. According to word of mouth, even if you cannot enter the brewery, you can still sample the sake at the Shusenkan.

4:15pm Shusenkan（酒泉館）

This building was built as a sake (refined sake) brewery.You can enjoy Kamoizumi Sake Brewery from a single glass, just like a coffee shop.

Exterior

information sign

Alcoholic Beverage Library

It is an unusual liquor library with many books on alcoholic beverages.

Interior

merchandising corner

Not only Kamoizumi sake, sake cup and glasses were sold.

Sake Cafe Menu

There were three drinking comparison sets with many different kinds of drinks.Before the tasting, you can get squeezed water of sake.

4 kinds of drink comparison set

3 kinds of drink comparison set

Fruity Drink Comparison Set

Junmai Daiginjo Nama Sake (Nama means unpasteurized) is a dry sake, perfect for sake lovers.Junmai Umeshu is a thick and heavy sake with a strong plum flavor and sweetness. COKUN was a raspberry-like liquor with a sweet-sour and juice-like taste!

Peddler’s Corner.

Not only Kamoizumi sake, sake cup and glasses were sold.

Located in Higashi-hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Shusenkan is a sake cafe operated by Kamoizumi Sake Brewery. You can enjoy Kamoizumi sake from a single glass just as if you were at a cafe. In addition to sets in which you can compare Kamoizumi’s sakes, there is also a wide variety of coffee and other café menu items.

5:30pm France-ya（佛蘭西屋）

The last place I came to for dinner was France-ya. This restaurant is run by the Kamotsuru Sake Brewery, which we visited first.

Exterior

side entrance

Interior

sake menu

All sake is from Kamotsuru!

Snack Menu

There is an assortment of snacks that match the seasonal drinks and the drinks that go with each menu item are listed, This is indeed a sake brewery restaurant!

Sake and Sashimi

Bishu Nabe

It is a local dish of Higashi-Hiroshima, where it is said that the brewers boiled vegetables they had on hand with sake and ate them. It has a lot of vegetables and goes well with sake.

The Snack Menu.

The menu includes an assortment of snacks to go with the seasonal sake, as well as a list of sake that go with each item on the menu!

Located in Saijo Honmachi, Higashihiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, France-ya is a restaurant owned by the Kamotsuru Sake Brewery. Its popular Bishu Nabe features pork, chicken, gizzards, and vegetables simmered in plenty of sake. You can enjoy dishes using seasonal ingredients and Kamotsuru sake, and lunch is reasonably priced. The restaurant has a good reputation by word of mouth as a stylish and delicious restaurant located on Saijo’s sake brewery street.

Watch the video