Yamano Sake Brewery in Osaka & Hirakata city walk

Culture Experience Food & Drink History
22,000 JPY - / person
About 3.5 hours
Language: English

What we'll do

Half day tour visiting the historic town of Hirakata and a local sake brewery. Optional lunch at a farmer's restaurant or (and) cycle tour to visit Osaka's rare forest area. The basic itinerary of the tour is as follows:

10:00 Meet at Keihan Hirakatashi station
10:10 Walking tour in the historic quarter of Hirakata city
11:30 Visit to Yamano sake brewery
13:30 End of the tour
or
(13:00 Lunch at Sugi Gohei restaurant - Optional)
(14:30 Cycling tour in Hoshino Forest - Optional)
(17:00 End of the tour - in case you take the both options)

Meeting Place

Your guide will meet you at the central gate of Hirakatashi station on the Keihan Line.

Details

Price per person (tax included)
22,000 JPY - / person
Max participants
Up to 10 people
Languages
Hosted in English
Things you need to know before the tour

-Minimum number of participants: 2 guests

- The lunch option is NOT available on Tuesdays as the restaurant is closed.



- Between January and March it is usually possible to see the actual sake making process.
After April, you can still see the production line and get an explanation of the whole production process, but all the sake is already in tanks for maturing.

-No tours are available in December, as this is the start of the brewing season and the busiest time of the year for the brewery.

What is included in the tour price
Admission fee

Route

  1. 1
    Hirakata city walk

    During the Edo period (1603 - 1868), Hirakata City prospered as a post-station town and as one of the main river ports on the main route between Osaka and Kyoto. Historic buildings remain along the former main street. A visit to the town will give you an idea of how people used to travel around Japan before the age of trains and cars. The walking tour includes a visit to a local museum housed in a traditional inn and a tasting of a local sweet called "kurawanka-mochi", which was very popular with travellers passing through Hirakata on their way to Osaka or Kyoto.

  2. 2
    Yamano Sake brewery

    The Yamano Sake Brewery was founded in the Edo period (1603 - 1868) in Katano, a municipality next to the city of Hirakata. The brewery does not normally offer factory tours to walk-in visitors, but this tour gives participants exclusive access to their sake production facility. Yamano Brewery is a small, family-owned brewery, which makes your visit a more intimate experience. Of course, the factory tour includes some tasting at the end.

  3. 3
    Lunch at Sugi Gohei restaurant (Optional) *highly recommended

    Additional fee: ¥7,500 yen / person 〜

    Sugi Gohei is an organic farmer's restaurant located about 15 minutes by taxi (not included in the price) from the Yamano Sake Brewery.
    The place has extensive vegetable gardens where most of the food served in the restaurant is grown using a method called "organic recirculation farming".
    The restaurant itself is housed in a traditional, well-managed and carefully renovated house. Guests can enjoy a range of high quality Japanese home-style meals, carefully prepared according to the changing seasons.

  4. 4
    Cycle to Hoshida Forest (optional)

    Extra charge: ¥8,000 yen / person (including bike rental)
    Duration: Approx. 2 hours

    For those who want to explore the area a bit more, it is also possible to rent a bike from a nearby station (or take a taxi) and cycle to Hoshida Forest. This is one of the few remaining forests in Osaka where you can take a short walk. There is also one of the longest pedestrian suspension bridges in Japan, from which you can enjoy an amazing view of the forest.
    The area has a rich history dating back over 1,500 years and you can also stop at some of the oldest Shinto shrines in Japan along the way.

Yuki_Fujisawa

Big foodie living in the food capital of Japan

My name is Yuki, and I am a licensed tour guide in English and Italian. With 6 years experience as an interpreter in a food trading company and as a licensed sommelier (wine and sake), I often organise foodie tours in Osaka and Kyoto, in addition to normal walking tours. I am also licensed by the Osaka Prefectural Government to handle fugu (blowfish), so ask me if you would like to learn about (or taste) this famously poisonous fish (which is, of course, perfectly safe to eat!!). I was born and raised in Osaka, the city known as "the nation's kitchen" or "the food capital of Japan". However, it is also true that many of the city's restaurants are too geared towards serving tourists, and the quality of the food is far from satisfactory for us locals. As a big foodie myself, it is my duty to make sure that my guests enjoy the real food scene of the area. I also hope to introduce my guests to some of the rich historical sites and very friendly locals of the Kansai region (the area around Osaka, Kyoto and Nara). So please join me on one of my tours and let's have fun together over a few drinks and local food!

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22,000 JPY - / person