Many wonderful sightseeing attractions are located near Hotel Okura Kobe such as the exotic Former Foreign Settlement, lively Nankin-machi (Kobe's Chinatown), Kitano Ijinkan where timeless Western buildings still stand, Port Tower and Harborland near the water. Spend an enchanting day strolling around the city and at night admiring the scintillating city lights.
Nada-Gogo, known as the greatest sake-brewery place in Japan, stretches from the eastern part of Kobe to Nishinomiya.
From west to east, there are various sake breweries, such as Nishi-go, Mikage-go, Uozaki-go, Nishinomiya-go, Imazu-go,
which continue nowadays to produce famous sake. The brewery town, having transmitted a sake-brewing tradition over 600 years,
features museums that exhibit tools and history related to sake-making. How about enjoying a brewery tour full of history and atmosphere, when coming to Kobe?
Sawanotsuru Museum (Sawanotsuru)
Sawanotsuru Museum, open in 1978, is indicated as “Important Tangible Ethnological Culture Property” of the prefecture. It burned completely at the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995, but it was rebuilt on March 1999. The museum provides an exhibition of sake-making tools from ancient times, and also offers “freshly brewed sake”, available only in a sake-brewery.
| Address | 1-29-1 Oishiminami-machi, Nada-ku Kobe |
|---|---|
| Visiting time | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Closed on | Wednesdays, Bon holidays, around New Year’s Days |
| Entrance Fee | Free |
| Sake tasting | Available |
Kobe Shushinkan (Fukuju)
In business since 1751. Kobe Shushinkan, which is the maker of “Fukuju” brand of refined sake, holds various brewery tours all through the year. You can visit the currently operating Fukuju Brewery and also enjoy tasting of pure rice sake and freshly brewed sake just pumped out from the brewing tank.
| Address | 1-8-17 Mikagezuka-machi Higashi-Nada-ku Kobe |
|---|---|
| Visiting time | 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Closed on | January 1 - 3 |
| Entrance Fee | Free |
| Sake tasting | Available |
Hakutsuru Sake Brewery
Museum (Hakutsuru)
It is a museum that makes use of the original brewery built during the Taisho period. It provides an exhibition of the sake-brewing processes and operation contents in the old times, and also the attraction of being able to judge the taste of the freshly-strewn sake for free.
| Address | 4-5-5 Sumiyoshi-Minamimachi, Higashi-Nada-ku Kobe |
|---|---|
| Visiting time | 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
| Closed on | Bon holidays, around New Year’s Days |
| Entrance Fee | Free |
| Sake tasting | Available |
Kiku-masamune Sake Brewery
Museum (Kiku-masamune)
The interior of the museum exhibits “Sake-making Tools of Nada”, which are National Important Tangible Folk Culture Property together with hand tools, with the intention to transmit the history of sake-making to the present. This sake museum transmits to nowadays the “Raw base-enzyme making” secret techniques of Tanbatoji.
| Address | 1-9-1 Uozaki-nishimachi, Higashi-Nada-ku, Kobe |
|---|---|
| Visiting time | 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (reservation must be made for groups) |
| Closed on | Around New Year’s Days |
| Entrance Fee | Free |
| Sake tasting | Available |
Sakuraen: Sakuramasamune
Memorial House (Sakuramasamune)
The Sakuramasamune Memorial House “Sakuraen” is situated in Uozaki-go, in the middle of Nada-Gogo. The exhibition rooms feature a collection of labels, banners and bottles that tell us the history of more than 300 years of business of Kikumasamune.
| Address | 4-3-18 Uozaki-Minamimachi, Higashi-Nada-ku, Kobe |
|---|---|
| Visiting time | 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (shop opening hours) |
| Closed on | Tuesdays |
| Entrance Fee | Free |
| Sake tasting | Available |
