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Rural Brewery Town Walk: Half-Day Private Tour Near Kyoto

icon 3 to 4 hours Mobile ticket Free Cancellation
Tickets from € 93.49

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Adult (13 - 90)

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Kinomoto is a charming old brewery town blessed by an abundant source of fresh water. As a former post station town of Edo era kaido routes, the town has retained much of its historical charm, without heavily catering to tourism, but rather sustaining its natural community and identity of local family businesses that have thrived here for centuries. After meeting up at JR Maibara Station (shinkansen stops here), our guide will lead you on the 24-minute train ride north to JR Kinomoto Station. Here we will give a walking tour around traditional sake breweries and soy sauce breweries, as well as the local Buddhist temple, and local shops such as confectioneries and bakeries. We value real local culture. So, we rely on guides who are from the area and have strong local knowledge to guide you. Rather than simply introducing sightseeing spots, guides involved in the community can act as mediators and create opportunities to experience the values and communal ties of this small town.
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  • All Fees and Taxes
  • Professional Guide
  • All train fares
  • Complementary tasting often provided, but other drinks should be purchased.
  • We don't provide snacks, but there are many spots to buy along the way.
Departure Point

Japan, 〒521-0012 Shiga, Maibara, Maihara, 米原市米原 Maibara Station Our guide will meet you in JR Maibara Station by the main ticket gates. To get to JR Maibara Station from JR Kyoto Station, please take the bullet train eastbound. Please note that some Hikari and all Nozomi do not stop at Maibara. We will inform you of the train schedule once confirmed.

  • 1137 Kinomotochō Kinomoto, Nagahama, Shiga 529-0425, Japan
    Our guide will bring you to Daiko Shoyu, a local family-run soy sauce brewery that has been in business for over 100 years. Soy sauce is also made with fermented mash, so production is actually quite similar to that of sake. Explore the varieties and uses of quality Japanese soy sauce. Aside from the active winter brewing season, visitors can usually also get a private look at the brewing area too.
    30 minutes
  • Tomita Shuzo, Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture, Japan
    The Tomita family sake brewery has been here in Kinomoto for about 400 years and is one of the region's top brands winning awards in Japan and abroad. Our guide will show you around the traditional storefront, explaining some of the sake types and helping you interact with the friendly staff.
    30 minutes
  • Kinomoto Jizoin Temple, Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture, Japan
    This interesting local temple has a long history and is central to the Kinomoto Village community and traditions. Our guide will show you around the grounds and main hall while explaining its significance in local culture. People visit the main Jizo deity of this temple with prayers for vision care, using votive ceramic frog statuettes to leave as offerings. There is also a pitch dark maze for meditation underneath the main hall!
    30 minutes
  • Yamaji Brewery, Nagahama, Shiga Prefecture, Japan
    Recognized as the 4th oldest sake brewery still running in Japan, this small brewery has been in business for almost 500 years! With several varieties of sake, they're also famous for a delicious and unique mulberry liquor. Depending on season and staffing, we may get to look at the brewing area behind the storefront, and the owners are happy to welcome our visitors with tastings.
    30 minutes
  • Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
  • Public transportation options are available nearby
  • Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
  • Suitable for all physical fitness levels
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
  • For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
  • If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
  • Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
  • Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
  • This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
Experience45862
01 May 2020
This tour of Kinomoto was fantastic and a true highlight of our family trip to Japan. We especially enjoyed learning about brewing soy sauce at Tomita Shuzo (and we savor the delicious bottle that we brought home with us) plus seeing all the frogs and doing the pitch dark maze at Kinomoto Jizoin. Most of our trip was otherwise in large cities so it was rewarding to gain new perspective visiting this small town and interacting with local artisans. Our guide was excellent and provided insight and access we never would have discovered on our own. I highly recommend this experience!
helnlen
31 Mar 2020
In Feb 2020 we arranged a private tour initery and went to Kinomoto as part of our schedule. Thanks Biwako Backroads for a wonderful day. The pace of our schedule was perfect for us (50s), our guides knowledgeable and charming. This was one of our most interesting days in Japan, as we really felt we we experiencing local areas, sites and business that we would never have found on our own, and got to do it all with guides who spoke english and Japanese. We really felt we were able to have more interesting conversations as a result.
This tour in Japan is organized by Biwako Backroads

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