Online Tour of the Oldest Sake Brewery in Takayama, Gifu

Overview

Takayama is one of Japan’s historic centers of sake brewing, and on this online tour you'll go behind the scenes at Hirase, its largest and oldest brewery! Join our multilingual tour guide and dive into Japanese culture from the safety of your sofa.

Highlights

Key Information

Description

In the mountains of Gifu Prefecture stands the historic city of Hida-Takayama. Here, the city’s cool climate, specialized rice, and pure water from the Hida Mountains have led to a long tradition of high-quality sake. Today Takayama is best known for its picturesque Sanmachi Historic District, and at the heart of that townscape the old sake breweries still stand. The city once had 56 sake breweries at its height, but changing fortunes have brought the number down to just seven. Still, concentrated in the center of Takayama they form the densest concentration of sake breweries in Japan. The largest and oldest of these is Hirase, which has been making sake for over 390 years. On this online tour, a knowledgeable English- or Chinese-speaking guide shows you around the Hirase brewery for 20–30 minutes. You’ll deepen your knowledge of this timeless aspect of Japanese culture, and get new insight into Takayama, one of Japan’s unmissable sightseeing destinations. Furthermore, you can direct the action! If there’s anything you want to see more closely or learn more about, don’t be shy to ask your guide to change up the focus. As a small-group tour, sometimes private, you’ll have a lot of control and a personalized experience that makes this tour a special experience of virtual travel.