Visitors can taste and purchase sake made at Aizu Homare, one of Tohoku's most popular sake breweries. After learning about how sake is made on a brewery tour, visitors can discover their new favorite drink by sampling over 10 kinds of fresh refined sake, liqueur, and shochu. The brewery grounds also contain a vast Japanese garden, which can be explored by visitors. A video of the sake-making process is available to watch on request.
| Website | https://www.aizuhomare.jp/(Japanese) |
|---|---|
| Contact | Homare Sake Brewery Co., Ltd. (+81) 241-22-5151 |
| Best Season | All Year |
| Opening Hours | 9:00 AM - 4:30 PM (Guided tours start at 10:30 AM) Open 7 days a week (closed for the New Year holidays) |
| Parking | Over 50. Parking also available for full-sized buses. |
| Entrance Fee | Free |
| Related info | About Sake Brewery Tours: Non-Japanese language tours: Available Languages available for tours: English Guide: Only available on days when the brewery is operating Voice Guidance: Not available Foreign-language displays: Yes Please book in advance for group tours. |
| Access | 2706 Tokiwa-cho, Muramatsu, Matsuyama-Machi, Kitakata City, Fukushima Pref. View directions |
|---|---|
| Getting there | By Car: 40 min from the Aizuwakamatsu I.C. exit (Ban-etsu Expressway) By Bus: Can be reached by bus from Kitakata Station (JR Ban-etsu West Line). 3 min walk from Sekinebetsu Bus Stop. By Taxi: 7 min from Kitakata Station |
A hot spring region in the Urabandai area where you can intimately feel the changing of the four seasons. There are many outdoor baths and onsens with spectacular views, allowing you to wash away the fatigue of daily life and be healed amidst abundant nature. From the outdoor bath at the Grandeco Resort, you can enjoy a garden of verdant green in the summer, and a pristine landscape of snow in the winter, along with a clear, star-filled night sky.
A lovely café deep located in Ouchi-juku, decorated with adorable items like okiagari-koboshi (traditional monk dolls) and Aizu-made decorated candles. In addition to yukimuro coffee (snow-cured coffee), they’ve put together an original menu full of locally produced drinks and sweets. Feel free to leisurely enjoy a coffee in Ouchi-juku.
Oze is home to a plethora of beautiful flowers. These include the Asian skunk cabbage that blossoms in the marshes as the snow melts, and the bright yellow of the Nikko Kisuge, which is reflected in the marshes just when the surrounding mountains become green. The nature of Oze is symbolized by its beautiful flowers, and together with the mountains, lakes, marshes, rivers, forests, and wildlife that lives in this region, create a stunning sight. Chozo Hirano opened up the area around 100 years ago, and because of the protection of its magnificent nature up until now, Oze has become a symbol of nature conservation in Japan. The beautiful nature of Oze presents a different face throughout the seasons, and all continue to charm us. Key points of the sightseeing spot/ recommended points for tours: In order to both preserve the precious nature of Oze, and to be able to come face-to-face with its splendor, we recommend that you visit on weekdays, and take your time to encounter the nature of Oze. Oze has the Ozenuma Visitor Center and the Oze-Yamanohana Visitor Center as locations from which you can both appreciate Oze's nature, and learn about the environment. At the visitor center, you can learn from displays that explain in an easy-to-understand the formation of the nature in Oze, points to see, and the most up-to-date information about the natural environment. This lets you more fully enjoy the appeal of the nature of Oze.Visits are even more enjoyable when you know more; therefore we recommend visits with a guide who can tell you more about the nature and charm of Oze. We urge visitors to make use of the certified guides who have a wealth of knowledge about Oze's nature, culture, and history, and who can ensure your visit is safe.
This museum, which opened in June 1999, is located a short walk from the Goshiki-numa Ponds, which is one of the most scenic spots in Fukushima Prefecture.Morohashi Museum of Modert Art houses a collection of about 350 of the works of Salvador Dali, the master Spanish surrealist artist, including paintings, prints, and sculptures, as well as about 40 works by such impressionist and post-impressionist artists as Cézanne, Renoir, Chagall, Picasso, and Van Gogh. About 100 works out of this collection are on permanent exhibition, including 37 works of sculpture by Dali. The scale of this collection is unparalleled in the world and really is worth seeing.
Close to Kitakata station is Yamatogawa Brewery. This brewery was built in 1790 in the Edo Era, and has been producing sake ever since. The famous sake cultivated at this brewery is made using the clear, mountain water from Mt Iide.Another important component of Yamatogawa Brewery’s sake is the use of high-quality, carefully cultivated rice. This rice is grown in Yamatogawa Brewery’s own rice fields, and from the fields of selected local farming families. Next door to the brewery is the Northern Museum – where old earthen storehouses built during the Edo Era have been opened up to the public. Here you can learn about how the sake-making process has changed since the Edo period. Tours and sake tasting available for free.
Yanaizu Town is best known as the birthplace of the legend of the lucky red cow Akabeko, but it is also known for its famous manju (sweet steamed buns). Hot in Yanaizu is a center with a bit of everything; it sells local products, has sightseeing information, rest areas, and an eatery. They even have an "experience area".It goes without saying that, at Hot in Yanaizu, you can paint your own Akabeko, but you can also make manju with the help of the facilities' kind staff (Read more here). Hot in Yanaizu have staff that can speak English, but please make sure to contact them in advance, as you might not be able to do the experience without placing a booking.Please take your time & enjoy the slow pace of Japanese countryside life in Yanaizu Town.
Among the simple color palette of Ouchi-juku, Honke Kanouya will draw your eyes with their brightly-colored collection of goods. Lining the store front is a wide assortment of items like vegetable-shaped beanbags to ornaments to decorations to fabric accessories. All these crafts are handmade. The eye-catching goods make great souvenirs for family and friends alike! Recommended items include the Aizu-made fabric accessories and selected seasonal vegetables beanbags.
In keeping with the architecture of Ouchi-juku, Misawaya soba restaurant was constructed with traditional thatched roofs. The Misawaya premises include three stores: a soba restaurant, a Japanese sake shop, and a teahouse. Misawaya soba restaurant is famous is their grated daikon soba, called Takato Soba, otherwise known as Negi-Soba (or "green onion soba"). Your chopsticks are replaced with a long onion!