Testimonials

“Even for a very well-traveled sojourner, Sake Tours organized trips that helped me discover regional Japanese culture, cuisine, and of course, sake in ways that I would never be able to arrange for myself. The small group size keeps the mood intimate and allows the organizers to take great care of guests. I look forward to each year’s exciting destinations.”

“I want to tell you what a wonderful tour you put together and how much we enjoyed traveling with you. Jack and I have fallen in love with your country and its people. I hope we have the opportunity to visit again sometime!”

“I have just had the most amazing four days on the first Sake Brewery Tour organised by saketours.com. If you are a sake lover do yourself a favour and signup for next years tour!”

I would highly recommend anyone who would like to explore off-the-beaten track experiences in Japan to join Sake Tours. This is not only for sake lovers (though you would have an incredible learning experience into the world of sake if you do), but also for those that love Japanese food, culture, scenery, and who would like to get into the 'inner workings' of this world. My husband and I first joined their Niigata tour in 2016, and have since become addicted to their fantastic tours, joining them subsequently for Okayama in 2017 and Akita in 2018. We also love the small tour group size, giving us lots of personal attention from Etsuko and her team, and allowing us to forge unforgettable friendships with like-minded people from all over the world. These friendships have lasted beyond the tours and we meet up whenever we are in one another's home countries! Etsuko is a very knowledgeable sake samurai who loves to introduce foreigners to great, small sake breweries which are not accessible otherwise to the public, and her humility, warmth, care and attention to details makes all on the tour feel so well taken care of. We love the hands-on experiences which are different in each tour, from learning to play the Kodo drums, to making soba/tofu/potteries, not to mention experiencing remote onsens in mountains and eating local specialities in small local restaurants. I can't praise this tour enough, and can only recommend that you join one to experience it for yourself!

“I spent quite some time living in Japan and thought I knew something about sake. But during the tour I quickly realized that I’d only taken a tiny sip from the cup of sake knowledge. So much learning, so many sakes, and some fantastic new friends in just the course of a few days. I was a wonderful experience and wonderfully photogenic trip for a photographer to be on. It’s surely made me a sake lover for life.”

"Outstanding. One of the most exciting trips of my life. The chance to understand clearly and feel all the senses on making sake is the goal of this tour. At the end of all you will make friends forever. I would definitely recommend and do the Sake Tour again."

“Sake Brewery Tours was one of the best trips that we have ever taken. Typically we like to travel on our own but the service that Etsuko provides is outstanding from the accommodations, breweries, food and the fabulous sake! Every detail is taken care of and all you have to do is sit back and enjoy. If you like sake & onsen, this is definitely the tour for you. We had such a great time and look forward to doing other tours!”

“We really enjoyed traveling to Akita and Kansai with Sake Brewery Tours. We’ve traveled to Japan many times, but the sake and culinary treats we had with Etsuko were something we could not have put together ourselves. We met so many wonderful people at the breweries and we really appreciate sake even more”