Local Event
Cost: USD $3,400 approx
2018 NIIGATA SAKE TOUR - JAPAN
This tour is in English
HIGHLIGHTS
Sake
Learn about sake from the world’s leading expert, John Gauntner, in an intimate class setting. Maximum group size is limited to fourteen people.
Explore the area and visit four breweries during the brewing season. The brewers and rice growers will share their philosophies and approaches with the group during the tours and at the meals.
Taste just pressed sake for the season right at the source and with meals.
Food
Start with a welcome dinner, and taste the hospitality of traditional elite Niigata society, with exquisite local cuisine, sake and Geisha dance performance.
Discover how well sake pairs with Italian cuisine created by one of the best chefs in Niigata.
See local salmon preparation and a different approach to tea in traditional machiya shops in Murakami.
Sado Island
Visit the rugged, remote island of Sado off of Sea of Japan coast. Feel the distinctly different cultural heritage and taste sake style that breaks away from the mainland.
Explore maze like shafts of the Sado goldmine. Visit the old port town of Shukunegi. Pick up sticks and try your hand at Kodo drumming. On the last night on the island, soak in open-air onsen hot springs by the sea.
ITINERARY 5 DAYS / 5 NIGHTS
February 18, 2018(Sunday) Tokyo
Arrive in Tokyo and check-in at Villa Fontaine Shiodome. Enjoy exploring Tokyo on your own. There’s no group activity today.
Hotel: Villa Fontaine Shiodome
Meals: none
February 19, 2018 (Monday) Shibata, Niigata
We will begin our sake journey with a sake lecture by John Gaunter in Tokyo. Travel from Tokyo to Niigata by JR Shinkansen in the morning. Our first visit of the journey is Shibata to visit Ichishima Brewery where you will see the glimpse of the history of the Ichishima family who was one of the five largest land-owners in the country during the Edo period. After a warm welcome from the president of the company, enjoy lunch at the brewery’s guesthouse overlooking the peaceful snow-covered Japanese gardens. After the tour of the brewery and tasting, explore the museum where you see old brewing tools and family antiques from centuries ago.
Tonight’s welcome dinner gives you a taste of the old elite society of Niigata with exquisite local cuisine, sake, and Geisha dance performance.
Hotel: ANA Crowne Plaza Niigata
Meals: Lunch; banquet-style dinner with sake and Geisha performance
February 20, 2018 (Tuesday) Murakami, Niigata
Travel to northern Niigata prefecture, Murakami, for culinary culture found only in this town. Murakami was known as a salmon center in the 11th century, and even today you will find rows of dried salmon hanging from the eaves of traditional machiya houses and shops. In Murakami, your sake discovery is going to be about how the foods and traditions of the area had impacted the taste of sake. After a brief visit to Taiyo Brewery, sip locally-grown tea by the irori fireplace in an old machiya-style tea shop. We will sample several salmon dishes at lunch. In the afternoon, we drive from this coastal city deep into the snow country to visit the home village of the toji, master brewer, of Taiyo Brewery. Try yukimi-sake while viewing snow, and home made doburoku sake in a rural setting. At night, relax or explore on your own the small entertainment district of narrow alleys filled with restaurants.
Hotel: ANA Crowne Plaza Niigata
Meals: Breakfast; lunch;
February 21, 2018 (Wednesday) Niigata, Niigata
Visit Imayo Tsukasa Brewery right in the center of Niigata that once flourished as a center for sake and soy sauce breweries and fermented food makers. Imayo Tsukasa is one of a few breweries who only make junmai. Learn their philosophy and tradition. For lunch, enjoy simple onigiri rice balls made with highly praised Niigata rice. In the afternoon, a sake rice grower and organic farmer who supplies rice to Imayo Tsukasa will take you through the snow-covered Fukushima-gata slough where he grows rice from spring to autumn. During the snow season, the vast plains become the home of migrating swans. Tonight’s dinner is a pairing of Italian cuisine and sake.
Hotel: ANA Crowne Plaza Niigata
Meals: Breakfast; lunch; Italian and sake pairing dinner
February 22, 2018 (Thursday) Sado Island, Niigata
Next, you will travel by ferry and spend two days on the rugged, remote island of Sado off the Sea of Japan coast. The island was once a place of exile for court nobles and emperors as early as 8th century. Then, later in the 18th century, a goldrush brought workers and new riches. Due to its history and isolation, Sado has very distinct cultural heritage and a sake style different from other parts of Niigata. Upon arrival, one of the rice growers of Obata Brewery will take you through his fields to share his secret recipe for growing healthy sake rice. Learn how eco-friendly farming is applied on the island to save colony of the elegant Crested Ibis from the brink of extinction. Before visiting Obata Brewery, we visit one of the historic gold mines. Some of the sake from their brewery is matured deep in the shafts of this eerie mine. Finally, visit Obata Brewery to sum up their philosophy and approach to sake brewing.
In the evening, simply relax at open air hot springs by the sea and enjoy a dinner of sumptuous local catch from the sea with local sake.
Hotel:Yawata-kan Japanese style inn and onsen hot springs
Meals: Breakfast; lunch; dinner with sake
February 23, 2018 (Friday) Sado Island, Niigata
We start the day by visiting the western tip of the s-shaped island. In the old town of Shukunegi narrow streets are lined with historic 17th century houses with black walls and roofs dotted with lines of rocks. Then, a car will take you to the Taiko Center for a total Kodo drum workout. Not only will you feel the deep striking sound of the drums in your body, but you get to drum along with a Kodo drum master. We will return to Niigata by ferry in mid afternoon. From JR Niigata Station, continue your own onward travel or return to Tokyo with the group.
Meal: Breakfast
COST FOR FEB 2018
370,000 JPY per person based on double occupancy. Single supplement is 20,000 JPY per person.
PRICE INCLUDES
DOMESTIC TRANSPORTATION AFTER YOUR ARRIVAL IN JAPAN
Your tour begins at Villa Fontaine Shiodome in Tokyo and it ends at Niigata Station on the 23rd. Shinkansen bullet train from Niigata station to your next destination is not included in the tour cost.
For your convenience, we can of course coordinate your domestic transportation for you.
For those planning to use JR Pass for more extended travel, please contact us for details regarding Shinkansen return travel from Niigata.
ADDITIONAL TRAVEL ARRANGEMENTS
Additional domestic travel arrangements and consulting are available by Michi Travel Japan. Please contact us at info@saketours.com for more information.
Please see our website (saketours.com) for more information and testimonials
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