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Saijo Sake Brewery Walk: Tastings, Shops and the 2026 Festival Archive

The 2026 Sake Festival, held on October 10–11, has ended. Festival dates, prices and ticket conditions below are a record of the 2026 event. For an ordinary-day visit, jump to a regular brewery visit and follow each brewery’s official link for its current opening and tasting arrangements.

White-walled brewery buildings and red brick chimneys in Saijo’s sake district

For a sake outing in Saijo, choose between festival weekend and an ordinary day first. One brings nationwide tastings and busy streets; the other gives you more room to explore a brewery shop and choose a bottle. They are different visits, not the same tour with different crowd levels.

The 2026 Sake Festival was held on October 10, 10:00–19:00, and October 11, 10:00–17:00. The brewery venues have their own hours: 10:00–17:00 on both days, with entry until 16:30. Do not assume every brewery stays open until the festival’s latest closing time.

What the Sake Hiroba ticket actually buys

Sake Hiroba is a paid nationwide tasting venue. Advance admission is ¥4,200; same-day admission is ¥5,000 and is planned only for sessions that have not sold out in advance. Admission includes a tasting cup, water and eight sake tickets. You enter for your specified session, and cannot re-enter after leaving.

The separately advertised ¥1,500 reserved seat is not an admission ticket. Read the official admission and seating details as two separate purchases.

At the brewery venues, individual producers arrange limited-edition sales, paid tastings and food. The Sake Hiroba ticket does not include every brewery’s tastings. Some tours and events need reservations: use the brewery programme to choose what you actually want to attend.

A portable shrine and crowds passing brewery buildings at Saijo Sake Festival

Leave time between tastings

If you book Sake Hiroba, build the day around that session and start by choosing just one or two breweries for the time around it. You will still need lunch and a break. If the streets and local producers interest you more, concentrate on the brewery stalls and their individual offerings.

Use public transport if you plan to drink; drinking is prohibited under 20. With non-drinking companions, agree on time for food and walking rather than measuring the day by the number of tastings. Bottles also get heavy quickly, so consider making your main purchase near the end of the outing.

A regular day: start with one brewery shop

Outside festival weekend, white walls and brick chimneys give the walk its character. Opening days differ by producer, and a brewery building is not automatically open for a tour.

One practical starting point is Kamotsuru’s No. 1 Brewery museum shop. Regular hours are 10:00–18:00, with entry until 17:45; admission is free. Individual visitors do not need a reservation for the displays and shop. Its paid tasting bar lists a three-sake set of 30ml pours for ¥500. The bar takes cash only, unlike the shop’s wider payment options.

There are summer and New Year closures as well as temporary closures, including around preparations for the Sake Festival. Tours of the working brewery are separate, occasional activities requiring booking. Do not confuse them with walking into the museum shop, or assume festival tours run on ordinary days.

Aim for Saijo Station, not Higashi-Hiroshima

The festival area begins about one minute on foot from the south exit of JR Saijo Station on the Sanyo Main Line. Organisers give roughly 40 minutes by local train from Hiroshima. The Shinkansen station, Higashi-Hiroshima, is elsewhere; search your journey all the way to Saijo.

Choose a return train before starting and allow time for your final purchase. If you are continuing to another city afterwards, arrange storage for your large luggage rather than taking it through the brewery streets. Leave enough carrying space for the bottle you actually want to take home.

日本語で読む

Official information

Information checked: October 9, 2026.

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