Japan/Honshu: Kobe – Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum
While Kobe is usually associated with Kobe beef, the town is actually more famous in Japan for its Nada Sake district. Kobe is the top-producing sake area in Japan. It has long been famous for its sake given the availability of high quality rice, very pure soft water, favorable weather conditions, and proximity to Kobe Port and Osaka. The Nada sake district stretch for over 3km along the coast and has more than a dozen of sale breweries, many quite old and famous. Hakutsuru Sake Brewery is one of them and it has an extensive sake museum with a lot of exhibits, a tasting room, and a shop. Hakutsuru means “white crane.” The company was founded in 1743, and is one of the oldest and top-rated sake producers in Japan.
