Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum

Nice brewery museum with plenty of exhibits showing the Nihonshu-making process and history of the brewery. It is a large museum but there did not seem to be many staff around for the exhibits. The tour path is guided by signs showing you Brewery process which lead to a room showing you the how Hakutsuru is recognized and praised for their sake. The last part of the tour leads to the gift shop where you can taste a few types of sake. The yuzu sake was free to taste, and really sweet which made it hard to appreciate the junmai dai-ginjyo from the paid tasting. Also, there were three types of nihonshu in the tasting set, and you couldn't buy more coins unless you bought another tasting set. The place seemed popular and crowded, but the staff were not very personable. I only bought a t-shirt, because the Nihonshu was underwhelming.

Very interesting museum that walks you through the process of making Sake. At the end you can sample 2 flavors of Sake; both were delicious. There is also a gift shop.

A hidden gem for sake lovers and curious travelers! I visited the Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum without knowing much about sake, but I walked out with a real appreciation for the craftsmanship behind it. The museum is small but well-designed, with life-sized displays and traditional tools that show how sake was made in the past. There’s a short video with English subtitles, so even if you don’t speak Japanese, you can still follow along. The best part? Free sake tasting at the end! The staff are friendly, and the shop has a nice variety of sake bottles and souvenirs. It’s a quick visit—maybe an hour—but definitely worth stopping by if you’re in Kobe and want something cultural, unique, and relaxing.

Very nice experience if you want to know more about the sake brewing processes. The explanation panels are just in Japanese but there are various videos in English explaining step by step how the sake is brewed. At the end of the visit there is a shop where you can some different sake.

🎼🎹 SONG OF THE SWEETNESS OF RICE AND SMOOTH FLAVOR 🥂Located on a street in Kobe, a region famous for its expensive Kobe beef, the Hakutsuru Sake Museum is known for its cultural value as well as the origin of this unique museum. 🥂Originally, Hakutsuru was the leading Sake production brand in Nada (Kobe) founded in the 18th century. With nearly 300 years of creating and distributing Sake products throughout Japan, Hakutsuru wants to make a difference, leaving its mark in the traditional Sake production industry. 🍹And they decided to establish a separate museum that only exhibits Japanese sake right on the factory that used to operate. So when you visit the Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum, you will see it located next to a brewery of the same name that is still operating day and night without stopping. This does not bother any visitors, but also brings a nostalgic feeling as well as the most authentic feeling of a museum introducing the "national wine" of Japan. 🎧Entering the museum, you will hear traditional "folk" songs of the Sake brewers from ancient times playing in the exhibition room. Brewers often sing these songs to encourage their spirit while working. 🎸Not only that, all the traditional Japanese wine production processes will appear right before your eyes. No different from a real wine factory of the 18th-19th century. The mannequins are arranged no different from real workers. From clothes, shoes to typical wine making movements, all are simulated extremely delicately. 🎬To create a wine with a smooth flavor, full of the sweetness of rice, but hidden deep inside is the characteristic strength of the Japanese people, the craftsmen spent countless hours at the factory.

Way better then Sawanotsuru Museum. Very well maid out, learnt each step of making sake. They even have free tasting of sake at the end of tour. Which we thought was really good drinking sake. We then paid for the 2 types of sake tasting, wow. It blew us away. #11 was slightly floral and tasted so good. Then we tried #10 which totally blew us away, triggering a MUST BUY reaction 🤣🤣🤣 It's really good sake made it small batches and we will be dumb to pass it off. So we took a bottle back home to remember this trip 😁

I enjoy these sorts of museums. A bit short but the highlight is the "craft room" that shows visitors how they make their small batch "craft sake" - fully sold out by the time of my visit but it seems a monthly affair. Also, free sake samplers at the shop. 10ml shots. There was an old dude just drinking non stop for the whole time I was there.

Very welcoming and friendly staff. Kobe is a great town. Hakutsuru Sake Brewery's free tour and museum offers an English self guided tour. The gift shop has many sake items, cups, serving sets and of course, sake, all with international shipping. They offer a sake tasting.