Niigata Tour
TOUR DATES: November 29 - December 5, 2026 (7 days/6 nights)
GROUP SIZE: Minimum 5/Maximum 8
TOUR COST: $4,300 USD
TOUR INCLUDES:
- Tour starts in Niigata City and ends in Nagaoka. Chartered bus/van, taxi during the tour will be included (transportation to Niigata and after Nagaoka are not included)
- 6 nights hotel/ryokan
- Meals included: 5 dinners, 5 lunches, 6 breakfasts and sake! (one night optional izakaya tour or dinner on your own)
- Fees for all scheduled sightseeing and cultural workshops
- 6 Sake Brewery Visits
Participants must be at least 21 years of age at commencement of the tour. Contact us via email to get complete details for the tour.
Itinerary subject to change based on availability.
Niigata City
We welcome you to Niigata with an opening dinner featuring geisha entertainment and games. Monday brings two sake brewery visits to local breweries in Niigata City and a workshop where we make and wrap sasa dango.
Imayotsukasa and Echigozakura are two excellent sake breweries producing delicious Niigata sake.
The evening has an optional izakaya tour where you can join our tour leaders as they venture to at least two sake bars or izakayas (pay on your own). You also have the option to have dinner on your own in Niigata City.
Sado Island
We start off Tuesday by catching the jetfoil ferry to Sado Island. We visit two sake breweries on Sado Island and will also take a Taiko lesson at the Kodo Taiko Center, where the world-famous taiko group "Kodo" is based.
Hokusetsu and Obata Shuzo have histories in sake making on Sado Island and have made their brands known around the world.
Tsukioka Onsen
From Sado Island, we visit a craft sake brewery, Lagoon Brewery. Learn the difference between true Nihonshu sake and craft sake. A quick visit to Murakami and Sennensake Kikkawa where we learn how salmon is dried to create this Murakami delicacy. Relax in the evening at Tsukioka Onsen and enjoy the ryokan and onsen baths.
Nagaoka
Thursday takes us to Nagaoka where we visit [Koshimeijo Shuzo]. In the afternoon, get ready to visit the Tsubame Industrial Museum to get your hands on a hammering workshop where you create your own hammered tumbler or sake cup.
Friday takes us to two final sake breweries where we learn about how Hakkai Shuzo stores some sake in the Yukimuro. At Shirataki Shuzo, learn how to blend different sake to create your own unique blended sake (your personal assemblage).
