Otokoyama Sake Brewery - The Best Place To Try Sake In Asahikawa For Free?

Asahikawa is home to one of the most prestigious sake breweries in all of Japan. In fact, this Asahikawa

sake factory has turned into a museum to display why it’s so good. Otokoyama Sake Brewery and Museum displays

the history of sake brewing in Asahikawa, including a number of gold medal awards over the years.

Come visit the Otokoyama Sake Museum – yes, there are plenty of samples!

If you’re into sake, no matter what flavor or style, this Asahikawa sake museum and factory is a great

place to learn and try many different version of the popular Japanese alcohol.

What’s the history of Otokoyama Sake Museum?

While the origins of sake itself are unclear, Asahikawa’s factory and museum have roots back to the Edo Period.

Otokoyama Sake is brewed in Asahikawa’s spring water, giving it a crisp taste.

The brewery opened in 1977 but has been regularly producing sake for many years before then. In the

Edo Period, the style of sake brewed is said to be a favorite of many Emperors and Shoguns.

There are not many ways to get to Otokoyama Sake brewery. If you feel like stretching your legs (like

I did) you can walk, but if you’d rather not take the 8km trek, and there’s not much to see along the

way, there are other ways to get to Asahikawa’s Sake Museum.

If you’re not up for a 16km round trip that takes around 2 hours, there is a bus. Head to the bus stop “

Nagayama 2 6 6 chome”, and it’s only a two-minute walk from there. There’s also a 200 car parking lot if

you have a car and rather that route.

Entrance to Otokoyama Sake Museum is free, as are all the samples. And you can have pretty much as

many as you would like – there is probably a cut off but I never reached it.

There is, of course, plenty of sake on sale. The price ranges greatly depending on the bottle you choose.

It’s always a great thing to be able to try before you buy!

Apart from trying many samples of different sake, and learning about the process of brewing sake, there

are quite a number of displays at Otokoyama Sake Museum.

Most pictures only have Japanese text, so you’re limited to looking at the various pictures behind the

glass. There are also a massive number of medals won by Otokoyama Sake brewery. In fact, they have

won a medal every year, for the past 58 years! Many of them being gold medals.

Otokoyama Sake Museum and brewery is open 9am to 5pm and only closed over the New Year period.

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