Nanbu Bijin Brewery Tour: Become a Kurabito in a Wooden Kura Built in 1902

First up is Nanbu Bijin, in Ninohe City, Iwate Prefecture. The brewery is led by Kosuke Kuji, one of the protagonists of the documentary film "KAMPAI! For the Love of Sake."

The Nanbu Bijin tour isn't just a walk-through. Visitors put on white coats, hanten jackets, and tenugui headbands — full "kurabito style" — and walk the brewery dressed as brewery workers. When you step inside the wooden kura with its earthen walls, built when the brewery was founded in 1902, the air changes. It's cool, quiet, and smells like rice and koji.

The tour starts with a visit to Matsuo-sama, the deity of sake brewing, enshrined on a hill behind the property. From there, you move through the well, rice washing and steaming area, shubo (yeast starter) room, fermentation kura, pressing room, and a whisky distillery the brewery has recently started.

Two Courses: Simple and Premium

There are two options.

The Simple Tour (¥1,980, about 70 minutes) covers the full brewery walk in kurabito gear, plus a photo session at Japan's first dedicated brewery photo spot. Three cameras and professional lighting are set up inside the fermentation kura. After the tour, you download the photos to your phone via QR code. During brewing season, you may get to try kai-ire — stirring the moromi (fermenting mash) with a long paddle.

The Premium Experience (¥6,600, about 140 minutes) adds two things on top of the Simple Tour.

First, the custom label experience. Pick your favorite photo from the session and turn it into a label for a 720ml bottle of "hongura limited." This original bottle won the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Award (Global Category) at the 65th National Recommended Tourist Souvenir Screening in 2024.

Second, the kura tasting. You compare junmai daiginjo from the "Beauty Series," served in Joboji-nuri lacquerware sakazuki — flat sake cups that are a Ninohe specialty. Kuji-san and his staff walk you through how different rice varieties, vessels, temperatures, and blends change the flavor, adjusting the session to the season and the group.

Year-Round, Weekends Included

The tour used to be winter-only and weather-dependent. It's since been redesigned to run year-round, rain or shine. Weekends and holidays are available, which makes it easier to fit into a trip.

Ninohe City, Iwate Prefecture. About 10 minutes by bus from Ninohe Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen. Put on a hanten jacket and step inside a kura from 1902. It's not something you get to do every day.

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