Discovering Sake at Gekkeikan Ōkura Museum
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Come with us as we explore the Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum. We decided to stop here on our way back from Uji.
When you first enter the museum head up to the desk and buy your tickets (we didn’t need to make a reservation, we walked right in, but you’ll want to confirm before your visit). The entrance fee was around $4 USD to visit and included a keepsake sake cup and 3 coins to use in the sake tasting room. I honestly can’t remember if we paid with a card or cash but I want to say they took both.
The first room you make your way through goes over the history of Sake, where it was started for them and what types of Sakes they used to make and do make. It’s really interesting to see how it first began and to where it is now. They do have little info plaques next to items in the case and some of them have English translation. But I think you still get the story without it being in English!
One of the rooms you walk through shows you the process that goes into make Sake and the type of equipment they used historically and use today. They also had videos playing to show you the process.
After you make your way through the museum the last room you will go though is the sake tasting room. Your entrance ticket comes with 3 tastings but if you want to try more after those 3 you can buy more tokens. At the tables they have a sheet with all the Sakes you can try to help you to decide what Sake you want to try first.
There are also Sake professionals in the room that will talk to you about Sake, the flavor profiles, what order to try in and provide suggestions. Our pro was a wealth of information and so interesting to learn from.
Once you’ve decided on your Sakes, go up to the machine, put your coin in, press the button, and fill your cup up.
When you are done sampling the Sake you can stop at the gift shop to pick up your favorite bottles of Sake to take home with you. We bought a few bottles and I appreciated that they had some of the Sake in smaller bottles because its just me drinking it lol.
Tip: We brought wine bottle travel bags to Japan with us and used them for Sake and other fragile items that we brought home. The bags take very little space on way to Japan. To use, simply insert the bottle in the bag and use the hand pump to inflate with air. Our Sake and other fragile items arrived home perfectly safe!
I would definitely recommend coming to this Sake museum if you have time. We spent about an hour here and that wasn’t rushing.
When you’re done at Gekkeikan Okura if you have time make sure to explore the immediate area. There are a couple Shrine/Temples to visit. We visited the Benzaiten Chokenji Temple before we went to the museum, we did some fortunes as well as getting a goshin for our book. You can also take sightseeing boat tours along the canal that are right by the museum.
