Kochi
HIGHLIGHTS
Sake
Visit four breweries located throughout Kochi Prefecture and see them during the brewing season.
The brewers will share their philosophies and approaches and offer tastings on the premises.
In addition to sake, one brewery will show us their chestnut shochu production.
Food
Enjoy the best of Kochi’s Pacific seafood and a stunningly wide variety of citrus fruit.
The welcome dinner will introduce you to Kochi hospitality, featuring Sawachi Ryori, a style of cuisine designed for long nights spent leisurely drinking sake.
Climb onto a fishing boat for the ultimate sushi fan experience, and have lunch right at the port with the fishermen themselves.
Get a close-up, exclusive look at the making of katsuobushi, an ingredient central to Japanese cuisine.
Visit a citrus farm and taste different varieties of buntan citrus, a kind of small pomelo.
Culture and Nature
Experience the henro pilgrimage by visiting a few of the 88 major temples that dot Shikoku.
At welcome dinner, enjoy the private Geisha performance and traditional Kochi drinking games that aren’t played anywhere else in Japan.
Hear from Japanese washi papermaking artisans, and make some washi paper yourself.
Visit popular local markets in the city, in a port town, and tucked away in the mountains.
On the last day, enjoy sake in a low-slung yakatabune boat while leisurely floating down the Shimanto River, Japan’s last undammed and free-flowing river, surrounded by lush green mountains.
This tour will not be offered in 2023. The itinerary below is an example of this tour held previously.
Contact us today info@saketours.com if you are interested in this tour.
Tour Destination: Kochi
Dates & Duration: TBA.
Group size: Minimum 10 guests/Maximum 14 guests
Tour Cost: TBA
One of the undiscovered gems of Japan, Kochi Prefecture offers stunning natural beauty, warm hospitality, and its signature light and dry sake. This interactive tour is for adventurous food and sake lovers interested in exploring Kochi’s rich culture and taking in its ruggedly beautiful natural landscape. Tour highlights include: four brewery visits, lavish dinners of local seafood and foraged mountain delicacies, a geisha performance, and visits with artisan makers of katsuobushi (fermented and smoked bonito) and handmade washi paper.
Enjoy a catch-your-own fisherman’s lunch, and a sampling of freshly picked buntan citrus fruits. You’ll walk a portion of Shikoku’s historic 88-temple pilgrimage, and relax on a boat ride along the Shimanto, one of the purest and most scenic rivers of Japan. The tour will close with a stay in a traditional inn, complete with open-air hot springs baths and panoramic views of a beautiful Pacific ocean bay from your room.
PRICE INCLUDES
Three to four special private tours and tastings at sake breweries.
Activities and entertainment: okyaku-style welcome dinner with geisha performance, private sushi lesson/ dinner, citrus tasting at a orchard, hands-on Japanese washi paper making, and fishing with the fisherman
4 nights accommodation. 3 nights at JAL city Hotel in Kochi and 1 night at ryokan Japanese style inn with hot springs.
4 breakfasts, 5 lunches, and 3 dinners. Dinners include selected sake from the breweries we visit.
All transportation costs during the tour around Kochi, excluding travel to and from Kochi. Travel on your own to Kochi via JR or fly from Haneda with the group in the morning. The flight is not included in the tour cost.
DOMESTIC TRANSPORTATION AFTER YOUR ARRIVAL IN JAPAN
Your tour begins and ends in Kochi. Travel on your own to Kochi via JR or fly from Haneda with the group in the morning. Transportation to and from Kochi is not included in the tour cost.
For your convenience, we will of course coordinate your domestic transportation for you.
Itinerary 5 days / 4 nights
Day 1 - Aki & Kochi, Kochi
Travel on your own to Kochi via JR or fly from Haneda with the group in the morning. The flight is not included in the tour cost.
Try a local “chirimen-don,” a dish of rice topped with freshly boiled chirimen jako, a type of small sardine. After lunch, stroll through Aki’s beautifully preserved former samurai neighborhood.
Visit the first brewery, Arimitsu, maker of Akitora. Here at the brewery, the toji explains his brewing philosophy. Arimitsu Brewery is a very small operation with a history of doing everything hands-on.
On the way back to Kochi City, stop at Chikurin-ji Temple for a Henro pilgrimage experience and the view of the city. Finish the day with a welcome dinner featuring a Kochi-style “okyaku” party, geisha performances, and traditional Kochi drinking games.
Hotel: JAL City Hotel Kochi
Meals: Lunch, okyaku-style dinner with geisha performance
Day 2 - Tosa, Kochi
Today you will spend the day getting an up-close look at a wide range of fresh foods in Tosa City. Visit a katsuobushi (bonito flake) craftman to see how this important part of Japanese cuisine is made. Learn about sardine fishing and try the freshest sardine dishes right at the port. Stop by another temple on an island with a stunning view of the bay to continue your Henro pilgrimage. Visit a citrus orchard that grows dozens of variety of Buntan citrus fruit, and sample them right at the farm.
In the evening, explore downtown Kochi City on your own, or join us for a casual dinner at Hirome Market for an ultimate local experience.
Hotel: JAL City Hotel Kochi
Meals: Breakfast; Lunch
Day 3 - Sakawa and Ino, Kochi
Visit one of Kochi’s most well-known and esteemed breweries, Tsukasa Botan. Stroll through their massive brewing campus consisting of old white kura buildings that take up a full city block, and learn about their endeavors in sake and community involvement. Lunch is at a restaurant overlooking the pristine Niyodo River known as “Niyodo Blue” for its deep blue color. Visit the Tosa washi (Japanese paper) museum and take in a talk and demonstration by craftsmen there. Try your hand at making this beautiful but durable type of paper.
Have an exclusive dinner at an intimate fusion restaurant paring sake from Kochi with locally procured dishes.
Hotel: JAL City Hotel Kochi
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch with Sake; Dinner with Sake
Day 4 - Kure, Kochi
Today you will get a very exclusive look at fishing and sake in the old port town of Kure in Nakatosa. Start the morning learn about traditional haenawa fishing then go on the fishing boats with local fisherman ( The Kochi Ke ALL Stars – see video below) to catch your lunch. Enjoy your catch with them at the port when you return. After lunch, visit quaint local market, Taisho Ichiba. Check-in at Kuroshio Honjin early afternoon to enjoy the panoramic view of the Pacific from our room. Soak in indoor and outdoor baths overlooking the bay, dotted with small islands.
Hotel: Kuroshio Honjin
Meals: Breakfast; lunch; dinner
Day 5 - Shimanto, Kochi
On the final day of the tour, visit one of Kochi’s smallest and most unique breweries, Mutemuka. See their sake brewing and chestnut shochu distilling processes, and hear the toji tell his unique life story as well as the brewing and business philosophies of Mutemuka. Finish the afternoon taking a ride in a “yakatabune” low-slung boat on the Shimanto River, Japan’s last truly wild and free-flowing river.
Return to Kochi Station or Kochi Airport in the early evening to continue your travels.
Meal: Breakfast
