factory tours?

[rlivings]

Does anyone have information on factory food/beverage tours in Japan? I've been to the Kirin factory and I think there is also a Sapporo beeru tour but thats about it.

[torakris]

there are quite a few places from beer to shumai to cheese and milk.

What part of Japan are you looking for?

do you wnat the tours in English or Japanese?

[rlivings]

there are quite a few places from beer to shumai to cheese and milk.

What part of Japan are you looking for?

do you wnat the tours in English or Japanese?

←

I'm in the Yokosuka area so something relatively close would be great. English would be preferable but my co-workers and I dont really mind if the tours are in Japanese.

[torakris]

Are you in Japan right now?

I was just looking at a magazine in the bookstore the other day, a kind of Kanto area travel guide, and they had a whole section on factory tours in the area. I am headed back to the store today I can get the name of it, I make be picking it up myself. there was also a section on food events coming up this fall in the Tokyo area.

[torakris]

If you can read Japanese, both of these current magazines have sections on food factory tours

Aki Pia (left) and Kazoku de Odekake Aki 2005 (right)

since these magazines won't be around forever I am going to pass on factory tour information in the next posts.

[torakris]

I will start off with Kanagawa since this is the closest to where you are.

FOOD FACTORY TOURS IN KANAGAWA

Meg Milk Factory in Ebina

homepage

--reservations required

--groups of up to 50 people

--open M, T, Th, F 10 to 12 and 2 to 3:30 (tour is 1 to 1 1/2 hours in length)

--no mention of English spoken

Kiyoken Shumai Factory in Yokohama

homepage

--reservations required at leat one week in advance

--minumum 5 people

--open Th, F, Sa tours start at 10:30 and 1:00 (tours are about 1 1/2 hours)

--no mention of English spoken

Sagami Ham Factory in Fujisawa

homepage

--reservations required

--prefer groups of 30 to 50 people but smaller groups can join a larger one, this is their calendar, blue triangles indicate a day a group in scheduled but smaller groups are free to join

--open M, T, Th, F, Sa, tours start at 10:30 and 1:30 (tour is about 1 1/2 hours in length)

--no mention of English spoken

Snowbrand Cheese Factory in Yokohama

homepage

--reservations required at least one day in advance

--groups from one person up to 100

--open weekdays from 9:30 to 3:30　(tours about 1 hour in length)

--no mention of English spoken

--they also offer cooking classes for groups of 18 to 36 at a price of 500 yen per person (reservations must be made one month in advance)

Yakult Factory in Fujisawa

homepage

--reservations required 3 days in advance

--group size not specified

--open weekdays with tours at 9:30 and 1:00 (tours about 1 hour and 10 minutes) (Saturday tours are available for groups of more than 20)

--no mention of English spoken

Asahi Beer Factory in Minami Ashigara

homepage

--reservations required

--no group minimum/limit mentioned

--open all year round (except New Years holidays) from 9:30 to 3, tours start every 30 minutes and there are 12 a day (approximately 1 /12 hours long)

--no mention of English spoken

Kirin Beer Village in Yokohama

homepage

--reservation required at leasty one day in advance

--groups of 2 to 100

--open T, W, Th, F, Sa, Su from 10 to 4:30, tours leave every thirty minutes (approximately 1 hour in length)

--there are special tours for kids and families and a couple other special tours

--no mention of English spoken

Ajinomoto Factory in Kawasaki

homepage

--reservations required at least one week in advance

--prefer groups of about 25 people, but a couple days each month are set aside for smaller groups (see the homepage for the dates)

--open weekdays from 9:30 to 3:30 tours start at 9:30 and 1:30 (last for about 2 hours)

--no mention of English spoken

Nakazawa Sake Factory in Ashigara

a link to information

--reservations are required for groups of 15 or more, but some days tours can't be held so it is best to call first

--open everyday from 10 to 4, with tours at 1:30 and 4

--no mention of English spoken

Kamaboko Hakubutsukan (museum)

homepage

--no reservations required

--open everyday from 10 to 5

--classes for making your own kamaboko are held 4 times a day (reservations may be made just before the class starts) at 1,500 yen per person

--no mention of English spoken

[torakris]

All of the tours are free of charge unless mentioned.

I am going to try to keep on post per area, so you might want to check back to certain areas periodically as I may be adding to them in the future.

[rlivings]

thanks for the great information Torakis. I unfortunately don't speak or read Japanese and I'll be going home at the end of the month.

The good part is that I come back to Japan two weeks after that and will try to go on some of these tours.

[helenjp]

There sure is a Sapporo Beer tour. I just got a flyer advertising a junior high school PTA mothers' trip...what happened to the flower arranging classes and whatnot that the elementary school PTA mothers used to indulge in?!

Nikka Whiskey is also in northern Chiba prefecture.

[torakris]

I swear I will finish this thread eventually..

In the mean time here is a nice list in English of some factory tours from all over Japan.

[helenjp]

Shoyu - Kikkoman Monoshiri Shoyu-kan Open 9-3.30, not always open on holidays.

3 mins from Noda-shi station on the Tobu Noda Line (in Noda city, north Chiba).

Need reservation, tel 04-7123-5136. No charge for visits.