Family Sake Brewing Legacy on the Shores of Shiga’s Lake Biwa: A Five Senses Tour – with Tasting and Winter Exclusive Brewing Experience

Nami No Oto Brewery: 220 Years – and Counting – on the Shores of Biwa

Lake Biwa is Japan’s largest lake. Here, nurtured by plentiful water and a gentle climate, Nami No Oto Brewery has continued to brew sake for more than two centuries since its founding in 1805. A small, family-run brewery, Nami No Oto focuses not on mass production but on meticulous craft in each step of the process to brew great sake.

The brewery’s roots lie with the so-called kozoku (literally “lake tribes”), people who once dominated marine transport and fishing on Lake Biwa and were responsible for order and safety on the lake. These were specialist professionals whose livelihoods were deeply connected to the lake. This attitude of earnest connection with the lake and its people lives on today in the philosophy of Nami No Oto – tirelessly honoring both nature and painstaking craftsmanship.

Kokoshinshu: Brewing Tradition and Audacity

The guiding principle of Nami No Oto Brewery is “Kokoshinshu.” Coined by haiku master Takahama Kyoshi, this four-character expression translates literally to “Ancient Vessels, New Spirits” and describes a philosophy of honoring both the continuity of tradition and the boldness of forging new paths forward. And the brewery does just that, cherishing heritage techniques and spirit while ever adapting its brewing to the times.

Rather than full mechanization, the brewery still values the human experience and intuition of the brewmaster, who meticulously calibrates each day’s approach to the condition to ever-changing environmental conditions. When cultivating the koji – a microscopic fungus vital for sake brewing – Nami No Oto uses the rare futa-koji (tray) method, employing wooden trays that allow brewers to observe the koji’s “breath” as it grows. This method is a pillar of Nami No Oto’s heritage brewing.

The brewery also explores the wide potential of its ingredients, brewing with as many as forty different varieties of Shiga Prefecture rice. Harnessing these local bounties and dynamically adapting new ideas, Nami No Oto continues to develop distinctive flavors.

A Special Seasonal Brewing Experience (Winter Exclusive Optional Add-on)

Experience actual brewing preparation work by selecting the special winter exclusive add-on. This experience is a rare opportunity to not only learn about the brewing process but get hands-on experience with a major part of it.

Under master guidance, participants can enter areas normally closed to tour visitors. Experience the reality of the graceful and grunt work of brewing alike, such as carrying the heavy rice or turning it to cool it. Tastings of the moromi (mash) and koji (matured brewing fungus) also help to demonstrate the significance of each step through the flavors they produce.

For safety and quality control reasons, the koji room is off limits, but participants can get up-close with the other steps in the process. This optional winter-exclusive add-on includes a 720 milliliter souvenir bottle of sake finished with a special label showcasing a photo of you doing the brewing, as well as an original limited-edition brewery tenugui (traditional light-cotton hand towel). Participants can also feel free to take their own photos during this special experience of the very heart of sake brewing.

The Year-Round Brewery Tour: A Deep Dive into How Sake is Made

Even outside the winter brewing season, a thorough tour offers comprehensive insights into the sake-making process. Sake is completed through a long process with numerous steps: rice polishing, washing, steaming, koji cultivation, fermentation, pressing, and finally storage. At Nami No Oto, brewers carry out each step while meticulously checking brewing conditions with all five senses.

Even complete neophytes to the concepts of sake brewing can learn all about the roles of rice, water, and koji – and the ways that polishing ratios affect aroma and flavor – thanks to clear breakdowns from the brewers themselves, also offering participants an opportunity to ask questions on the spot about processes and equipment for deeper insights.

A Tipple and a Talk: Tasting Sake Varieties with Brewer Commentary (Year-Round)

After the tour, enjoy a sake tasting either at Yokaro – the brewery’s restaurant – or in the brewery’s tasting room. Approximately five types are offered, including high-grade daiginjo and junmai ginjo, as well as standard, seasonal, and limited-edition sakes—each at its peak seasonal deliciousness. Participants may also encounter unique novelty offerings such as a Japanese liqueur combining kabosu citrus with sake.

A defining characteristic of Nami No Oto’s sake is its refined, subtle sweetness, which makes way for a rich umami and a crisp clean finish. It’s a flavor long credited to the brewery’s delicate, attentive craftsmanship.

Learn how to properly take in the aroma of sake, how temperature affects flavor, and how to pair with food through the brewer’s commentary. For any guests who might not drink alcohol, house-made ginger ale or fermented sodas are also available.

A Winter’s Breakfast with the Brewers (Winter Exclusive Add-on)

The winter exclusive optional add-on includes breakfast. After early-morning brewing work, sharing a hearty morning meal with the brewmaster and brewers at Yokaro is a memory that is sure to stick with you.

The meal includes white rice, pickles, grilled fish, and kasujiru – a regional soup made with sake lees, prepared by the brewery owner’s wife. Sake lees are a nutritious byproduct of brewing, gently warming the body from within. This is a breakfast that nourishes the body after the demands of brewing.

Participants can also taste hineri mochi, made by molding softened steamed sake rice by hand and grilling it with soy sauce. Born from the brewing process, this is a simple fragrant dish with a flavor you’ll find nowhere else.

The Ukimido at Mangetsu Temple: Where Sake Brewing Meets Literature (Year-Round)

The experience concludes with a visit to Mangetsu Temple’s Ukimido, a five-minute walk from the brewery on the shore of Lake Biwa. Literally translating to “Floating Hall,” the Ukimido is a tranquil setting with panoramic lake views that sits just above the surface of the water itself, giving visitors a chance to really soak in the richness of the local environment.

Mangetsu Temple is also home to a haiku-inscribed stone tablet from the 8th-generation proprietor of Nami No Oto, Yokaro Nakai – reflecting the deep ties between the brewery, haiku poetry, and the temple. A pre-final test carving of the monument, a product of the relationship between Nakai and the poet Takahama, still remains at the family home. These ties reveal Nami No Oto’s historic connection to not only sake culture but to literary traditions in Japan as well.

A Memorable Brush with Sake Greatness

By making time to not only drink sake but really get to know and understand it inside and out, you’re likely to discover unexpected insights into Japan’s culture, lands, and the people behind it all. Long after the journey ends, the taste of sake is apt to call back memories of your brewery visit and what it taught you, enriching each sip. Why not experience the profound charms of sake at Nami No Oto Brewery?