Hands-on experiences of brewing Japanese sake has been a hit with tourists in central Japan even before the techniques used to produce the traditional alcoholic beverage were added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
One such experience organized by a travel firm in Saku, Nagano Prefecture, offers visitors the chance to become a “kurabito,” or sake brewer. Participants stay in a traditional-style home where brewers once lived during the brewing season and take part in the processes of sake-making, including rice washing, steaming and fermenting using “koji” mold.
About 40 percent of participants in the sake-making tour at Kitsukura Shuzo brewery company are foreigners, according to the travel firm…
