{"id":3164,"date":"2018-09-27T09:32:35","date_gmt":"2018-09-27T00:32:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/saijo-sake-festival\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T11:34:58","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T02:34:58","slug":"saijo-sake-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/saijo-sake-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Saijo Sake Festival in Higashi Hiroshima"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

In early October of every year, Hiroshima Prefecture\u2019s Saijo town (part of Higashi-Hiroshima) lets its hair down for a massive, two-day block party. <\/span><\/p>\n

One of Japan\u2019s three premier sake-brewing locales, Saijo is proud of its history. About thirty kilometers east of Hiroshima City, the town\u2019s brewing industry claims roots reaching back over three centuries. Today eight of the breweries are within walking distance of JR Saijo Station, in a picturesque district of black and white walls, where spindly brick chimneys stretch for the sky. Clustered along a remnant of the ancient Sanyo Highway, the area is also home to the National Research Institute of Brewing; giving\u00a0<\/span>Saijo<\/span>\u00a0some serious sake cred.<\/p>\n

The sakes of Saijo are prized for their full, round taste, a soft, sweet profile that brings sake drinkers from around the world. Many of the breweries have become justly famous across Japan and, especially in recent years, more and more aficionados abroad are taking notice as well. In addition to its breweries, Saijo is also home to Hiroshima University, with a sizeable international student presence. Many of these students return home with both a degree and an appreciation of Japan\u2019s national drink, which they\u2019re only too eager to share.<\/span><\/p>\n

Saijo\u2019s Sake Festival is held on the Saturday and Sunday in October falling before the Health and Sports national holiday. In 2018, that will be October 6 and 7, the first weekend of the month. Around the main festival area, you\u2019ll find parades, artisans displaying a variety of wares from their stalls set up along the main thoroughfares, and a variety of events happening at\u00a0the breweries themselves. Of course, the main draw is the festival\u2019s namesake itself, and people here aren\u2019t shy about diving in head first. After you\u2019ve toured the breweries and wandered the streets, head for the Sake Hiroba. <\/span><\/p>\n

As you enter the main drinking area, the first thing you\u2019ll see is throngs of imbibers lounging about eating and drinking. When you present your ticket (see additional info below), you\u2019ll receive a souvenir cup and an invitation to drink all you like. There\u2019s no chance whatsoever that you\u2019ll be able to try everything; recent years have seen the number of sakes on offer here swell to around 1000 different varieties from all over Japan.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The\u00a0<\/span>main drinking area<\/span>\u00a0is an excellent chance to meet not only local Japanese but also overseas students and visitors who crowd into the Hiroba. Many people linger for hours, sipping leisurely and making new friends as, inevitably, the boundaries between groups are dissolved by the wonderful and heady rice wine. Kids are welcome too, of course, and they\u2019ll form their own bonds as the adults around them get progressively sillier.<\/p>\n

In 2018, because of the flooding the area experienced in July, some of the venues are in different locations than in previous years, but the festival planners have worked round the clock to make sure that the festival comes off. If you\u2019re ever going to go, this is the year when they could most\u00a0use the support. <\/span>
\n<\/span>
\n<\/span>All in all, an enjoyable day out. Just don\u2019t expect to get very much done the following day, especially if you\u2019re not used to sake. It\u2019s sweet and eminently drinkable, and it will sneak up on you fast if you\u2019re not careful. Enjoy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Saijo Sake Festival Information 2018<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Location: <\/strong>In the streets around JR Saijo Station, in Saijo, Higashihiroshima. <\/span><\/p>\n

Time:<\/strong> Saturday, October 6 and Sunday, October 7.<\/strong> All day.<\/span><\/p>\n

Access:<\/strong> Public transportation is the best. Easiest access is by JR Sanyo Honsen line. Approximately 40 minutes from Hiroshima Station. Basic Fare: 580 yen.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Admission:<\/strong> Many events are free. Admission to the Sake Hiroba is 2100 yen<\/strong> if purchased on the day of attendance, or 1600 yen<\/strong> if purchased in advance. Advance tickets can be purchased until October 5<\/strong> at Lawson Convenience Stores (L code: 62807) and 7-11.<\/span><\/p>\n

Telephone:<\/strong> +<\/span>81-(<\/span>0)82-420-0330<\/span><\/p>\n

Website:<\/strong> (Japanese) <\/span>https:\/\/sakematsuri.com\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

By Sharat Chowdhury [CC BY-SA 4.0 <\/a>], from Wikimedia Commons<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In early October of every year, Hiroshima Prefecture\u2019s Saijo town (part of Higashi-Hiroshima) lets its hair down for a massive, two-day block party. One of Japan\u2019s three premier sake-brewing locales, Saijo is proud of its history. About thirty kilometers east of Hiroshima City, the town\u2019s brewing industry claims roots reaching back over three centuries. Today […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":3165,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,68,94,49,85,82],"tags":[69,315,312,52,96],"class_list":["post-3164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-festivals","category-food-and-dining","category-hiroshima-2","category-miscellaneous","category-travel","tag-event","tag-higashi-hiroshima-city","tag-hiroshima-day-trips","tag-hiroshima-prefecture-2","tag-october"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3164"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50667,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3164\/revisions\/50667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}