Saijo Sake & Kumano Brushes: A Hiroshima Craft Connoisseur's Two Days
Both of these crafts reward a slow, curious visitor. Day one is Saijo, a thirty-minute train east of Hiroshima, where you can walk the brewery street, take a tasting at the flagship Kamotsuru, eat the local sake hot-pot for lunch and try an unfiltered brew at a second house — all on foot, all within a few blocks. Day two is Kumano, the brush village southeast of the city, where the Fude-no-Sato museum tells the craft's story and a workshop lets you make your own brush before you head back into Hiroshima for a craft-shopping afternoon. Brewery tasting hours vary and the brush workshop should be booked ahead; confirm both before you go.
Highlights
- Saijo's white-walled brewery street
- A tasting at Kamotsuru
- The local sake hot-pot (bishu-nabe) at France-ya
- An unfiltered brew at Kamoizumi
- The Fude-no-Sato Kobo brush museum and a brush-making workshop in Kumano
- The Hondori arcade and the Orizuru Tower
Day 1 — The Sake Town of Saijo
Take the train east to Saijo, where the brewing district sits five minutes from the station. Start by walking the white-walled street to get your bearings among the brick chimneys, then take a guided tasting at Kamotsuru, the flagship house. Eat the town's own sake hot-pot for lunch, and finish with an unfiltered, full-bodied brew at Kamoizumi before the train back. Sleep in central Hiroshima.
Photo by Juliana Barquero / Unsplash 西条酒蔵通りSaijo Sakagura-dori (Brewery Street)
30 minThe heart of one of Japan's three great sake districts — a single street where seven historic breweries cluster behind white namako-walls, their red-brick chimneys and wooden 'sakabayashi' cedar balls marking each brewing house. The wells along it draw the soft local water that defines Saijo's mellow style.
Free to walk, any time; brewery shops roughly 9:00/10:00–17:00 (approx., 2026). Pick up the walking map at the station tourist desk; several breweries open their wells and courtyards to visitors.
Photo by Roméo A. / Unsplash 賀茂鶴酒造 一号蔵Kamotsuru Sake Brewing (Ichi-no-Kura Visitor Hall)
45 minThe flagship Saijo brewery, founded in the 1870s and famous for the gold-flake daiginjo once served at a US-Japan summit. Its Ichi-no-Kura visitor hall runs a short brewing film, free seasonal tastings and paid tastings of premium grades, with a shop of sake, sweets and glassware in a handsome old brewing building.
Visitor hall roughly 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30); free tasting of around five sake plus paid premium tastings (confirm the day's price); closed around Obon and New Year (approx., 2026).
Photo by Josiah Ferraro / Unsplash 佛蘭西屋France-ya (Furansuya)
1h 30mA Kamotsuru-run dining house three minutes from Saijo station and the birthplace of bishu-nabe — a 'fine-sake hot-pot' of chicken or pork and vegetables cooked not in stock but in sake, a dish created to feed brewery workers during the cold brewing season. Paired, of course, with Kamotsuru's own sake.
Private-room lunch from around ¥3,800 incl. tax, reserve about three days ahead; casual ground-floor dining also available (approx., 2026). The bishu-nabe is the dish to order.
Photo by Dmitry Romanoff / Unsplash 賀茂泉酒造Kamoizumi Sake Brewery
1hA Saijo house known for amber, full-bodied junmai sake brewed without added charcoal filtering — a deliberately old-fashioned, rice-forward style that stands apart from the lighter modern norm. Its brewery shop pours tastings in a converted old hall, a good contrast to the polished daiginjo of the flagship.
Shop and tasting roughly 10:00–17:00 (approx., 2026); tasting fees vary by grade. A few minutes' walk along the brewery street from Kamotsuru; confirm tasting availability on quieter days.
Day 2 — The Brush Village of Kumano
Head southeast to Kumano, the village that makes most of Japan's calligraphy and makeup brushes. Spend the morning at the Fude-no-Sato museum and its workshop, where you can make a brush of your own, then return to the city for a craft-shopping afternoon on the Hondori arcade and a wide view from the Orizuru Tower beside the Peace Park. Sleep tonight in central Hiroshima or onward.
Photo by Dmitry Romanoff / Unsplash 筆の里工房Fude-no-Sato Kobo (Brush Museum & Workshop)
2hThe museum and workshop at the heart of Kumano, the village that makes roughly four-fifths of Japan's brushes — from calligraphy and painting brushes to the makeup brushes prized by international cosmetics houses. Displays trace the craft and the work of master brush-makers, and a hands-on studio lets visitors make a brush to take home.
Hours 9:30–17:00 (last entry 16:30); closed Mondays (approx., 2026). Brush-making experience around ¥3,500, ~60 minutes — book ahead, as shaft name-engraving needs a week or two's notice.
Photo by Md Samir Sayek / Unsplash 本通り商店街Hondori Shopping Arcade
1hHiroshima's main covered shopping street, a long arcade of department stores, craft shops, cafés and casual restaurants running through the city centre near the Peace Park. The easiest place to lunch back in the city and to pick up Kumano brushes, Miyajima woodcraft and Hiroshima sake under one roof.
Arcade open through the day; individual shop hours vary, roughly 10:00–20:00 (approx., 2026). A short walk or one tram stop from the Peace Park; good for a relaxed lunch and souvenir browsing.
Photo by Dmitry Romanoff / Unsplash おりづるタワーOrizuru Tower
1h 15mA slender observation tower beside the A-Bomb Dome, with an open-air wooden rooftop deck that looks down over the Peace Park, the river and across to Miyajima on a clear day. Visitors fold paper cranes and drop them into a glass void running the height of the building — a quiet, contemporary counterpoint to the memorial below.
Rooftop admission around ¥1,700 adult (approx., 2026); roughly 10:00–18:00. Best in the late afternoon for the light over the park; the ground-floor café and craft shop are free to enter.
