Echizen Pottery and Echizen Chest Craft Tour with Japanese Sake Tasting

• • Hibiki SanoSOE Tour Guide

    “We will do our best to guide you so that you can have a fun time in Echizen Sabae and want to come again!”
    Born in Sabae City, Fukui Prefecture in 1998. After working as a local government employee, he was in charge of tourism at SOE.

Recommended Points

• 01
  Visit Ryusen Kiln, where Echizen Usukuchi sake cups are made
  You can create your own original sake cup.
  
• 02
  Juwari Soba Daikonsha in Echizen Pottery Village
  You can enjoy soba made by hand by the chefs.
  
• 03
  Katayama Sake Brewery, a 250-year-old sake brewery
  Learn about the process of making sake on a sake brewery tour
  
• 04
  At the Koyanagi Tansu (Chest) store, you can tour an actual chest-making workshop.
  You can enjoy the world of chest of drawers filled with local techniques.
  
• 05
  Uotome's restaurant bar has a modern atmosphere.
  Katayama Sake Brewery's sake and Ootome's original snacks are exquisite
  
• 06
  After touring and experiencing each workshop, take a commemorative photo with the craftsmen.

About the Tour

• View Spots
• Tour Contents
• Details

• View Spots

   

  Echizen, one of Japan's six oldest kilns, and the place where crafting techniques from across Japan gathered to give birth to the traditional chest-making industry.

  On this tour, you will visit two workshops: Ryusengama, an Echizen pottery workshop, and Koyanagi Tansu, a manufacturer of Echizen chests. You can also enjoy watching sake brewing and tasting local sake with meals at Katayama Sake Brewery and Uotome.

  

  Visit Ryusen Kiln, where "Echizen Usukuchi Sake Cups" are made
  The representative work of Ryusengama's Iwama, the "Echizen Usukuchi Sake Cup", is a masterpiece that defies common sense, with a drinking rim that is just 1mm wide. It is characterized by its lightness and smooth texture.

  

  Koyanagi Tansu store was founded in 40. They operate as a woodworking workshop specializing in chests in Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture, where traditional industry is alive and well. Currently, while inheriting the traditional techniques of Echizen chests, they are constantly exploring unconventional manufacturing, including their own original brands "Kikoru" and "OYANAGI."

   

  
  Katayama Sake Brewery, a 250-year-old sake brewery
  The two brewers here have worked hard to perfect their popular brews including "Kansai" and "Tsukigasa," which are perfect for special occasions.

  
  "Uotome" has been a beloved restaurant in the Takefu area. Why not ask the proprietress and sommelier, Ms. Nishimoto, about her drinks and food?
  You can enjoy a relaxing moment at the restaurant bar which has been reopened after renovation.

• Tour Contents

  
  Ryusengama is where the ultra thin-rimmed Echizen Usukuchi sake cups are made. This time, we will be making our own sake cup under the guidance of Iwama-san of Ryusengama. You can choose from five glaze colors.
  Your hand-crafted cup will take 1 to 2 months to finish firing, after which you can enjoy drinking from your uniquely made finished product once it arrives.

  

  Juwari Soba Daikonsha in Echizen Pottery Village.
  You can enjoy soba made by hand by the owner. On the day of the tour, you can enjoy just the right amount of salty walnut soba, grated soba, and kakiage set.

  

  Enjoy a sake brewery tour and sake tasting experience at Katayama Sake Brewery, a XNUMX-year-old sake brewery. You can learn about the process of making sake using all five senses. You can take home sake with original labels as souvenirs.

   

  

  The next place we head is Koyanagi Tansu store workshop. hereLearn about the history and process of Echizen chest of drawers. Make a paulownia wood box with decorative metal fittings similar to traditional Echizen chests. The box will be mailed to you at a later date to store the pottery you made.

  

  Enjoy Katayama Sake Brewery's local sake and snacks in Uotome Bar's modern Japanese atmosphere.
  Why not spend some relaxing time talking with the sommelier-proprietress?

  This concludes the tour of Echizen pottery and chests.
  On this tour, get to know the craftsmen, hear their thoughts, listen to the stories hidden behind them, and become a fan. This tour allows you to select products with more insight than usual. If you wish, you can also purchase items from each workshop on the spot.

  Please come and have a special experience where you can learn about manufacturing directly from the craftsmen.

• Details

  • Tour Details

    code:CIT1006
    Time required: about 8 hours
    Minimum number of participants: 4 people
    Maximum number of people: 8 people
    Tour conductor: Yes

  • Meeting place

    Meeting place	Right outside the east exit of Fukui Station 910-chome Teyori, Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture 0858-XNUMX
    Access	by car Approximately 10 minutes by car from Hokuriku Expressway Fukui IC By train 1 minute walk from JR Fukui Station
    Parking	Available

    View on Google map

  • Scheduled date

    Start time: 9:00~

    　This tour is on a request basis.
    　After confirming the purchase, we will ask you about 3 possible dates,We will be happy to make adjustments.

  • Course content

    1) Gather at JR Fukui Station East Exit
    2) Tour orientation
    3) Move to Ryusengama by car
    4) Soba lunch at Daikonsha
    5) Katayama Sake Brewery workshop tour
    6) Sake tasting/original label making experience
    7) Koyanagi Tansu store workshop tour
    8) Experience making a chest of drawers and a paulownia box with decorative fittings
    9) Uotome snack set
    10) JR Echizen Takefu Station disbanded

    *Depending on the status of the workshop, we may be able to guide you to a different workshop. Please note.

  • Included

    ・Factory tour fee
    ・Workshop experience fee
    ・Guide fee
    ・Lunch fee
    ・Vehicle arrangement fee

  • Cancellation Policy

    ・Cancellation 10 to 8 days before the tour date: 20% of the tour price
    ・Cancellation 7 to 2 days before the tour date: 30% of the tour price
    ・Cancellation on the day before the tour: 40% of the tour price
    ・Cancellation on the day: 50% of the tour price
    ・No contact or cancellation after the tour has started: 100% of the tour fee
    　* If it becomes difficult to participate on the day before or on the day of the experience, please contact the following experience directly.
    　　Contact: SOE TEL 0778-78-9967

  • Precautions

    ・We may guide you together with people from other groups.
    -Ceramics take time to bake. After the trial, please wait 4 to 5 weeks for the product to be delivered to your home.
    ・Depending on the day, we may not be able to tour the workshop, in which case we may be able to explain the process at another workshop. Thank you for your understanding.
    ・As we run the workshop with a small number of people, we do not go through the entire process of making pottery or chest of drawers every day. Thank you for your understanding.
    ・The workshop often does not have air conditioning. It's hot in the summer, so please bring water and a towel, and in the winter, it's cold, so please wear warm clothes.
    ・Smoking is completely prohibited within the workshop premises. Please refrain from smoking.
    ・Photography is allowed, but commercial use is prohibited.
    ・Children over 10 years old can participate (accompanied by a guardian).
    ・If you touch any machines without permission, you may be injured. Please act according to the staff's instructions.
    ・We cannot be held responsible for any accidents or injuries that occur in the workshop due to customer reasons.
    ・You may be walking around the workshop on the day of the event, so please wear comfortable shoes and clothes that are easy to move in.
    ・Please refrain from wearing high-heeled shoes, sandals, or platform shoes inside the workshop.
    ・When participating, please come in clothes that you don't mind getting dirty.

  • Contact Us

    General Incorporated Association SOE
    Tel: 0778-78-9967
    Email: welcome@soe.or.jp