Sake Brewer Gathering in Niigata Pref. Attracts Many Visitors

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:37 JST, March 26, 2025

NIIGATA — This year’s Niigata Sake no Jin, a large gathering of sake makers where visitors can sample offerings from breweries throughout Niigata Prefecture, attracted a large number of visitors earlier this month.

The annual event has become so popular that tickets for this year’s gathering, held on March 8 and 9 at Toki Messe in Chuo Ward, Niigata City, sold out within about four hours of going on sale.

The Niigata Sake no Jin Executive Committee, which is operated by the Niigata sake brewers association and other organizations, has been holding this event since 2004 to promote the appeal of Japanese sake.

On March 8, 80 sake breweries from the prefecture gathered at the venue, where they offered about 500 different kinds of sake.

Visitors enjoyed tasting and comparing the different varieties and listening to explanations of what made each one special as they moved from booth to booth with their ochoko small sake cups in hand.

Long lines of people waited to be served at booths offering sake from famous breweries and others with varieties not usually available on the market.

Hiroyuki Usami, 49, a company employee from Sagamihara, said he was attending the event for the first time on a friend’s invitation. “I was surprised by the number of sake breweries in Niigata. This is great,” he said.