Kyoto · Fushimi
Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum
Gekkeikan is a sake brewery that has operated in Fushimi since 1637, more than 385 years. The museum sits in a sake warehouse from 1909: a stone floor where the rice was once washed, and exposed wooden beams in the ceiling.
The route is self-guided, with no guide, and takes about 40 to 60 minutes: the history of the brewery, a film on how sake is made, and at the end a tasting of three kinds out of about ten that change with the season. A digital guide opens on your phone through the museum's WiFi.
Across the courtyard is the Uchigura brewery, where sake masters of the Tajima school brew with the old methods. In winter, at the height of the brewing season, the smell of steamed rice and fermentation reaches the street. Fushimi sake is built on the area's groundwater, and the breweries gathered here because of it.
Good to know
- From 1 July 2026 the museum does not accept cash at all, not in the shop and not for buying extra tastings.
- On 26 October 2026 the museum closes at 13:00 (last entry 12:30) because of an evening illumination event.
- Drivers, anyone under 20, and pregnant or breastfeeding women do not get a tasting.
- On weekdays at 14:15 there is a guided tour of about 80 minutes, age 20 and up, up to 8 participants, for ¥3,000: it includes the neighboring brewery, three special tastings and a 300 ml bottle that you fill yourself and take home.
What is nearby
Approximate walking minutes from the entrance of Gekkeikan Okura Sake Museum.
- HereGekkeikan Okura Sake Museum
- 1 min
Jikkokubune boat ride More to see
A traditional boat that leaves from the canal behind the museum, a round trip of about 50 minutes. In 2026 it runs until 6 December, closed on Mondays except in April, May, October and November, and booking is online only.
- ~3 min
Teradaya More to see
The inn where Sakamoto Ryoma was attacked by men of the Fushimi magistrate's office in January 1866, and escaped. Four years earlier, samurai planning an assassination met here, and the meeting ended in a fight. The original building burned down in 1868 and was rebuilt.
- ~4 min
Kizakura Sakaba (Kizakura Kappa Country) Food
The restaurant of the Kizakura brewery, with the sake and beer the brewery makes.
- ~4 min
Torisei Honten Food
A chicken and yakitori izakaya in an old sake warehouse, run in partnership with the Yamamoto Honke brewery, founded in 1677. The sake comes from the brewery next door, including unpasteurized sake straight from the tank.
- ~7 min
Fushimi Otesuji Shopping Street Street
A covered arcade on the road that led to the main gate of Hideyoshi's Fushimi Castle. The solar roof from 1997 powers the lighting and a mechanical puppet clock.
- ~13 min
Gokonomiya Shrine More to see
The guardian shrine of all of Fushimi. Its spring, Gokosui, was chosen for the list of Japan's hundred best waters, and locals come with bottles to fill. Entry is free, and the stone garden is ¥200.
More in Fushimi
Appears in: Fushimi Inari: the torii gates at sunrise, Tofuku-ji and the sake district