![Soy sauce brewery tour and making your own soy sauce (includes Mitarashi Dango experience)](/kansaiguide/data/directory/22000/21512/20240224_191524_6ee3d9c4_w1920.jpg)
Soy sauce brewery tour and making your own soy sauce (includes Mitarashi Dango experience)
Established 1918, this third-generation soy sauce shop located on a road leading to Okadera Temple in Asuka Village, Nara Prefecture, uses natural brewing techniques in its soy sauce production. As you enter the brewery, you can feel the live yeast in this mysterious and otherworldly space. Tokuboshi Soy Sauce Factory, which has been producing handmade sauce for generations, will give you an in-depth look at soy sauce and the seldom-seen inside of a soy sauce brewery. After learning about the soy sauce production process, try your hand at making your own soy sauce in a cedar barrel dating back to the Taisho era (1912-1926). Your personalized soy sauce will be complete after bottling and labeling. Then you'll visit a long-standing tofu shop founded over a century ago in Asuka Village to try it out with the soy sauce you made. These handmade soy sauces, fermented slowly in 100-year-old barrels passed down from the first generation of brewers, are sweet and a little thicker than normal, as well as richly aromatic. These handmade soy sauces, each individually made, recall Nara villages of the Manyoshu era (8th century). Take your time and thoroughly appreciate the flavor. After this activity has concluded, you will prepare your own mitarashi dango rice dumplings (skewered rice dumplings in a sweet soy glaze). These dumplings originate from popular local restaurant Imanishi Seishindo, and everything from their ingredients to preparation have been passed down across three generations of parent and child. Ingredients are also carefully chosen before use. The sauce for the rice dumplings is a unique custom sauce made using Tokuboshi soy sauce. Enjoy a luxurious time in a wonderfully renovated old Japanese-style house. (Served with ryokucha green tea)
Photos
![Wearing authentic kurabito-style costumes, visitors experience the soy sauce pressing process.
Asuka Village Commercial and Industrial Association](/kansaiguide/data/directory/22000/21512/20240224_191553_923bb5e7_w640.jpg)
Wearing authentic kurabito-style costumes, visitors experience the soy sauce pressing process. Asuka Village Commercial and Industrial Association
![Bottle your handmade soy sauce, put an original label on it, and you have your own soy sauce!
Asuka Village Commercial and Industrial Association](/kansaiguide/data/directory/22000/21512/20240224_191557_44d5f061_w640.jpg)
Bottle your handmade soy sauce, put an original label on it, and you have your own soy sauce! Asuka Village Commercial and Industrial Association
![Tofu, a long-established tofu from Asuka Village that has been in business for more than 100 years, is served with soy sauce squeezed by yourself.
Asuka Village Commercial and Industrial Association](/kansaiguide/data/directory/22000/21512/20240224_191557_e8d29668_w640.jpg)
Tofu, a long-established tofu from Asuka Village that has been in business for more than 100 years, is served with soy sauce squeezed by yourself. Asuka Village Commercial and Industrial Association
![After the soy sauce making experience, the participants will learn how to make Mitarashi dumplings and bake them on a shichirin (a traditional Japanese charcoal griddle).
Asuka Village Commercial and Industrial Association](/kansaiguide/data/directory/22000/21512/20240224_191601_2a72de12_w640.jpg)
After the soy sauce making experience, the participants will learn how to make Mitarashi dumplings and bake them on a shichirin (a traditional Japanese charcoal griddle). Asuka Village Commercial and Industrial Association
![Mitarashi dumplings topped with an original sauce made from Tokuboshi shoyu are served in a renovated Japanese old styled house.
Asuka Village Commercial and Industrial Association](/kansaiguide/data/directory/22000/21512/20240224_191601_e351276c_w640.jpg)
Mitarashi dumplings topped with an original sauce made from Tokuboshi shoyu are served in a renovated Japanese old styled house. Asuka Village Commercial and Industrial Association
![You can also have your photo taken at a soy sauce brewery in authentic brewer's costume!
Asuka Village Commercial and Industrial Association](/kansaiguide/data/directory/22000/21512/20240224_191601_93b2526a_w640.jpg)
You can also have your photo taken at a soy sauce brewery in authentic brewer's costume! Asuka Village Commercial and Industrial Association
Information
- Minimum Number of Passengers
- 2 participants
- Maximum Capacity
- 6 participants
- Participation Restrictions
- Registered healthy adults 18 years old or over (Children must be in the first grade of elementary school or older to participate and must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.)
- Meeting and Exchange Areas
-
Asuka Stand
7 Oka, Asuka-mura, Takaichi District, Nara Prefecture - Open Period
- Year-round
- Closed Period
- Feb. 1, 2024 to Mar. 31, 2025 - Every week, Fridays and Saturdays
- Meeting Times and Business Hours
- 1:00 PM to 4:30 PM
- Tour Schedule
- Asuka Stand at 1:00 PM -> Tokuboshi soy sauce production site from 1:10 to 3:05 PM -> Mitarashi dango rice dumplings activity (tea included) from 3:10 to 4:30 PM.
- Required Time
- Around 3.5 hours
- Universal accessibility
- Be sure to inquire about options
- Parking
- Parking: Please use the Ishibutai Kofun parking lot for up to 3 standard-sized vehicles or 1 bus. (Large vehicles: 3,000 yen)
- Notes
- Do not forget to bring your own drinks. / It is useful to bring a bag that leaves both hands free. / Rain gear (bring your own if necessary) / Let us know if you have any food allergies
- Related websites
- https://asuka-taiken.jp/experience007-2-en/
Map
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