Hagi guided tour - The guided bicycle tour with Akiyama-San “aki” was awesome!! Aki is very knowledgeable in how sake is made and history of the cat temple and is fluent in Japanese and English. The countryside of Hagi is beautiful and there were hardly any cars which made this tour very relaxing as i didn’t have to keep checking if cars were coming behind me. The cat , unrinji temple is unique and the wooden cat figures were carved by a chain saw. Temple is dedicated to cats and if you go on this tour you will find out why. The tour started and ended at the yachiyo shuzo brewery and the head sake master gave me a tour of her brewery and explained the involved process of the production of sake and what makes good tasting sake. Sampling was given at end of the tour; I’m not a sake drinker but this sake tasted so good that I bought several bottles to take home as gifts but I may end up keeping them all!! You will not be disappointed in this tour.

In-depth, sincere, educational and fun tour that explores the creation of Sake in Hagi - Aki-san from furusato cycling was a fantastic, knowledgeable and fun guide. He was able to adjust the tour to my personal interests and preferences which made it a very valuable experience. The tour was well paced with lots of points of interest, and I was given a very good bike made it easy and fun to ride. I was able to engage directly with Hagi locals involved in the Sake brewing and ask questions directly, and get an understanding of how the local community is an important part of Sake. I am glad I decided to do the tour and it became one of the high points of my trip to Japan. I recommend this tour to anyone interested in where Sake comes from.