Niigata is home to the most sake brewers of all Japan’s prefectures, but as consumption trends change, many traditionally sound businesses are turning to a beverage originally from halfway ...

NIIGATA—Young brewers are trying to breathe fresh air into the struggling local sake industry here that once made waves across the nation. Sake sales are on a downward trend across the nation ...

At Niigata Station we sample sake from the dizzying array on offer. We visit an old brewery that has converted one building into a tourist attraction. One sightseeing train—so popular it's ...

The reasons behind the ban remain obscure. One theory is that women were considered impure because of menstruation and were therefore excluded from sacred spaces, said Yasuyuki Kishi, vice director of ...

Niigata prefecture in Japan is renowned for growing rice, as well as rice-derived products, such as crackers, miso, and sake. Manufacturing these creates a significant amount of unused resources ...

vice director of the Sakeology Center at Niigata University. “Another theory is that as sake became mass produced, a lot of heavy labor and dangerous tasks were involved," he said. "So the job ...

Niigata is a leader in land-based aquaculture ... but they are otherwise disposed of as industrial waste. Producing sake, a rice wine, also leaves behind sake-kasu, the scraps of rice left after ...

Combat overtourism in other parts of Japan by visiting this central region. Here’s everything you should know before your trip, including the best things to do in every season and where to stay while ...