9/14(Sat) and 9/15(Sun) at "North Alps Drinking Walk" in Shinano-Omachi, Nagano Enjoy Japanese sake and beer at the "North Alps Drinking Walk" in Shinano-Omachi, Nagano on Sept. 14 and 15! The "North Alps International Art Festival" will be held at the same time!

The North Alps Drinking Walk Executive Committee will hold the "North Alps Drinking Walk" on September 14 (Sat.) and 15 (Sun.), 2024, the first day of a three-day weekend, The name of the event has been changed from "Shinano-Omachi Sanzo Drinking Walk" to "North Alps Drinking Walk," and the event has been enhanced with the addition of three sake breweries and one local brewery. The event has been expanded to include collaborations with various Omachi City beverages, food products, and tourist content to broaden the appeal of the area, and each brewery will also have a kitchen car.

This year, the North Alps International Art Festival 2024, which is held in Omachi City every three years, will also be held from September 13 (Friday), the day before the festival, through November 4 (Monday, national holiday), with works by artists from Japan and abroad on display throughout the city. There are many sightseeing spots nearby, such as the magnificent Kurobe Dam, which releases a large amount of water for sightseeing every day during this period, and Omachi Onsenkyo. This is the perfect opportunity to enjoy both the "North Alps International Art Festival," which attracted over 50,000 visitors in 2017, and a sake-drinking event all at once. We hope you will take this opportunity to visit Omachi City in Nagano Prefecture, a wonderful mountain city with the highest veins of various rivers and abundant greenery.

Official website of "North Alps Drinking Walk": https://alps3kura.jp/

North Alps Drinking Walk Event Image

URL: https://www.atpress.ne.jp/releases/406713/img_406713_1.png

Outline of "North Alps Drinking Walk" *Prices include tax.

Official name: "North Alps Drinking Walk

Date & Time: September 14 (Sat.) & 15 (Sun.), 2024 (13:00-17:00 on both days)

Venue: Around Hondori, Omachi City, Nagano Prefecture *Walking distance from JR Shinano-Omachi Station

Breweries: Hakuba Nishiki Brewery (Hakuba Nishiki) / Kitayasu Brewery (Kitayasu Okuni) / Ichinoya (RYUSUISEN)

　　　　　　/Kita-Alps Brewery (Craft beer, first glass only free,

　　　　　　First glass is free, additional glasses will be charged)

　　　　　　Kitayasu Brewery will be open only on Saturday, September 14, and will not participate on Sunday, September 15.

Fee: 3,000 yen on September 14 (Sat), 2,500 yen on September 15 (Sun)

How to purchase tickets: electronic tickets or cash

(1)Electronic tickets: Available at "e+ (e-plus)

https://eplus.jp/sf/detail/4147320001-P0030001

(2)Cash tickets: Tickets will be on sale from late August at the following exchange booths

One Omachi Omachi Specialty Store (9:30 - 18:00, closed on Wednesdays)

Tickets are limited. Please purchase tickets as far in advance as possible.

If you wish to participate for two days, please purchase two tickets, one for each day.

How to participate:

1. purchase a ticket for the day of participation. 2.

If you purchased tickets electronically, please inquire the reservation status on the day of the event at the Inokuchi exchange counter (Izura Omachi Specialty Store). Please present the information on your reservation screen to the receptionist. After the reservation inquiry is completed, please pick up a set of participation certificates (such as an inoguchi, MAP, wristband, etc.). For those who purchased with cash, please move directly to the tasting room without stopping at the exchange counter for the boar cup. 3.

You are free to visit any of the breweries and sample a variety of sakes. Sake is included in the participation fee, but snacks and goods sold in the kitchen car are at your expense.

A popular sake event where you can sample a variety of sake at 4 locations within walking distance.

Cheers to all the sake brewers outdoors! Enjoy the unique fun of an autumn outing!

Many sake and original goods on sale!

The largest international art festival in Nagano Prefecture attracted more than 50,000 visitors in 2017. This year, 36 artists from 11 countries and regions will participate.

[Features of the four participating breweries in Omachi City

Hakubanishiki Brewery (formerly Usui Shoten, sake brand: Hakubanishiki)

Hakubanishiki Brewery was founded in 1906. The brewery named its sake brand "Hakubanishiki" after the three famous mountains of Hakuba. With rice grown in Omachi, limpid water from the Northern Alps, and a blessed natural environment, the brewery continues to produce Omachi's local sake, aiming for "a sake that is neither sweet nor spicy, and that you never get tired of drinking. Hakubanishiki Kinmon-Nishiki Junmai Daiginjo, which won the Gold Award at the 2023 New Sake Competition, has been highly acclaimed by experts for its quality and taste, and has also made a strong presence on the international stage, winning the Gold Award at the Australian Sake Awards 2024.

Hakuba Nishiki Brewery's official website: https://hakubanishiki.co.jp/

Hakuba Nishiki Brewery's Sake

■Hokuan Brewery (Sake brands: Kitaan Okuni, etc.)

Established in 1923 (Taisho 12). A brewery of subtly sweet sake that lets you taste the deliciousness of rice as it is. It is a small, traditional brewery, but it is precisely because it is small that it pays attention to every detail and makes sake with sincerity and honesty. The brewery is one of the largest wooden structures in Omachi City, with a rare koji room on the second floor, and is located within walking distance of the more than 2-meter tall Daikokuten-sama statue, which is loved as a good-luck sake with its lucky face on the sake label.

The official website of Kitayasu Brewery: https://hokuan.co.jp/

Sake of Kitayasu Jozo

■Ichinoya (Sake brands: RYUSUISEN, Kinran Kurobe, Ichinoya)

Founded in 1865 (Edo period, the first year of Keio). A group of townhouses and storehouses from the Meiji era still remain. The "namako wall" facing the street and the "udatsu (firewall)" towering over the border between the building and the neighboring houses, etc., show the appearance of the time when the brewery was built. As the pride of Japan, RYUSUISEN aims to create sake that is loved around the world, and is promoting the global development of the RYUSUISEN brand. The bar counter with a handmade mirror ball hanging in the brewery is also popular among fans.

Ichinoya's official website: https://ichinoya.com/

Ichinoya's Sake

■Kita-Alps Brewery (various craft beers such as Glacier LAGER)

Brewery born in 2019. All liquid types are made with "natural water from the North Alps," and thanks to this high-quality, ultra-soft water, all styles are extremely easy to drink and have a refreshing and crisp taste. Because the quality of the water is a perfect match for lager beer, lager-type beers are their main product, but they also believe in the potential of the North Alps spring water and are experimenting with ale, stout, weizen, fruit, coffee, and other beers without making any adjustments to the water quality. Their famous coffee beer made by a former coffee brewer is also an attraction.

Kita Alps Brewery's official website: https://lp.n-alps.beer/

North Alps Brewery's Sake

Shinano Omachi Sightseeing MAP

Example of outbound route:

7:20 Tokyo departure (Shinkansen #503 KAGAYAKI) -8:37 Nagano arrival -9:00 Nagano departure (Alpico Bus) -10:10 Shinano-Omachi arrival (Total 2 hours 53 minutes)

There is also a route without transfer from Shinjuku!

8:00 Departure from Shinjuku (Shinkansen AZSA #5) -11:16 Arrival in Shinano-Omachi (Total approx. 3 hrs. 16 min.)

Reference link: North Alps International Art Festival: https://shinano-omachi.jp/