2 Best Sights in The Kansai Region, Japan

Nada, one of Kobe's westernmost neighborhoods, is home to a number of museums and breweries—many offering free sake tasting. The most popular is the Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum, where at the door you'll find a sake barrel of immense proportions. Traditional tools and devices and life-size figures of traditionally clad brewers demonstrate the sake-brewing process. There are also videos in English. The tour ends with free tastings. It's a five-minute walk south from Hanshin Sumiyoshi Station. Brewery Museum tours are by reservation only, so be sure to call ahead at least a couple days in advance.

This is one of the few sake breweries open to tours (from January to November), which should be booked at least two days before to ensure an English-speaking guide. All of the signposting is in Japanese, but there's a fine shop.