For anyone who likes Japanese sake, this is the place to come if you are visiting Niigata! Just 500 yen buys you five sake cups-worth of sake tasting, including everything from famous brands to lesser known artisan makers, gathered from around Niigata Prefecture. All you have to do is select the sake that you would like to try from the tasting machines that are lined up in seemingly endless rows! You can also taste salt and miso here, together with the sake, meaning that it is easy to spend a long time here.

Ponshukan also sells a wide variety of other famous Niigata products, so people who don’t drink sake can also enjoy a good time shopping. An interesting experience that we recommend is to try the soy sauce tasting, as soy sauce is created from the discarded sake lees.

If you are feeling hungry, why not try the famous “Bakudan Onigiri” – an enormous rice ball made using 150g of delicious locally grown Uonuma Koshihikari rice?

Ponshukan is directly linked to the Shinkansen Station and is easy to access. There are other stores at Echigo-Yuzawa Station and Nagaoka Station.