This large sake museum is built on the site of an old brewery run by Sawanotsuru, who have been making sake in this area for more than three centuries. Full-size recreations of traditional sake-production facilities are one of the highlights here - rooms filled with gigantic tubs and storage barrels where fermented rice mash was transformed into sake.

Upstairs is an exhibit of sake-production tools and equipment through the ages, including enormous cauldrons, as well as scale models of Japanese ships that transported sake from Kobe to Edo and the rest of the country. At the end of the tour is the museum shop, where you can purchase sake and traditional sake-drinking snacks. There's also a small tasting area where you can try a couple of the brewery's products.

There's English-language guidance throughout the museum, and an English-language video explaining sake production methods is shown in the entry hall. Traditional period music plays in the background throughout the rest of the museum.

The museum building was heavily damaged during the massive Kobe-area earthquake of 1995, and was reconstructed using mostly original building materials, reopening in 1999. There are several other sake-related attractions in the general area, including the highly recommended Hakutsuru Brewery Museum, located four stops away on the Hanshin line train.