Okazaki in Aichi: Hatcho Miso Barrels, a Castle with an Ieyasu Museum and Daijuji Temple

Kakukyu packs soybeans and salt into a wooden barrel, stacks river stones by hand into a pyramid on top, and ages the miso for two summers and two winters. Each barrel holds about six tons of miso under about three tons of stones, roughly three hundred and fifty of them. Their storehouses pair black-painted board walls with white plaster walls.

Getting to Okazaki Castle, the Miso Storehouses and Daijuji Temple

Leg	How	Time
Higashi-Okazaki Station to Okazaki Castle	On foot	About fifteen minutes
Naka-Okazaki Station to Okazaki Castle	On foot	About fifteen minutes
Kosei-cho bus stop to Okazaki Castle	On foot	About five minutes
Higashi-Okazaki Station to Kakukyu Hatcho Miso	Taxi or bus	Five minutes by taxi or ten minutes by bus
Okazaki-koen-mae Station to Kakukyu Hatcho Miso	On foot	About five minutes
Okazaki-koen-mae Station to Maruya Hatcho Miso	On foot	About one minute
Higashi-Okazaki Station to Daijuji Temple	Meitetsu bus to the Daijuji stop, then on foot	About five minutes on foot
Daimon Station to Daijuji Temple	On foot	About ten minutes

Anyone staying overnight can compare places to stay in Okazaki before setting out.

New to rural buses and one-man trains? See how to ride them, step by step.

How Long to Allow at the Hatcho Miso Storehouses

Visit	Course	Time
Kakukyu Hatcho Miso on weekdays	Guided factory visit	About thirty minutes
Kakukyu Hatcho Miso for groups	Full group course	About fifty minutes
Kakukyu Hatcho Miso for groups	Storehouse section alone	Thirty to forty minutes

Reception for each guided visit closes five minutes before the start time.

Two Hatcho Miso Storehouses: Kakukyu and Maruya

Join the guided visit at Hatcho Miso no Sato and a guide walks you through the miso storehouse and the Shiryokan archives hall. The route runs from reception through the archives hall and the aging storehouse to the tasting corner and shop. The weighting stones are largely natural river stones carried in from the upper reaches of the Yahagi River.

• The shop is open from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon.
• Factory visits run from ten in the morning to four in the afternoon and start on the hour on weekdays.
• On weekends and national holidays, visits start on the hour and on the half hour.
• The factory is closed on December thirty-first, January first and January second, so check official information before visiting.

If you choose Maruya Hatcho Miso instead, reception for its storehouse visit opens at nine in the morning and entry ends at four twenty in the afternoon. Guidance there is given on the hour and on the half hour within those reception hours, with no visits between noon and one in the afternoon.

Okazaki Castle and the Ieyasukan

Walk through the permanent exhibition at the Ieyasukan and its five corners follow Ieyasu's life from birth to the unification of the country, along with the Mikawa warriors who supported him. A combined admission ticket for the castle and the Ieyasukan costs six hundred fifty yen for adults and three hundred twenty yen for children.

• Admission to Okazaki Castle alone is three hundred yen for adults and one hundred fifty yen for children.
• Admission to the Ieyasukan alone is four hundred yen for adults and two hundred yen for children.
• The Ieyasukan is open from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon, with last admission at half past four in the afternoon.
• The Ieyasukan is closed at the end of the year, from December twenty-ninth to December thirty-first.

Daijuji Temple

Plan the temple visit between nine in the morning and four in the afternoon, since reception closes at three fifty in the afternoon.

• Adult admission to the treasure hall and the Daihojo is five hundred yen.
• Admission for elementary and junior high school children is three hundred yen.

Lunch near the Storehouses and a Place to Stay

Stop for lunch at the restaurant Okazaki Kakukyu Hatcho Mura, which is open from eleven in the morning to three in the afternoon with last orders at half past two in the afternoon.

If you would rather stay the night than head back, compare hotels in Okazaki before you travel.