This post has been updated in Oct. 2017 here: UCC Shiga Factory tours in Echigawa, Aisho

The new UCC Shiga Factory (UCC滋賀工場) in Aisho, Shiga Prefecture has started free factory tours from April 2, 2013. UCC is a famous coffee brand in Japan synonymous with canned coffee. The Shiga factory started full-scale operation in March 2013 and makes coffee in plastic bottles (930 ml) and cans (300 ml and 400 ml) with screw-on caps.

The free factory tours are conducted twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. They offer two tours on both days starting at 10 am and 1 pm. The tour is about 80 min. and up to 18 people can join the tour. Make reservations (in Japanese) at the UCC Web site.

The tour includes a coffee-tasting session to compare regular coffee with coffee made with a concentrate, a video showing UCC’s coffee fields in Hawaii and Jamaica, an explanation of how coffee is made, a tour of a manufacturing line capable of filling up to 800 cans of coffee per minute, and live observation of quality control managers at work via a monitor. Everything is probably in Japanese only.

Note that photography (including video) is not permitted during the tour. Pets, baby strollers (can be stored), and wheelchairs are also not allowed due to the numerous stairs. See photos of the Shiga factory here.

The factory is a 15-min. walk from Echigawa Station on the Ohmi Railways. Or 15 min. by taxi from JR Notogawa Station. Google Map