The Keyaki Hiroba Spring Beer Festival in Saitama has an unrivaled showcase of local Japanese beer. A world-class and surprisingly cheap selection of craft beers awaits only a 30-minute train ride from Shinjuku Station.
Numerous micro breweries hailing from Hokkaido to Hyogo offer gratifying craft beers for as little as 300 yen per glass; making the prospect of getting slightly sloshed far easier than at the seemingly ever-present (and ever-expensive) Oktoberfests that multiply throughout Tokyo during the summer months.
Held outside the Saitama Super Arena, the festival is a great chance to enjoy a variety of locally produced beer and soak up the spring sunshine. The breweries will be bringing their most popular beers as well as seasonal specials and one-off tipples created especially for the festival.
There’s also a selection of imported brews, as well as a few stands selling mainstream beers of the Yesbisu and Sapporo variety, all of which can be washed down with an array of festival foods.
See the official website for more details (Japanese): http://beerkeyaki.jp/