Glico Pia East

You can get a great factory tour here. There are English explanations as well. And you can buy special snacks at the souvenir shop

A bit removed from Tokyo, heading here involves getting to Saitama. From the train station, we took a 10 min cab ride to the factory. The staff mainly speak japanese but tried to provide cards with translations when available. Later there is a game and a factory tour that is completely in Japanese. There is also the option to design your own pocky for a few hundred yen. A fun experience if you're in the area, but wouldn't recommend it if you have limited time in Japan

Fantastic experience! Really well organised tour of the pocky / pretz production. Fun games and history. Amazingly friendly staff. Can’t believe it’s free! Easy to get here from Tokyo. There is also an optional pocky decoration activity which is mostly for children and costs 500 yen.

Fun experience for kids and grown ups! Book online well in advance. Vacancies open up but you cannot be sure. Book at least two months in advance for the vacation period August, December, March/April.. A small vending machine, washroom and gift shop are there outside the main building. It is a pain to get here but coordinate well with the train and bus timings, both coming and going. Else you will be stuck in the sun or the cold!

You have to book months in advance to secure a place on the FREE factory tours, but it is well worth the effort. The tour is around 70 minutes long and at the end you can make your own Pocky at a small cost. The entrance hall has quite a futuristic feel to it. The staff are very friendly. The tour includes an interactive game which the kids loved. We had to cancel our first appointment, but they were very accommodating in rescheduling. If you weren't already, you'll be a big Glico fan after the tour!