Our guide was very friendly and helpful. The castle was awesome. Unfortunately, the brewery was not a working one but rather a museum. We were pushed for time all day. A long day.

Very boring tour. Two hours at the castle and only 30 minutes in the brewery museum. I thought this was a deceptive tour. As I understood, we were actually going to see a brewery, not a museum where the guide just pressed buttons on a computer screen and we watched a video of the brewing process.

It is easy to do this by yourself. Don't take the tour. Just take the bullet train to Himeji, look up the hill and see the castle, and start walking at your pace. If you take the tour, you will do the same, but at someone else's pace. This tour is a nine hour combination train and walking tour. There is no bus involved. The guide will not slow down. I had to separate from the group and meet them later.
Unless you are a thirty something, you might not be able to keep up with the guide. If you are a thirty something, you do not need the guide. The gardens are right next to the castle. The sake brewery part shows you dioramas and film strips. Not worthwhile. Himeji and Koko-en is great, the tour is not.