Pouring sake from a wine bottle and drinking it in a wine glass. Enjoying sake with anime characters. These are some of the unconventional drinking styles being suggested by sake breweries and retailers to attract overseas customers and young people. Now that washoku traditional Japanese cuisine has been registered as a UNESCO intangible cultural property, there is an opportunity for sake to heighten its profile overseas.
From what resembles a champagne bottle, sake is poured into a large wine glass placed on a mat with beautiful Hungarian embroidery. The sake, called Tokubetsu Junmai Chateau Myoko, was presented to participants at a gathering of the Japan-Hungary Economic Exchange Committee at the Hungarian Embassy in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in April.
Politicians, businesspeople and diplomats toasted each other holding glasses filled with the sake sold by Myokoshuzo Co., a sake brewery in Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture, since 2011.
Several types of sake served at the event were presented in bottles seemingly meant for champagne and wine. The bottle labels also looked like those for champagne or wine. After swishing a large glass containing the sake, the pleasing aroma of malted rice rose into the air.
“[Sake] suits Hungarian cuisine very well. I was surprised,” said Istvan Szerdahelyi, the Hungarian ambassador to Japan. Kenzo Yoneda, secretary general of the committee and representative director of the International Economic Exchange Association, said, “If sake is exported in styles and forms familiar to people overseas, it is better accepted by the global community.”
Politicians, businesspeople and diplomats toasted each other holding glasses filled with the sake sold by Myokoshuzo Co., a sake brewery in Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture, since 2011.
Several types of sake served at the event were presented in bottles seemingly meant for champagne and wine. The bottle labels also looked like those for champagne or wine. After swishing a large glass containing the sake, the pleasing aroma of malted rice rose into the air.
“[Sake] suits Hungarian cuisine very well. I was surprised,” said Istvan Szerdahelyi, the Hungarian ambassador to Japan. Kenzo Yoneda, secretary general of the committee and representative director of the International Economic Exchange Association, said, “If sake is exported in styles and forms familiar to people overseas, it is better accepted by the global community.”
Tomu Co., a group of sake retailers mainly in the Kanto region, has been making efforts to increase fans of sake since 2008 by using original “moe characters.” Moe characters, or moe-kyara, are usually cute, young female characters in anime with a strong fan base.
One of the member retailers, Inoue Saketen in Kuki, Saitama Prefecture, sells about 40 types of “moe-shu” (sake with moe character themes). Products in two series, called Sweets Nadeshiko and Tomulier, have been manufactured by breweries nationwide under a consignment production contract.
The bottles are pink, blue and other colors, and the labels depict various moe characters. “Our store is becoming popular for our original moe-kyara products and also other types of moe-shu. Some of our regular customers come from places as far as Hokkaido and Nagasaki Prefecture,” store manager Atsushi Inoue, 41, said with a smile. “Many of our customers have come to like sake after they became interested in our moe-kyara products.”
One of the member retailers, Inoue Saketen in Kuki, Saitama Prefecture, sells about 40 types of “moe-shu” (sake with moe character themes). Products in two series, called Sweets Nadeshiko and Tomulier, have been manufactured by breweries nationwide under a consignment production contract.
The bottles are pink, blue and other colors, and the labels depict various moe characters. “Our store is becoming popular for our original moe-kyara products and also other types of moe-shu. Some of our regular customers come from places as far as Hokkaido and Nagasaki Prefecture,” store manager Atsushi Inoue, 41, said with a smile. “Many of our customers have come to like sake after they became interested in our moe-kyara products.”
The supporters’ club of the store has 187 members, who are regular customers. Inoue and others discussed their various ideas and launched the Kurihashi Kanban Musume (poster girls in Kurihashi) sake series in September, named after the Kurihashi district where the store is located.
The series features the store’s three original moe characters. Takuya Kano, president of private research organization Sake Bunka Institute, Inc., said: “Today, even in Japan, drinking sake in wine glasses is more popular than drinking it in traditional guinomi [sake cups].
To further promote sake to overseas consumers, it’s important to make them aware that they can enjoy drinking sake in wine glasses. Wine glasses have the added benefit of allowing us to enjoy the aroma of sake as well.”
Regarding moe-shu, Kano said, “It’s effective in attracting people who aren’t otherwise interested in sake.” Technologies for brewing sake in Japan are said to be highly regarded by winery operators in France. If you haven’t tasted it, try some. You’ll probably like it.
(The Japan News)
The series features the store’s three original moe characters. Takuya Kano, president of private research organization Sake Bunka Institute, Inc., said: “Today, even in Japan, drinking sake in wine glasses is more popular than drinking it in traditional guinomi [sake cups].
To further promote sake to overseas consumers, it’s important to make them aware that they can enjoy drinking sake in wine glasses. Wine glasses have the added benefit of allowing us to enjoy the aroma of sake as well.”
Regarding moe-shu, Kano said, “It’s effective in attracting people who aren’t otherwise interested in sake.” Technologies for brewing sake in Japan are said to be highly regarded by winery operators in France. If you haven’t tasted it, try some. You’ll probably like it.
(The Japan News)
