The Sanyo News site reports on a way to make sure recipients of a gift of sake take it the right way – a message on the bottle.
The Muromachi brewery in Akaiwa City, Okayama Prefecture, has started using labels on its sake with messages specific to Coming of Age Day or gifts for family members. The lettering was done by a calligrapher, and is used with a high-class design. The brewery sells the bottles as gifts in its online shop.
Seventeen messages are available, including “New adult” (20 is the age of majority in Japan, and the age at which you’re allowed to drink), “Congratulations on your wedding”, “Thanks for all your hard work”, and “Thank you Dad, for all you do”. The labels are made of Japanese washi paper, with calligraphy by Fujita Kahō, chair of the prefectural calligraphy association and Japan Fine Arts Exhibition exhibitor.
The brewery noticed that more young people were buying sake online, and hope to gain new fans through these products. They offer three varieties, for example an omachi daiginjō genshu in a wooden box (JPY 5,000 before tax), as of December 2017.
They plan to offer even more messages to tie in with more of life’s celebrations and let people express their gratitude, all with a local Okayama sake made with omachi sake-specific rice.
Links
- Original article (Japanese, Sanyo News, 6 January 2018)
- Muromachi brewery shop (Japanese)
- Coming of Age Day