How high can you go?

I often hear that sake is under-priced in Japan, which is just one of the factors that cause breweries to struggle to stay afloat. Like the kyubetsu seido (tax-assessor-based grading system) that came before it, the tokutei meisho classifications introduced in 1991 created an expectation among consumers that a certain classification will cost a certain price–and no more, which makes it difficult for breweries to increase prices beyond an average of a few thousand yen per bottle.

Venture company CLEAR (who also operate sake media outlet Saketimes and the seemingly defunct Saketimes International) have made several attempts to push the envelope for sake pricing with their SAKE HUNDRED range, the latest being the 2024 release of Byakko Crystalline Sake priced at JPY 38,500 including tax (around EUR 240/ USD 265). And it not only sold out, but had 70,000 people apply for a lottery to win the right to buy one of the 10,000 bottles available to members of the public.

In contrast to the average of a few thousand yen per bottle, the average price reported by SAKE HUNDRED is JPY 42,969 (EUR 267 / USD 296) for new customers and JPY 71,560 (EUR 445 / USD 493) for repeat customers (as of May 2024) with Byakko driving up the average.

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Clear、高級日本酒の抽選販売 1万本に対し7万人が応募 Airi Nagai for Nihon Ryutsu Sangyo Shinbun (Japan Distribution Industry Newspaper) Online, 2 August 2024 (Japanese) Image below is from this article.
CLEAR US site – Japan site
Obsolete Sake Classification System: Ye Olde “Kyubetsu Seido” John Gauntner, Sake World, 18 September 2014