Sake News from Japan

The Shunan Keizai Shinbun reports on a surprising collaboration between a chemicals company and a sake brewery in Shunan, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Tokuyama makes chemical products for the semiconductor, healthcare and construction industries, while Hatsumomiji is a kura...

The ITmedia News site carries a story by Haruka Yasuda about a new artificial intelligence project, this time for the aromas of sake. SCENTMATIC an AI venture company based in Shibuya, Tokyo, announced their KAORIUM for Sake service on 9 December 2020. It allows...

National broadcaster NHK reports an announcement from the Japanese government of a strategy to increase exports of 27 agricultural and food products, including beef and sake. Their target is to strengthen exports and increase their value to JPY 5 trillion per year by...

2020 has been full of surprises, and their consequences remain to be fully seen. One knock-on effect of the closure of bars and restaurants and stay-home campaigns has been that many businesses – including brewers, wholesalers and retailers – have had to store their...

News site Jiji.com carries a press release for a seemingly minimal sake label that’s actually full of information – nothing but a QR code. The sake inside comes from Mitsutake Shuzōjō in Saga Prefecture, founded in 1688. The company’s mission is to “create innovation...

Lifehacker Japan carries a book review for a new volume about sake, this time aimed at business people and with the slightly ungainly title of What the Business Elite Know About Sake as Culture [ビジネスエリートが知っている教養としての日本酒, bijinesu eri-to ga shitteiru kyōyō to shite no...

The Ryokō Shimbun (“Travel Times”) covers a series of seminars held on 18 November 2020 at the Chinaznso Hotel under the auspices of the Tokyo-based Sake Service Institute [SSI, 日本酒サービス研究会・酒匠研究会連合会], a well-known sake promotion and education group. The seminars were...

The Shokuhin Sangyō Shinbunsha reports on the results of the 20th U.S. National Sake Appraisal, announced on 23 October 2020. The oldest sake competition outside of Japan attracted 176 entries to its Daiginjo A division (milled to 40% or less), 87 to the Daiginjo B...

The Project Nikkei environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) site reports on a new sake with a very specific cause – preserving the Ōze marshland. The Ōze National Park contains Japan’s largest mountainous wetland area, which is justly famous for its plant...