The Japanese are doing it wrong

An article by Chiho Kusaka on MSN.com pokes fun at the Japanese for drinking wine with sushi when the rest of the world is drinking sake with Japanese food, and notes that more tourists in Japan are seeking it out. 

Opening with quotes from tourists about food pairing and the lack of variety of sake available overseas, the article quotes the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association (JSS) export figures for 2023 – JPY 41.08 billion for 29,000 kilolitres. That makes the per-litre export value of sake JPY 1,407, more than double the 2013 figure of JPY 650.

There’s also an interview with Jiemon Matsui of Matsui Shuzo, located in the centre of Kyoto, who has made a point of employing non-Japanese or English-speaking Japanese staff to cater to the number of foreign tourists. The brewery started offering tours in English in 2009 after a friend of an academic came to visit and were at capacity in 2019 during the Rugby World Cup. The number of visitors fell to almost zero during the pandemic, but started growing again since May 2023. They run three or four tours a day, and if they get large groups it can amount to up to 100 people. 

Matsui credits the increased popularity of sake overseas to the rise of washoku after its listing as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2013, but cautions that first impressions are crucial – if someone tries sake at a Japanese restaurant overseas and doesn’t like it, that will put them off trying again.

There are also quotes from Kaori Haishi of the Japan Sake Association, who notes a high level of interest in sake from Taiwan and Italy, which both use a lot of rice and fermented foods in their traditional dishes, which she feels are a great match for sake. But she also sees the price of sake made in Japan and exported as a barrier, so hopes to see more local production around the world which will also make it easier to create sake that pleases local palates.

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寿司屋でワインを飲んでいるのは日本人だけ…いまインバウンド客が「日本酒」を大絶賛している「驚きの理由」 (MSN.com, 1 July 2024)

I thought this was interesting for a few reasons.

Matsui Shuzo is in a pretty unique location very close to central Kyoto, which makes it possible to visit in just a few hours for the many (too many) tourists in the city. Their decision to employ English-speaking staff (Japanese or non-Japanese) plus their well-equipped tasting room – which is more like a small bar – makes it an easy choice for any visitor passing through Kyoto with a little time to spare. They’ve also gone with non-traditional branding and are very much geared towards non-Japanese visitors. It’s clearly a winning formula but it’s not clear how replicable it is elsewhere – maybe Fushimi or Nada?