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Stories of makers, ingredients, places and the decisions behind Japan's most compelling drinks.

Drink

Rethinking the Rule

How Natural Wine is Redefining Bangkok’s Thai Dining Table “Wine is hard to pair with Thai food.” For a long time, this was accepted wisdom in Bangkok. The heat of bird’s eye chilies, the sharp acidity of lime and tamarind, the pervasive aromas of lemongrass, and the layered umami of fish sauce—Thai cuisine possesses a […]

Bar

The Architecture of Belonging

How Asia’s Bars Are Redefining the ‘Third Place’ At HOTELEX Shanghai in March 2026, the traditional exhibition booth felt like a relic of the past. In its place stood fully realized bar counters and intimate lounge spaces, built directly inside the hall. Rather than distributing catalogs, brands invited guests into curated worlds of light, sound, […]

Drink

Why Japanese Gin Alone Is Staying Afloat While the Global Gin Market Sinks

The Quiet Strategy of “Accessible Luxury” During the pandemic, people fell in love with gin. It became a small escape in an uncertain world. A few years later, though, the mood has changed. By 2025, the global spirits market—including gin—had largely lost momentum. The boom faded quietly away. And yet, one category moved against the […]

Drink

Steeping 136 Kilograms of Strawberries—and Finishing Crystal Clear

AWAYUKI Strawberry Gin, and the Day Umenoyado Sake Brewery Was Called a “Disgrace” Until the bottle is opened, no one realizes it is a strawberry gin. AWAYUKI Strawberry Gin is completely colorless—clear as water, indistinguishable from an ordinary gin. But the moment the cap is twisted open, the aroma of ripe strawberries rises from the […]

Drink

Beyond the Sushi Counter

Curating Operational Context: A Framework for Integration For teams evaluating sake in non-Japanese menu design, a practical framework can be built around three style archetypes rather than a direct sales narrative: a clean aromatic profile for contrast, a structure-heavy sake for savory anchors, and an acid-forward style for balancing richer preparations. Expanding Beyond Traditional Pairing […]

Drink

The Butterfly on the Mekong

How a Dream from Hiroshima Rewrote the Story of Rum In a definitive moment of transformation, a 52-year-old man chose to step away from the secure embrace of corporate life, embarking on a journey to craft fine spirits from inception in a land entirely unfamiliar to him. His name is Ikuzo Inoue, a native of […]

AWARD : SHOCHU

Spring Water from the Kirishima Mountains and a Century of Earthenware Pots

Akarui Nōson” by Kirishima Town Distillery The San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SFWSC) is one of the world’s largest and most respected spirits competitions, where dozens of professional judges conduct blind tastings and score entries each year. In 2018, the Double Gold—awarded only by unanimous gold ratings from the panel—was granted to “Akarui Nōson,” a […]

Drink

The Quiet Dedication Behind Ichiro’s Malt Double Distilleries

In March 2026, the UK-based World Whiskies Awards announced that a Japanese blended malt had been named “Best Japanese Blended Malt.” The winner was Ichiro’s Malt Double Distilleries from Venture Whisky in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture. Created by founder Ichiro Akuto, it is a flagship expression that vats malt whiskies from Chichibu Distillery I and Chichibu […]

AWARD : SHOCHU

Barley Unearthed from Kuma’s Soil

Toyonaga Shuzo’s Mugishiru and Its Four-Time Kura Master Gold Legacy Most modern barley shochu aims for one thing: refinement. Cleaner aromatics, lighter texture, polished smoothness. But one bottle stands in direct opposition to that philosophy. From Toyonaga Shuzo in Yunomae, Kumamoto, comes Mugishiru, a barley shochu built not on subtraction, but on depth, weight, and the […]

Drink

Hakushu’s Famed Water and the 1880 Imperial Lodging

The Birthplace of Yamanashi Meijo’s “Shichiken Onakaya” When people hear “Hakushu,” many think of the Suntory Hakushu Distillery. But there is another brewery that has long used the same underground water from the Ojira River—the soft water filtered over thousands of years through the granite layers of Mount Kaikoma in the Southern Alps—that serves as […]

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