Shifting from an “Exported Product” to a “Locally Brewed Beverage”
What Gets Lost Between the Brewery and the Glass For a long time, sake was something brewed in Japan and shipped overseas. Inherent in this model has been a persistent structural challenge: maintaining freshness. Delicate styles such as ginjo and namazake are highly sensitive to temperature changes. It can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months for them to travel from breweries in Japan to restaurants in places like New York or Bangkok. If the cold chain is interrupted at any point along the way, the flavor the brewer intended can be compromised. Driven by the philosophy that local brewing can overcome these hurdles, an increasing number of producers are beginning to craft sake outside Japan.
61 Breweries Around the World Are Making Sake As of 2019, the number of breweries producing sake outside Japan had reached 61, roughly six times the number from 30 years earlier. The United States, in particular, is home to more than 30 of them, strengthening its presence as a leading center of sake production after Japan. This movement falls broadly into two categories. One is the model in which Japanese breweries expand overseas. A leading example is Dassai Blue, opened in 2023 by Asahi Shuzo of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, in Hyde Park, New York. It uses Yamada Nishiki rice grown in California and water from the Hudson Valley. By combining Japanese brewing techniques with American terroir, the brewery has intentionally given the product a distinct brand name—Dassai Blue, rather than simply Dassai. The other model is when local brewers launch their own sake projects independently. Brooklyn Kura, founded in New York in 2016, brews sake using New York City tap water and rice from California. In March 2025, it realized the export of sake brewed in the United States to Japan.
SAKE Brewed Outside Paris There is also a notable movement underway in Europe. WAKAZE, led by Japanese entrepreneur Takuma Inagawa, established its brewery KURA GRAND PARIS outside Paris in 2019. Using rice from the Camargue in southern France, local hard water, and French wine yeast, it produces sake rooted in Japanese brewing methods while expressing the character of the local environment. In 2022, the company opened its own restaurant in Paris’s 5th arrondissement, minimizing the distance between brewing and serving. Offering fresh namazake on the spot, right after it is brewed, creates an experience that bottled sake shipped from Japan simply cannot replicate. WAKAZE’s presence is a testament that sake is beginning to find a natural place within French food culture.
The Definition of “Authentic” Is Beginning to Change Can a beverage still be called nihonshu if it is not crafted with Japanese water and rice? This question is inevitable. Yet, in the world of wine, the answer has already been established. A Chardonnay from California is different from a Chardonnay from Burgundy, yet both are still Chardonnay. They share the same grape variety and technical foundation while expressing the individuality of the land. That is the essence of terroir. Brewers overseas are beginning to pursue not “imitation Japanese sake,” but the creation of SAKE in its own right. Brooklyn Kura seeks a flavor profile shaped by New York’s soft water, while WAKAZE incorporates France’s hard water and wine yeast. It is also telling that Hakkaisan, the brewery from Niigata, has formed a long-term partnership with Brooklyn Kura. A new form of collaboration is emerging—one that passes on techniques and philosophy while respecting local independence.
What This Means for Bangkok’s Dining Scene Southeast Asia still has very few fully developed SAKE breweries. One reason is water quality; soft water suitable for sake brewing is not easy to secure in tropical regions. Rice varieties present another factor, as cultivating strains comparable to Japan’s sake-brewing rice is limited under Southeast Asia’s climate conditions. However, a fermentation culture centered on koji is deeply rooted in Thailand. Lao khao, Thailand’s traditional rice spirit, is made through fermentation using loog pang. While this differs from the multiple parallel fermentation used in sake brewing—where koji converts starch into sugar while yeast simultaneously converts that sugar into alcohol—the underlying philosophy remains the same: brewing alcohol in partnership with microorganisms. That shared foundation suggests the possibility that a distinctive SAKE culture could one day take shape in Southeast Asia. At present, the quality of sake arriving in Bangkok depends heavily on the precision of the cold chain. If overseas-brewed SAKE begins entering Bangkok’s dining scene, it may occupy a different positioning from imported Japanese SAKE. For restaurant professionals in Bangkok, the question of “where it was brewed” may soon become a new criterion for selection. The traditional brewing techniques using koji mold, which were inscribed on UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in December 2024, are now being practiced in places like New York and Paris, merging with the character of new lands. The day when sake is recognized not merely as something shipped from Japan, but as an integral part of the world’s brewing culture, is drawing closer—quietly, but unmistakably. (Mr. Bacchus)
This article is intended solely to explore the brewing philosophy and cultural heritage of the global sake-making movement, and does not aim to promote or encourage the consumption of alcohol. / บทความนี้จัดทำขึ้นเพื่อนำเสนอข้อมูลเกี่ยวกับปรัชญาการผลิตและมรดกทางวัฒนธรรมของกระแสการทำสาเกทั่วโลกเท่านั้น มิได้มีเจตนาเพื่อส่งเสริมหรือโฆษณาเครื่องดื่มแอลกอฮอล์ สำหรับผู้มีอายุ 20 ปีขึ้นไป โปรดดื่มอย่างรับผิดชอบ