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Japanese Products

Drink

From the Cellars of Tatsugo to Brown Spirits

Nestled in Ogachi, Tatsugo Town, within Kagoshima Prefecture’s Oshima District, Machida Shuzo rests between deep subtropical greenery and the coral reef seas. Kokuto shochu, crafted from brown sugar, holds a geographical indication that restricts its production strictly to the Amami Islands. Within this protected heritage, Machida Shuzo presents Honkaku Shochu “Sato no Akebono Gold” as an alternative philosophy for enjoying kokuto shochu. At 43% ABV in a 720 ml bottle, it pours into the glass with a faint amber hue that elegantly catches the light. At first glance, it could almost be mistaken for whisky. Yet, its true identity remains a honkaku shochu, born from Amami brown sugar and rice koji, then patiently matured in oak casks.

Drink

The Lifecycle of an Opened Bottle

“I want to stock great sake. But when I serve it by the glass, I end up with half a bottle left over.” This is a recurring sentiment voiced by owners of sophisticated Japanese restaurants and wine bars in Bangkok. “I’d like to offer sake by the glass, but the moment I bring in local craft labels or more niche selections, the remainder of an opened bottle simply sits. It feels ungracious to dispose of it, but I cannot serve a pour that has lost its vitality. Ultimately｜what is the true timeframe?”

Drink

Beyond the Glass

In 2025, the number of international visitors to Japan surpassed 42.7 million, marking a new era of global interest. Tourism spending reached 9.5 trillion yen, as travelers increasingly seek immersive cultural experiences over conventional sightseeing. And among the new destinations quietly gaining presence in this experiential landscape are sake breweries across Japan.

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From 27 to Over 140

In 2021, when the Japan Spirits & Liqueurs Makers Association (JSLMA) announced its voluntary standards for Japanese whisky, there were roughly 27 operating distilleries in the country. Just five years later, in 2026, that number has surpassed 140. This rapid proliferation is exceptional by global standards. Yet, this figure does not signify a mere "bubble." Rather, it signals a quiet tectonic shift unfolding across Japan, as distillers in diverse regions seek to capture the distinct character of their land and their own philosophies within casks.

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A Sake-Brewing Craft That Turns Amber in a Snow Cellar

At the foot of sacred Mount Hakkai in Minamiuonuma, Niigata Prefecture, there is a semi-underground storage cellar packed with roughly 1,000 tons of natural snow. This is Hakkaisan Brewery’s yukimuro, or snow cellar. Without any artificial electric cooling, American white oak barrels rest silently in darkness, free from vibration, at a year-round temperature below 4°C. What lies inside them is neither whiskey nor bourbon. It is authentic rice shochu, created by a sake brewery using the techniques and byproducts of sake making. Its name is Hakkaisan Authentic Rice Shochu Oak Barrel-Aged “Fubaika.” Bottled at 40% ABV, this limited production has been quietly crafted since its debut in 2016.

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Japan as a Wine Country

From April 15 to 17, ProWine Tokyo 2026, an international trade fair for wines and spirits, was held at Tokyo Big Sight. A total of 188 exhibitors from 23 countries and regions took part, and of the 22 seminars held during the event, seven focused directly on Japanese wine itself. The globally renowned wine critic Jancis Robinson MW appeared by video in a session titled “The Current State of Japanese Wine,” while wineries from Nagano, Yamanashi, Hokkaido, and Kumamoto took the stage as producers. In its closing summary, the organizers named “Japanese wine” as one of the three major trends of the fair. The other two were rosé wine and the rise of South America. In Tokyo in April 2026, it was quietly recorded that Japan, as a wine-producing region, had taken its place squarely on the agenda of global industry trends.

CRAFT BEER

The Thirty-Litre Beginning

Baird Brewing Company and Twenty-Five Years Across from Numazu Harbour In the year 2000, on a corner of Numazu harbour in Shizuoka Prefecture, directly across from the fish market, an American named Bryan Baird and his Japanese wife Sayuri stood before a brew kettle of only thirty litres, scarcely larger than a generous household pot. […]

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The Art of Waiting

The Quiet Resurgence of Kimoto and Yamahai in 2026 Before dawn in a sake brewery, a young kurabito grips a paddle and stands over a shallow tub known as a hangiri, grinding together steamed rice, koji, and water. The “moto-suri uta,” a work song repeated like a chorus, echoes low across the freezing wooden floor. […]

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A Fragrance Born Without a Still

Kanegasaki Herb Distillery’s “Waka Itsuki” Paints an Iwate Spring While working in the kitchen of a restaurant in Vancouver, he was given a simple directive by the Canadian owner: “Make cocktails using only natural ingredients.” Taking that instruction to heart, a young Japanese man went out and gathered thyme, rosemary, mint, and roses from the […]

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The Silent Protagonist

Tracing the Essence of Water from Nada to Bangkok Roughly eighty percent of a single serving of sake is not rice, but water. The total amount of water used in a brewery is said to be about fifty times the volume that ultimately ends up in the bottle. Washing the rice, soaking it, steaming it, […]

Bar

Rice as Vermouth

How a 148-Year-Old Kuma Shochu Distillery Crafted an Aperitif Through Subtraction When, at a bar in Bangkok, a vermouth bottle is pointed to with the words, “A martini｜with gin and this,” the idea that what’s inside might be not European grapes but rice from Kyushu simply did not exist for a very long time. In […]

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Black Koji, White Koji, Yellow Koji

Three molds that paint entirely different landscapes within shochu Just as wine is spoken of in terms of grape varieties like Pinot Noir or Cabernet Sauvignon, there are three names that should come first when approaching shochu: black koji, white koji, and yellow koji. In scientific terms, they are Aspergillus luchuensis, Aspergillus luchuensis mut. kawachii, […]

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