February 10, 2011
Promotion
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2011 Pity the plight of Japanese sake brewers. Squeezed on one side by domestic rivals (shochu, happoshu) and on the other by foreign imports (wine, whisky), the nihonshu craftsman has reason to be pessimistic. Domestic sake consumption, which peaked at 1.67 million kiloliters in 1975, plunged to 610,000 in […]
By Metropolis
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on February 2011
Pity the plight of Japanese sake brewers. Squeezed on one side by domestic rivals (shochu, happoshu) and on the other by foreign imports (wine, whisky), the nihonshu craftsman has reason to be pessimistic. Domestic sake consumption, which peaked at 1.67 million kiloliters in 1975, plunged to 610,000 in 2009. But the brewers aren’t going down without a fight. Late last month, 11 of the country’s most esteemed sake producers joined forces to boost interest in the drink. The group includes celebrated houses like Nada, Fushimi and Itami, accounting for 48.5 percent of all nihonshu consumed in the country. The promotional campaign (dubbed “Sake ga Umai!”) kicked off with the release of a 17-minute DVD, for use in restaurants, showing how to enjoy sake in each of the four seasons.
