By Kosuke KujiJapanese sake was officially imported into Myanmar for the first time in February 2018. Official export of Japanese sake to Myanmar that the Sake Export Association (of which I’m also a member) had long worked towards finally became a reality. There was no law up to this point to allow...

By Yuji MatsumotoThis is a trend I’ve recently noticed in the last two to three years, but I’ve noticed a widening division between the winning vs. losing brands of sake and shochu. The reason is as follows:- While the economy is slowly recovering, customers are still reluctant to loosen their purse...

By Kosuke KujiIn the previous column, we introduced the background that led to the Ginjo sake-sampling event held at the United Nations (UN). To hold the Ginjo sake sampling event at the United Nations headquarters means the invited guests were not local American consumers walking down the streets o...

By Yuji MatsumotoThe average amount an American spends at a full-fledged casual restaurant is, including beverages, about $20. If we suppose the entré...

By Yuji MatsumotoWhen I go to a nearby Japanese supermarket, I often find Americans at complete loss as to what to choose in the sake/shochu section. The same goes even for the Japanese, unless you have the brands memorized. So how can we categorize sake to make it easy for consumers to choose? We n...

By Kosuke KujiIn the previous column, Naotaka Miyasaka, 7th President of Japan Premium Sake Association wrote the association had set sail with the goal to establish Ginjo sake worldwide. No brewery objected to his opinion, and I was highly anticipating the future of Japan Premium Sake Association.T...

By Yuji MatsumotoConventional sake seminars (for the general public and businesses) were often about the brewing process, ingredients, and the sake categories. Textbooks and professional books have the same approach. With this seminar, however, I skipped all of them and talked about how to recognize...

By Kosuke KujiThe previous column detailed the first Japanese sake tasting event in the world held at the United Nations (UN), organized jointly between the Japanese government and Japan Premium Sake Association, and how the Japan Premium Sake Association was founded. Founded with forty-three member...

By Yuji MatsumotoIf you ask me if I enjoy having cocktails, my answer would be no. But that’s my personal preference. Develop sake and shochu cocktails at the restaurant and sell it. These cocktails are actually more popular, so I even have a “Sake Bomb” (a mix of hot sake and beer) on the menu. Oth...

By Kosuke KujiThe first Ginjo event in the world was held at the United Nations headquarters in New York several years ago. This was the first Japanese sake event held in the world inside the United Nations headquarters by the “Japan Premium Sake Association,” of which I’m also a member, jointly wit...