The National Tax Administration announced earlier this summer that convenience stores accounted for 36% of all alcoholic beverage retail outlets. All 55,082 of them combined.
Regular liquor shops were but 18.6% of all such outlets. Convenience stores are hardly at the top of anyone’s list when it comes to buying premium sake, however these stats may suggest this might need some changing. While you can occasionally find some local-only gems when popping into rural convenience stores, most of the urban located “conbini” rarely stock the styles of sake that would interest the discerning connoisseur.
It might sound outrageous to suggest bringing in sake of a more premium nature into these retailers; however, it was not so long ago that it was impossible to get craft beer in a 7-11 or Family Mart. These days however, while it isn’t quite standard, it is also not uncommon to find a few craft beers in the fridge. So there has been a precedent for convenience stores to get with the times, which makes the idea not so inconceivable.
There’s no signs of change yet, but you never know. One thing is for sure, we need more access to better sake!
And now for the news…
Hiroshima- We’ve seen a number of sake and music collaborations such as Tatenokawa and Euro-pop group Phoenix and American rockers, the Foo Fighters – and a number of popular DJs have also collabed on festival events and the like, but now things are getting turned all the way up to 11 as German power metal meets the o-choko!
Tokyo-based Cofro has launched RISING SUN, a collaboration between German metal band Gamma Ray and Hiroshima Prefecture’s Miwasakura Shuzō. The collab comes as a part of Cofro’s new HENI-SHU (変異酒) project, which aims to connect sake with music, art and other cultures. The release was created in cooperation with Gamma Ray founder and former Helloween (remember them? No? Where were you in the eighties?) member Kai Hansen. The sake itself is a junmai daiginjō and features a Gamma Ray-inspired label which recognizes the band’s long-standing connection with Japan.
RISING SUN went on sale in Japan on August 15, priced at JPY8000 for 720ml, with shipments beginning in late August. Cofro says the collaboration is the first of more to come as a way of contact between Japanese culture and international creative communities.
Source – Sanyonews
JG: There is so much fringe culture suffusing this project, the synergy of which is outstanding marketing fodder. And Miwasakura is great, character laden sake, so the collaboration is destined for success, and some wonderful weirdness too.
美和桜酒造
Fukushima- Fukushima Prefecture has begun developing its first original sake yeast in nearly 17 years as part of efforts to further improve the quality and appeal of its local sake. Researchers at the prefectural High-Tech Plaza Aizu-Wakamatsu Technical Support Center are developing a yeast that aims to produce bright apple and strawberry-like aromas while keeping acidity relatively low, reflecting consumer demand for aromatic, clean and approachable sake styles.
