Business Wire

Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association: Global Beverage Experts Explore Japan’s Sake, Honkaku Shochu, and Awamori Culture

Share

The Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association (JSS) is hosting a special tour inviting top professionals from the global wine and bar industries to explore the depth and heritage of Japan’s sake, honkaku shochu, and awamori culture. This exclusive program offers first-hand experience of Japan’s traditional brewing and distilling techniques, which were recently recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250316698311/en/

Leading Sommeliers Visiting a Rice Polishing Facility

The sake tour brings together leading sommeliers and restaurant beverage directors from around the world to visit select breweries across Japan. Participants dive deep into the production process, learning about rice polishing, fermentation, and aging techniques unique to sake. The itinerary extends beyond brewery visits to an educational institute, offering specialized sessions on yeast selection, aroma profiling, and scientific approaches to sake brewing. The tour also includes visits to koji mold producers and rice fields, providing a holistic understanding of sake production from grain to glass.

In the shochu tour, top bartenders and bar managers engage with Japan’s distinctive distilled spirit, honkaku shochu. Unlike other distilled spirits worldwide, shochu boasts a diverse range of base ingredients and unique distillation methods. Participants visit distilleries, interact with producers, and gain insights into its complex characteristics through tasting sessions. The tour also features field visits to sweet potato farms – one of shochu’s key ingredients – allowing participants to meet local farmers and experience regional drinking customs using traditional vessels. These activities give them a deeper appreciation of shochu from multiple perspectives.

Beyond technical knowledge, past tours have facilitated dynamic exchanges between participants and Japanese producers. Sommeliers have praised sake for its “balanced umami” and “low acidity, making it highly versatile for food pairing.” Similarly, bartenders have commended shochu’s “wide range of applications in cocktails” and its “natural, additive-free production,” making it a strong contender in modern mixology.

Following the tour, participants actively incorporate their newfound expertise into their respective industries. This includes introducing sake and shochu into restaurant and bar menus, conducting staff training, and integrating these Japanese alcoholic beverages into local sommelier associations’ educational programs and cocktail workshops worldwide.

This initiative is part of JSS’s ongoing efforts to elevate global awareness of Japan’s traditional alcoholic beverages. By fostering direct engagement with international industry leaders, the association aims to expand the market, ensuring their continued appreciation on the global stage.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250316698311/en/

Contacts

Takeshi Itani
takeshi.itani@sakeexperiencejapan.com

(c) 2024 Business Wire, Inc., All rights reserved.

Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is the global leader in multiplatform press release distribution.

Subscribe to releases from Business Wire

Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Latest releases from Business Wire

Stackline and Redslim Partner to Deliver Unparalleled Retail Intelligence and Data Integration for Global Brands19.3.2025 14:00:00 CET | Press Release

Stackline, the leader in retail intelligence and data-driven commerce solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with Redslim, a leading data management company specializing in optimizing syndicated market data. This collaboration provides global CPG and CHC brands with a high-fidelity, 360-degree view of category performance—equipping them to make smarter, faster decisions in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Stackline’s industry-leading solutions provide brands and manufacturers with deep, data-driven insights into category performance. By tracking sales volume, traffic, and conversion rates across the world’s top retail ecosystems, including Amazon, Stackline enables brands to decode the omnichannel shopper journey with precision. Its digital shelf solution delivers advanced analytics to optimize product listings, enhance digital shelf performance, and drive sustained ecommerce growth. Redslim specializes in transforming fragmented market measurement data into harmonize

ReSync Bio to Democratize AI-Powered Drug Discovery with NVIDIA BioNeMo19.3.2025 13:00:00 CET | Press Release

ReSync Bio, a technology company providing AI-enabled drug discovery solutions, today announced that it has integrated NVIDIA BioNeMo NIM microservices to accelerate its scalable, high throughput AI tools for drug discovery teams. Through this collaboration, ReSync offers seamless, no-code access to the suite of small molecule NVIDIA NIM microservices, empowering drug discovery teams to harness advanced AI without coding expertise. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250319575218/en/ Image of the ReSync platform showing the integrated output of a partner model from NVIDIA. The NVIDIA BioNeMo platform provides state-of-the-art AI tools tailored for drug discovery. Its small molecule NIM microservices, such as GenMol for molecular generation and DiffDock for docking predictions, enable researchers to design, optimize, and evaluate molecules with unprecedented speed and accuracy. The ReSync platform utilizes NVIDIA N

Fujirebio Enhances Supply Chain Operations with Kinaxis19.3.2025 12:00:00 CET | Press Release

Kinaxis® (TSX:KXS), a global leader in end-to-end supply chain orchestration, today announced that Fujirebio Inc., a Japanese multinational biotechnology company, is using Kinaxis and its AI-powered supply chain orchestration platform Maestro™ to enhance and optimize its supply chain operations. Fujirebio Inc., a consolidated subsidiary of Fujirebio Holdings Inc., is a global leader in the development, manufacturing and sales of clinical diagnostic reagents and testing equipment. Fujirebio is currently focused on strengthening and expanding its Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) by leveraging high-quality raw materials in the immunology field and advanced reagent development technologies. To accelerate the company’s growth, Fujirebio needed to strategically link and synchronize its entire supply chain process, which spans raw material production to final product shipment and encompasses a multi-layered and complex set of operations. “The adoption of Kinaxis is c

Xsolla and Ukie Announce Partnership at GDC 2025 to Empower Game Developers in the United Kingdom and Throughout EMEA19.3.2025 10:00:00 CET | Press Release

Xsolla, a global leader in video game commerce, is proud to partner with UK Interactive Entertainment (Ukie), the United Kingdom’s industry trade body. This strategic collaboration names Xsolla as Ukie's official monetization partner and exclusive programming sponsor, reinforcing their commitment to providing game developers with the tools, services, and solutions needed to succeed in today’s rapidly evolving gaming market. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250319973116/en/ Graphic: Xsolla The primary objective of this partnership is to create a new collaboration that delivers an exclusive programme, showcasing Xsolla’s unique strengths and capabilities for monetization and commercialization in games. By focusing on commercial excellence, the partnership aims to transform the long-term success of the UK video games industry, fostering sustainable growth and innovation. Additionally, the collaboration seeks to bu

Firebolt Appoints Carlos Román as EMEA Vice President to Accelerate Regional Expansion19.3.2025 08:00:00 CET | Press Release

Firebolt, the data infrastructure for AI applications, announced the appointment of Carlos Román as Vice President for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). In this role, Mr. Román will oversee Firebolt's go-to-market strategies and customer-facing operations across the EMEA region, further solidifying the company's commitment to global growth and innovation. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250319698262/en/ Carlos Román, EMEA VP, Firebolt Mr. Román brings over 25 years of experience leading sales and demand generation within enterprise and digital-native organizations. His extensive background includes key leadership roles at Oracle and Confluent, where he drove exceptional revenue growth and market expansion. At Confluent, Mr. Román served as Vice President for Digital Native and Emerging Markets in EMEA, leading go-to-market strategy with AWS, Google and Microsoft. Under his leadership, the cloud consum

In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.

Visit our pressroom
World GlobeA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.HiddenA line styled icon from Orion Icon Library.Eye