Sake Industry News. Issue #90.

Welcome to Issue #90 of SIN.

It's that time of year in Japan where the biggest question one faces each day is:

Do I need an umbrella today?

The rainy season has so far been fairly inconsistent, but there's always time for the weather to turn around into endless days of downpours....we shall see.

In the meantime, we continue to enjoy the return of brewers traveling the country promoting their sake and holding court in venues around town, finally getting up close and personal with sake drinkers after three years of COVID interruptions. Japan was arguably one of the last countries to remove plastic barriers from tables and counters and more recently the number of mask wearers has dropped significantly as the warmer weather hits, seeing many parts of Japan finally return to about as close as it's going to get to a pre-COVID society.

For a social activity such as drinking and sharing sake, it's a positive step.

And now for the news...

Bottle Shortage Continues

Japan- We reported recently on the shortage of isshō-bottles (1.8L) causing some stress for breweries, but as the problem worsens, a number of producers are finding themselves in unfamiliar territory as they counteract the shortage.

Akita Prefecture-based brewery, Hinomaru Jōzō (Mansakuno Hana) recently reported that procurement of the standard 1.8L bottles had ground to a complete halt. The brewery has been forced to take such measures as emptying bottles of sake that were in storage in order to bottle fresher sake.

Prior to the onset of the COVID pandemic, shipments of sake in 1.8L bottles hovered around 50 million to 60 million annually. However, when restaurant and bar sales plummeted due to serving restrictions in bars and restaurants from 2020 to 2022, shipments dropped to 39 million.

Since the end of 2022, sake sales have gradually begun to return to healthier levels, along with demand for the larger bottle format. However, bottle producers have seemingly been unable to keep up.