Sake Industry News. Issue #96

Afuri sake and ramen go to court, FUWARI NFT, Sakuragawa Shuzō (Yamagata) and Fumimoto Shuzō (Kōchi) join forces, US National Sake appraisal and more.

Welcome to Issue #96 of SIN.

A few weeks ago there were dribs and drabs of hiyaoroshi floating about in bars and sake stores, but as we now reach mid-September, it’s become evident that hiyaoroshi season is well and truly in full swing.

There have been some brewers who have voiced concerns over the conditions for storing hiyaoroshi over the extremely hot summer this year, but so far quality has been looking pretty good.

The middle of September also means we're closing in on World Sake Day on October 1. Over the years it's been wonderful to see this day grow into a bona fide event celebrated all over Japan and now in many parts of the world - it's just a couple of weeks away, so start planning!

In the meantime, here's the news...

Note: Chief Editor Julian Houseman is stepping in for a very busy John Gauntner with comments for this issue. We apologize, but unfortunately we do not have a recorded audio version for this issue.

Brand Name Dispute Goes To Court

Kanagawa- Ramen restaurant chain Afuri Co.Ltd. has filed a lawsuit against Kikkawa Jōzō for the use of the name Afuri as a brand name for its sake.

In August 2022, Kikkawa Jōzō received a cease and desist notice from Afuri claiming the brewery is violating the trademark right of Afuri Co.Ltd. However Kikkawa Jōzō maintains that the Afuri name was taken from the name of nearby Ōyama Afuri Shrine, which worships the sake brewing deity, Ōyamatsumi no Okami. The priest of the Shrine designed the calligraphy of the label, Afuri (雨降 two characters meaning: rain and fall), and used roman alphabet characters to illustrate the pronunciation of “afuri”. The brewery claims that its brand name is based on local history and culture and is therefore not violating the trademark rights of Afuri ramen, which uses different kanji characters in its name. 

Afuri Co.Ltd., which uses the name Afuri on more than 150 products that the company distributes, has stated it will await the outcome of the judicial hearing.

Source - Yahoo

JH: I'm no lawyer, but I find it hard to believe Afuri Ramen has a case here. Given the completely different characters used to write Afuri, it would be almost impossible to confuse them in a written context. Surely the courts have better things to do.

吉川醸造 , 雨降 , 阿夫利

---

Trade Tokens For Aged Sake

Japan- FUWARI, Co.Ltd, has begun trading NFT (non fungible token) purchases for sake through its own NFT market platform.

Consumers are able to purchase an NFT from participating breweries. One bottle of sake is allocated to each NFT and is stored and matured using the brewery's facilities. The purchaser is entitled to claim their sake in exchange for the NFT at any time they choose, however in order to maintain quality, a maximum holding period will be set for each item. For products that have not been exchanged by the expiration of the maximum holding period, the sake will be automatically mailed to the NFT holder.

One bottle of aged sake corresponds to one NFT, meaning claiming rights can only be executed once per NFT.