SoraNews24 —Japan News—

Can you tell what this eye-catching white bottle decorated with bright red patterns is supped to be? While the look isn’t exactly conventional, this is actually a sake product called NISHIKIGOI, and the bottle is artfully designed to look like a beautiful colored carp.

Japan
(alcohol • beautiful • carp • Imayotsukasa Sake Brewery • Nishikigoi • sake)

Japanese-style sangria with sake and pear: One of the best things about fall【RocketKitchen】

Casey Baseel
Oct 18, 2015

If you’re someone who loves the sunshine and hates the cold, you’re probably feeling a little down that we’ve now undeniably entered autumn. Maybe you’re doing your best to look on the bright side by enjoying some tasty seasonal produce, like delicious Asian pears, or maybe you’re just trying to brace yourself against the advancing chill in the air with a stiff drink.

But why rely on just one of those coping strategies when you can employ both by whipping up an easy and delicious batch of Japanese-style sangria with fruit and sake?

Japan
(alcohol • drinks • pears • recipe • Rocket Kitchen • sake • sangria)

FamilyMart’s alcohol-infused coffee drink so good, we can’t believe it’s only sold in Okinawa!

Kay
Sep 24, 2015

Okinawa, the tropical island at the southern end of Japan, is known for its unique culture and tasty foods like soki soba (Okinawa noodles) and rafuti (sweet stewed pork). Another local specialty Okinawa is famous for is the alcoholic drink awamori, a distilled drink made from long-grain rice.

While the beverage has its fans across Japan, it also has enough of a distinct flavor that some people consider it a bit of an acquired taste. So you can imagine it came as somewhat of a surprise when we found out that they sell an alcoholic coffee drink in Okinawa that is infused with awamori, and at a convenience store chain, no less. We definitely had to try this!

Japan
(alcohol • awamori • coffee • Family mart • Okinawa)

Exclusive Amazon beer coming to Lawson convenience stores in limited quantities

Cara Clegg
Sep 22, 2015

You can get practically anything via online retail giant Amazon, and there are even some products that you can only get via the website. Ordinarily one such product is a special beer from popular Japanese craft brewery Yoho Brewing, but beer drinkers will soon be able to pick up a can at their local Lawson convenience store. You’ll have to hurry, though, because the number available is limited, and once they’re gone, they’re gone.

Japan
(alcohol • Amazon • beer • brewery • convenience stores • Lawson)

Anime-loving bar owner also philanthropist, offers free drinks, place to chill to typhoon victims

Casey Baseel
Sep 12, 2015

Japan spent most of this last week getting pounded by torrential rainstorms. This wasn’t just a case of people getting their socks wet, either, as flooding caused damage to houses, disruption of train lines and highways left some people stranded away from home, and in some extreme cases residents even had to be evacuated by helicopter.

But while the rains stimulated the craziness in some people, they brought out the generosity in one bar owner in Tochigi Prefecture, because while the rain was falling on Japan, drinks were on the house, as he took to Twitter to offer free booze or a place to rest for victims of the typhoon.

Japan
(alcohol • anime • bars • Gundam • moving • typhoon)

Thai anti-drinking PSA is surprisingly compelling 【Video】

Master Blaster
Sep 9, 2015

As a child I distinctly remember anti-drug campaigns telling me to “Just say no!” and how narcotics would turn my brain into a fried egg rather than a raw one, which I guess meant that cold, transparent and runny is the optimum condition for one’s gray matter.

And after I was released from rehab for the third time, I realized that those messages were largely ineffective. This was because rather than educate about the way drugs work both chemically and socially, they simply resorted to speaking down to the viewer and giving us simple commands that we were expected to blindly obey for some reason.

Looking at the above image to an alcohol abuse PSA from Thailand, you might expect more of the same dogmatic obscurity of days past. However, this ad—as bizarre as it is—is a very persuasive and inspiring message regarding knocking off the booze and getting your life together.

SE Asia
(alcohol • commercial • drinking • funny • PSA • Thailand • video)

No booze please, we’re Japanese: studies show Japanese people are drinking less than ever

Evie Nyan
Aug 26, 2015

One of the things you may notice when you come to Japan is how much drinking seems to be going on. Certain Japanese societal circles (the workplace, university clubs, etc) run more smoothly with the help of alcoholic lubrication in the form of after-hours “drinking parties” to facilitate team-building and bonding—it’s called nomication (or nominication), a portmanteau of “nomu” (to drink) and “communication”.

So we were quite surprised to discover recently that Japan’s level of alcoholic beverage consumption is actually way, way down. But why?

Japan
(alcohol • drinking • sake • society • youth)

Will whiskey aged in space taste smoother? Suntory is set to experiment this month

Krista Rogers
Aug 3, 2015

Japanese brewing and distilling company Suntory Holdings Limited recently announced their plans to send samples of whiskey to the International Space Station in order to investigate the effects of zero gravity on the aging process.

Japan
(alcohol • drinks • JAXA • science • space • Suntory • Whiskey)

10 train faux-pas in Japan that some men are willing to let slide, from smooching to manga

Casey Baseel
Jul 14, 2015

Taking the train is by far the most common way to get around urban and suburban Japan. By its very nature, though, using public transportation means being out in public, which in Japan means following social norms about proper manners and not bothering your fellow passengers.

The average Tokyo commuter spends an hour each way on the train, though. It can be hard to follow all of the implicit rules of train etiquette during such a lengthy ride, and here are 10 minor breaches of etiquette that some Japanese men are willing to turn a blind eye to.

Japan
(alcohol • culture • manga • manners • romance • trains)

More lifehacks! The easiest way to keep champagne from going flat, tested

Mike
Jul 11, 2015

There are all kinds of urban legends and so-called old wives’ tales that proclaim the health benefits, or time-saving benefits, borderline magical properties, or terrifying dangers of doing X or Y. We’ve heard them all: Don’t eat within thirty minutes of swimming or you’ll get a cramp and literally die**,** bundle up when it’s cold outside or you’ll get a cold (by the way, oh my god, people, stop it with this; a cold is a virus, you don’t get it from the weather), an apple a day will keep the doctor away, a watched pot never boils, etc.

It’s almost like these old sayings and legends are the pre-Internet era equivalent of lifehacks! And since we’ve sort of been on a lifehacking streak recently, we decided to give one of these a test for ourselves: Specifically, the rumor that sticking a spoon into the neck of a champagne bottle will keep it from going flat.

Europe, Internet, Japan
(alcohol • Champagne • drinks • likehacks • science • wine)

Anime bar Otarabo serves up drinks, passionate discussion about anime with fellow otaku

Scott Wilson
Jul 8, 2015

Are traditional bars a little too bland for you? Do you try to strike up conversations about anime with your fellow drink enthusiasts, only to get weird looks and asked to leave?

Well then you should check out Otarabo the anime bar! Not only does it have a large assortment of alcoholic beverages to enjoy, but it’s packed to the rafters with anime posters, figures, and toys. And best of all if you want to argue about Goku vs. Vegeta, or which Love Live! girl is the cutest, you’ll have plenty of inebriated otaku friends to discuss with.

Japan
(alcohol • anime • bar • bars • izakaya • Oita • otaku)

Osaka International Airport has a sake tasting machine for 100 yen a cup

Master Blaster
Jun 25, 2015

There are many lovers of nihonshu (often called sake in English) in Japan, but a challenge of a true nihonshu fan is finding that perfect brand to suit their tastes. With the hundreds of different kinds each with their own flavors and ways to serve, you might drink for years without being able to settle on a type to call your favorite.

In addition to time, it can also be a burden on the wallet to go through bottle after bottle searching for that right one. Luckily, Mr. Sato stumbled upon something that might help speed up and cheapen the sake selecting process.

It’s a sake taste testing machine in Osaka International Airport that sells cups from nearly 30 different brands for only 100 yen (US$0.81) each.

Japan
(alcohol • drink • nihonshu • Osaka International Airport • sake • travel)

Kanpai! Japanese sweet sake found to have beauty benefits

Meg Murphy
May 18, 2015

It seems like every time you look, there’s some sort of new fad diet or superfood, all purported to be the best thing you can do for your health or to improve your natural beauty. But the good news is, this one’s actually fun to partake in.

Researchers at a university in Japan have now put sweet Japanese sake to the test, and have found it to have a number of positive beauty benefits, including improvement to under-eye health!

Japan
(alcohol • amazake • health and beauty • sake • sweet sake)

All-you-can-drink sake in the park as 23 brewers come to Tokyo for the Shibuya Sake Festival

Casey Baseel
Apr 22, 2015

Late spring is one of the few universally pleasant times to spend outdoors in Japan. The cold of winter and the heavy pollen counts of early spring are gone, and the heat and humidity of summer are yet to make their appearance.

Of course, some would say that no matter how nice the weather is outdoors, it’s even more comfortable to have a drink in hand. Next month, you’ll be able to scratch both those itches at once with the Shibuya Sake Festival in Tokyo’s Miyashita Park, where you can spend a day drinking as much as you’d like of more than 100 different kinds of sake.