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What is Japanese sake? Turns out the question is actually a little more complicated than it looks on the surface.
In Japanese, sake refers to any type of alcoholic beverage. The traditional alcoholic beverage made from fermented rice we call sake in English is called "nihonshu" in Japanese, literally Japanese liquor.
So “sake” means “nihonshu.” Problem solved, right?
Actually, no. With Japanese food booming internationally, sake producers have been popping up overseas as well to meet local demand. Many of them use traditional Japanese brewing styles, along with Japanese rice, but can the product be called Japanese sake if it’s not made in Japan? Similarly, if a producer in Japan is using imported rice, is his product still “nihonshu” or Japanese sake?
These are the questions currently plaguing Japan’s National Tax Agency, which is considering applying to the World Trade Organization to recognize Japanese sake as a geographical indication, the same way only sparkling wine made in the Champagne region of France can be called champagne.
It’s expected that the tax agency will begin giving the geographically branded designations of “nihonshu” and “Japanese sake” only to brewers in Japan using local ingredients, thus requiring WTO member countries to crack down on any domestic brewers trying to market beverages under those names.
The final decision is expected to come by the end of the year as part of the government’s wider “Cool Japan” strategy.
Source: Yahoo! Japan News
Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Brew a gallon of homemade sake with this DIY kit -- The sake from Evangelion goes great with Japan’s poisonous blowfish…from a can -- Dirt cheap all-you-can-drink sake sampler in Tokyo saves us money plus a trip to Akita
© Japan Today
11 Comments
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nath
This is something I can agree with.
nath
Except you risk ending up with a proliferation of foreign brewers labeling their product "rice wine" or something equally fictional... although "sake" without the "Japanese" would seem to be acceptable.
borscht
I'd hate to be a Japanese person making Japanese sake in a Japanese sake brewery with a 500-year history and be told I'm not making true Japanese sake because I'm using imported rice. What about the sake breweries in Japan that use Japanese rice but the brewer is not Japanese (yes, it has happened.)?
cleo
If we can have Appellation Contrôlée and all the other 'only stuff traditionally made here from local produce' designations, I see no problem with a designation for 'Nihonshu'. It doesn't stop other folk making the stuff, just stops them saying all rice wine is 'Japanese sake'. As zichi points out, the 'genuine' folk can charge a premium if they like, and us plebs can choose to buy the cheaper stuff if we like. No problem.
Would a French person making French sparkling wine in a winery in Champagne with a 500-year history be making Champagne if he was using imported grapes?
Very interesting, but he doesn't seem to claim to be making 'Nihonshu'. He calls his stuff sake or rice wine. Seems to be doing well, too - he's all sold out. And at ¥2500 for a half bottle. Must be good stuff.
wtfjapan
wont stop oversea brewers from selling it, like Champagne they just call it "sparkling wine" and sales havent dropped at all from the name change, Sake will just be relabeled "Rice Wine" or "Rice Whiskey"
Laguna
Related is how alcohol is taxed in Japan. To protect domestic producers of sake and shochu against imports of, say, whiskey, Japan decades ago decided to tax alcohol by type, not by alcoholic content as the rest of the world does. The resulting problem is that this requires alcohol types to have specific definitions - hence the musical chairs race as brewers figure out ways to configure their "beers" so that they are, technically, not "beer" and thus qualify for a lower tax rate, and also the insanely low price for a liter of very high-alcohol shochu.
Serrano
"sake"
That stuff will give you a bad hangover if you drink more than a couple of cups of it.
M3M3M3
Parmesan cheese is also protected by a WTO Geographical Indication (GI) but I can still see 'Kraft Parmesan Cheese' at the supermarket even though Japan is part of the WTO. This is because the GI is strictly limited to the name 'Parmigiano Reggiano'.
Japan will probably only be allowed to register 'Nihonshu', not 'Japanese Sake' so people will still be able to get away with calling their product 'Japanese Sake'. Individual trade deals between countries can offer a higher level of protection.
3RENSHO
"That stuff will give you a bad hangover if you drink more than a couple of cups of it."
Agreed. May as well drink paint remover.