Hello! This is Yutaro Kobayashi of J. KOBAYASHI Co., Ltd..        The last episode touched on myself and the stories behind the start of the Sake export business. The second episode will explain our company’s business history prior to the Sake export.   Origin of J. KOBAYASHI     To start […]

    Hello! This is Yutaro Kobayashi of J. KOBAYASHI Co., Ltd.     The company has been engaged in exporting Sake focusing on Europe.    The company was originally operating a business very different form Sake export. I am going to introduce the company history, why it started Sake export business, what motivations we […]

    Labels on Sake bottles contain much information on its identity. The labels surely include information required by law, but they are also used to deliver messages from the producers to consumers. Capturing messages from the labels will help you select a Sake bottle of your interest. Let us probe labels of Sake bottles! […]

 When you start sake trading, and products like Shochu, Whisky, Umeshu, Beer or others, it is hard for you to bring all the way up to the storage in your country by yourself alone. You need to find, select, negotiate the price, purchase, label in your language, pack, transport products. For your Sake business, you […]

When you import Japanese Sake, in order to maintain the quality and avoid the risk of breakages how you arrange the transport is very important.   One of the topic you need to understand is packing of pallet or containers. At the breweries, they pack the cartons and prepare for the export, but if pallet […]

Trade terms ~why incoterms so important~ When you start a trading of goods from foreign countries, the contract is one of the most important point. As the goods passes a lot of places all over the world from brewery to your local warehouse during the trading, it is quite important to understand the extent of […]

When you would like to start a trading, you need to check the cost in order to make a profit for your business. Product cost, freight cost, tax… You have all sorts of costs you need to check in advance. Nevertheless, if there is an agreement between the countries, there is a cost which you […]

    Sake has been gaining popularity overseas. Some Sake is made locally, while the majority is still exported from Japan. Let us look in the export procedures unseen from the public, and underlining problems related to export. Simple flow of export   Sake is dispatched from breweries               […]

  Japanese Sake is often compared with Wine to understand especially for the beginners. As many of you know, Japanese Sake is a fermented alcohol; same as beer and wine. When people start to understand about Japanese Sake a lot of people compare Sake with Wine as both are same fermented alcohol and relatively similar […]

On 17th May 2021, there was an announcement of award winning Sake from 1499 brands in a blind tasting format.   In this competition, there are 9 Categories which are “Futsu-shu”, “Junmai”, “Junmai Ginjo”, “Junmai Daiginjo”, “Honjozo”, “Ginjo”, “Daiginjo”, “Spakling” and “Koshu”.   As a result, there are 25 brands awarded the trophy and in […]

 On 31st March 2021, New area in Japan appointed as one of the geographic indication system: Hagi. Hagi is the area located in Yamaguchi prefecture in West end of Chugoku area. This time, ikki deliver information about G.I. Hagi, and why Hagi is appointed and which Sake is appointed.     To find out the […]

On 24th ~ 26th April 2020, there was a judging of award winning Sake from 1401 brands in a blind tasting format.   In this competition, there are 9 Categories which are “Futsu-shu”, “Junmai”, “Junmai Ginjo”, “Junmai Daiginjo”, “Honjozo”, “Ginjo”, “Daiginjo”, “Spakling” and “Koshu”.   As a result, there are 31 brands awarded the trophy […]

     Japanese Sake Market Summary: Analysis of volume, value, destination, prices…  2020 was a challenging year for Japanese Sake in the world market, and also a meaningful year at the same time. As a result, the total trade volume of Sake was declined, but the total trade value increased. In the other words, more […]

In 2020, there was a sake competition called “Kura Master – le grand concours de saké japonais de Paris 2020” at Galerie Joseph in Paris. This is 4th time for this event, and this competition is originated from Paris.   In Kura Master, there are 3 class categories which are Junmai Daiginjo, Junmai, Sake Sparkling […]

US National Sake Appraisal   U.S. National Sake Appraisal is fist Sake competition which takes place out of Japan since 2011. Their purpose of this competition is as below;   (1) recognize breweries that produce sakes of exceptional quality (2) elevate public awareness outside Japan through tasting events featuring competition-level sakes in peak condition   […]

One of the major Japanese Sake competition in Japan is “Kan Sake Award”. Kan means make it warm. The feature that it gets more unique aroma or deepen and complex the taste is one of the unique feature of Japanese Sake. In addition, it has varieties of temperature to enjoy such as Hitohada-kan or Yukibie. […]

  To find about basic information about Geographic Identification of Japanese Sake, please scroll down and find old post.    In 2020, there were 3 more G.I. regarding Japanese Sake and alcohol in Japan.  Please check the update from below;   G.I. HARIMA （はりま）  Harima is the area located in West of Hyogo prefecture including […]

Have you ever enjoyed the cocktails based Japanese Sake?  Like beer or wine: the fermented alcohols, there are various cocktail recipes of Japanese Sake based.  For all the Sake lovers, restaurants and bars, ikki delivers SAKE Cocktail recipe from this time. ikki delivers information in a video format on our YouTube channel, and spread your […]

In this ikki weekly news, ikki deliver what is happening in Japan in Sake industry for your knowledge as well as hints for your business. Please note that if you would like to see photos or full contents, kindly visit the original site from the link below the news topic and use google translate to […]

Have you ever enjoyed the cocktails based Japanese Sake?  Like beer or wine: the fermented alcohols, there are various cocktail recipes of Japanese Sake based.  For all the Sake lovers, restaurants and bars, ikki delivers SAKE Cocktail recipe from this time. ikki delivers information in a video format on our YouTube channel, and spread your […]

In this ikki weekly news, ikki deliver what is happening in Japan in Sake industry for your knowledge as well as hints for your business. Please note that if you would like to see photos or full contents, kindly visit the original site from the link below the news topic and use google translate to […]

In this ikki weekly news, ikki deliver what is happening in Japan in Sake industry for your knowledge as well as hints for your business. Please note that if you would like to see photos or full contents, kindly visit the original site from the link below the news topic and use google translate to […]

Regarding the local cuisine, we delivered information about Hyogo, and Kyoto previously. It is because, in the most case, even in Japan, Japanese Sake is paired with Japanese cuisine. In addition, as the locations of breweries spread all over Japan there are a variety of locality in food culture and Toji plan the taste of […]

[Update 4/15]   Canada/US Still under the curfew, but ports are operating. Due to the inefficient picking by customers, land transport in North America is delayed. Less cargos from Asia leading to the cancellation of the ship schedule.   South America No significant change. Ports are operating, but due to lack of manpower likely to […]

 In this ikki weekly news, ikki deliver what is happening in Japan in Sake industry for your knowledge as well as hints for your business. Please note that if you would like to see photos or full contents, kindly visit the original site from the link below the news topic and use google translate to […]

****** Ceramics ware in Japan is separated in 4 articles, please go to the article from the link below  Ceramics ware in Japan -Middle Japan- Ceramics ware in Japan -West Japan- Ceramics ware in Japan -South Japan- ******     What do you enjoy Japanese Sake? Cups? Glasses? or Ceramics?  These Days, people enjoy Japanese […]

[Update 4/8]   South Africa  At the container yard, it is possible to take the container after the end of lockdown. In addition, it is not possible to use land transport at the moment. Trading is temporary suspended for both import, export.    4/8  UPDATE END ↓ Old contents from here   [Update 4/7]   […]

 Sawada Syuzo Co., Ltd. (Nara prefecture) is going to release their original brand “Yukyu no Hikari”(悠久の光) in brand-new blue bottle.  Sawada Syuzo is a sake brewery located in Nara prefecture. Sawada was established in 1830 to start brewing Japanese Sake, and in Showa era start brewing enzyme for people’s health as well under their philosophy […]

  Japanese Sake has been sold in Isshobin 一升瓶(1800ml bottle) traditionally, and now they have a variety of size like 180ml, 300ml and 720ml depending on the breweries’ preference.  In addition, there is a cup sake which is easier to carry and enjoy it in any location even out door.  These days, there is another […]

Japanese Sake is mainly brewed in Japan, and according to  G.I. Japan(please refer to the article of G.I.) those brewed in Japan can name Nihonshu 日本酒(Japanese Sake). Nevertheless, as Japanese Sake spread to the world there are breweries which brewed oversea. This time, ikki deliver the brewery information about the brewery which brew oversea, and […]

For those who are in Japanese Sake business, the transportation of Japanese Sake is necessary.As you can see from ikki’s trade knowledge, there are a lot of companies related to deliver Japanese Sake, such as breweries, exporters, forwarders, shipping companies, warehouse companies…etc   Nevertheless, especially for those of you who are planning to start Japanese […]

Have you ever heard of term “Yawaragi Mizu”(和らぎ水)? This term is very important in the concept of Sake in Japan, but what “Yawaragi Mizu” actually means? ikki delivers one of the important concept in Japanese Sake “Yawaragi Mizu” this time, so please find the information from below.   What is “Yawaragi Mizu” Yawaragi Mizu is […]

One of the major Japanese Sake competition in Japan is “Kan Sake Award”. Kan means make it warm. The feature that it gets more unique aroma or deepen and complex the taste is one of the unique feature of Japanese Sake. In addition, it has varieties of temperature to enjoy such as Hitohada-kan or Yukibie. […]

ikki deliver news from Japan regarding Sake and trading business monthly. Please find the monthly ikki news of January 2020 as below;   Fukushima local Sake rice “FUKUNOKA” 福乃香   On 23rd December 2019, Fukushima prefecture announced that they named the new local Sake rice “Fukunoka”(福乃香). Fukushima has been studying to develop new Sake rice […]

Japanese government will put more effort to promote Sake to the world in 2020. According to National Tax Agency, they are planning to budget for Japanese Sake export 10 times more than the budget of 2019. On their plan, one of the focus point is “Geographical Indication”(GI) .   There is an update with NEW […]

In 27th May 2019, there was a sake competition called “Kura Master – le grand concours de saké japonais de Paris 2019” at Galerie Joseph in Paris. This is 3rd time for this event, and this competition is originated from Paris.   In Kura Master, there are 4 categories which are Junmai Daiginjo, Junmai, Sake […]

US National Sake Appraisal   U.S. National Sake Appraisal is fist Sake competition which takes place out of Japan since 2011. Their purpose of this competition is as below;   (1) recognize breweries that produce sakes of exceptional quality (2) elevate public awareness outside Japan through tasting events featuring competition-level sakes in peak condition   […]

This year is 2020 when Olympic games taken place in Tokyo Japan! Nevertheless, it is important to learn from the past as well.   On this page, we summarize what happen in Japan in 2019. Please find the news summary of 2019 from below;     February   On 1st February, Economic Partnership Agreement(EPA) between […]

Sake is an agricultural product.   Brewers are not concentrating on brewing process only. As quality of rice is depending on how they are grown: in other words, all the elements such as location, farmers, climate, decide the quality of rice. So, brewers need to understand about Japan year by year and plan how they […]

Can you imagine how Sake breweries are working throughout a year? Same as wine, the production of Sake is depending on the harvest of rice and mostly it is once a year. On this page, you can find how breweries are working and producing throughout the year. Let’s start from July which is a beginning […]

On 5th ~ 8th April 2019, there was a judging of award winning Sake from more than 1500 brands in a blind tasting format.   In this competition, there are 9 Categories which are “Futsu-shu”, “Junmai”, “Junmai Ginjo”, “Junmai Daiginjo”, “Honjozo”, “Ginjo”, “Daiginjo”, “Spakling” and “Koshu”.   As a result, there are 613 brands awarded […]

ikki news deliver monthly information about Japan and sake trading. Please find the updated information from below;   Deregulation of liquor manufacturing license in 2020 In 2020, Government of Japan is planning to relax the requirement of liquor manufacturing license. Today, the applicants need to produce at least 60 KL of alcohol per year, but […]

Thank you very much for visiting our website “ikki”.   ikki is a sake trading support media for international business.   If you are willing to start sake trading or event business, please check out fundamental information about sake trading from our KNOWLEDGE pages. You will find basic knowledge about sake, Japan, trading and how […]

  ikki news deliver monthly information about Japan and sake trading. Please find the updated information from below;   Serious damage by 2 typhoons (Photo: Damaged road by typhoon in Chiba prefecture / Ref. Fire and Disaster management agency)   In 2018 there was a large Typhoon went through Kinki area especially Osaka, Kyoto and […]

In ikki, we will deliver information about prize winners in the competition in the world. Nevertheless, there are many competitions in U.S, Europe and Japan. So, we are going to list prize winners in 5 competitions as below;   Click here to find results page   Sake Competition http://sakecompetition.com/english_sakecompetition.html   International Wine Challenge – Sake […]