Sake in Japan (2) Was sake always the Japanese alcoholic beverage of choice?

Sake has been the alcoholic beverage of choice in Japan. Of course, wine, beer, whiskey, brandy or other spirits and cocktails have been introduced after the modernization and become popular. Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada prove that. Their report in the sector trends analysis for wine, beer and spirits in western Europe in 2015, Japan is ranked in the 4th of the consumption of alcohol beverage globally, the 5th in the beer market and the Spirits market, and the 10th in the wine (Ranna, 2016). Therefore, Japan's alcohol beverage market is more supported by sake and related "historical/domestic" drinks.

In another cultural aspect, Sake in Japan plays an essential role in a sacred ceremonial beverage. In Japan's traditional way of thinking, the harvest from the land is considered a gift from the god. That idea sometimes appears in the agricultural society, and the Japanese are not an exception. Rice and its products sake are thus a gift from nature/god. Sake drinking and being drunk are also considered as the way of communicating with the god of richness. In the ancient Japanese myth, several episodes related to drinking and the drunken story of the characters suggest the long history of Sake and Japanese people. Even now, the Shinto shrine hosts the visitors with sake in the new year season. And many local Japanese sake brewers offer their barrels of sake to the shrines in their region. This topic is deeply linked with gender role issue in sake culture and history, so I will separately discuss that later.

The fermentation technique, preserving technique like using boiling for sanitization have been innovated by 18th century. The development of nation-wide logistics under Shogunate, some sake production town successfully achieved their branding with their high quality of beverage. At the modernization in 1867, the Japanese government introduced modern technology to improve the productivity of rice crop, which also positively influenced on sake brewing. The quality and quantity of sake dramatically progressed in this time. Under the war time, the shortage of ingredients restricted the production of sake. However, after WWII, the consumption of Japanese sake increased following the economic growth, and the production could not catch up. Following that, the low-quality sake, which makes more hangover due to ingredients, became popular, which gave some negative impression to Japanese sake consumers. Sadly, sake's domestic market has been decreasing since the great economic recession in the 1970s, and the sake industry tried to recover its market size. The diversity of the taste seems to work as an adverse condition so far. (Japan Sommelier Association, 2020)