{"id":24215,"date":"2025-09-08T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savvytokyo.com\/?p=24215"},"modified":"2025-09-08T14:51:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T05:51:12","slug":"sake-scene-newbies-guide-nihonshu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/savvytokyo.com\/sake-scene-newbies-guide-nihonshu\/","title":{"rendered":"Nihonshu: The Newbies’ Guide To Japan’s Sake Scene"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

You\u2019ve seen it with your foreign friends on their first visit to an izakaya\u2014wondering why the sake is flowing out of the glass into a strange-looking square box; trying to figure out the many labels; and then confidently ordering \u201csake,\u201d to which the waiters respectfully reply, \u201cWhich one?\u201d Yes, the sake in this country is just as deep as its oceans.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first and foremost thing you need to know about Japanese sake\u2014or \u65e5\u672c\u9152<\/span><\/span> (nihonshu<\/span><\/i>)\u2014is that it\u2019s primarily broken down into two very large groups:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n