Result of the Sake Preference Survey Conducted on International Consumers
Satoru AMANO and Masaki KOMORI; Project team for sake preference survey targetinginternational consumers, Research and Evaluation Group of Local Sake.
Taku NAGATA; Research Laboratory of Sake Service Institute

1. Introduction
According to the Ministry of Finance, Japan, the volume of sake exported in 2018 was about 25.75
million liters. It was up 10% from the previous year, and on the rise for 9 consecutive years. This
export brought in more than 22.2 billion yen, which was the first time to surpass the 20 billion benchmark. The amount of trade has tripled in this decade. This indicates that the opportunity for people
around the world to drink sake has blossomed. According to JNTO (Japan National Tourism
Organization), the number of inbound tourists to Japan increased to 31.19 million in 2018, and thehighest number of tourists has been renewed for 6 consecutive years. This number of tourists is
expected to vastly increase due to 2020 Tokyo Olympic & Paralympic Games and 2025 Osaka World
Exposition. A lot of people are expecting to increase the sale of sake at these opportunities.
In order to promote the sale of sake, however, there is insufficient information to optimize the chance,
make effective sale, and provide services for tourist to enjoy. For people coming in from around theworld, there are no information what kind of sake they like, and how they prefer to drink it.
In order to effectively promote the sale of sake and to maximize customer satisfaction, the project teamhas carried out a survey to access the preference of international consumers including Japanese living
abroad. This report summarizes the findings obtained from the survey, and propose effective sakepromotion measures to appeal and provide services to international consumers.

2. Summary of the Survey
Table 1 shows the summary of the questionnaire survey conducted.
Table 1 Summary of the Questionnaire Survey
Investigative body

Project team for sake preference survey targeting international consumers,
Research and Evaluation Group of Local SakeSSI International (SSI INT'L)

Survey period

Februaly 14 - April 30, 2018

Survey method

Web survey using Google Form

Languages
People surveyed

Japanese, English, Chinese, KoreanInternational consumers who have the opportunity to drink sake at least once,
including Japanese living overseas

Number of responses 461 (Of these, valid responses are 439)

The questions were from the following 7 categories:
1) Attributes of the respondents: place of residence, age, gender, household income, etc.;
2) How to drink sake: first experience, frequency to drink, serving temperature, type of food paired
with, alcohol beverages usually drank;
3) Preference for sake: favorite type, deciding factor in selection, places to drink;4) Sake purchase and order: stores to buy, size and price to buy, size and price to order in a-1-

restaurant;5) Comparison of sake produced in Japan or produced overseas: adherence to Japanese products,
evaluation of both products;
6) Future demand and chances of growth: projected demand, what needs to be done to increase
sake fans; and
7) Opinions and suggestions towards sake produced in Japan.

3. Attributes of Respondents
3.1 Regions of Resident
The regions of resident are categorized into 9 according to the response as shown in Table 2. Figure
1 shows the percentage of the respondent residing in that region.
Table 2 Regions
Places of residence (regional classification)
TaiwanKorea
North America
Hong Kong
EuropeChina
Southeast Asia
Japan

4% 3%

170
86

Korea

Total

439

North America

7%

39%

Hong Kong
Europe9%28
15 Singapore 11, Malaysia 2, Thailand, Philippines
14
6

Taiwan6%

47 USA 43, Canada 3, Mexico
41
Germany 8, England 7, France 4, Italy 3,
32 Austria 2, Ireland 2, Switzerland 2, Spain,
Netherlands, Poland, Sweden

Others1%

China
Southeast Asia

11%

Japan

20%

OthersAustralia 2, Ecuador, UAE, Bahrain,
New ZealandFigure 1 Percentage of Each Region

3.2 Age Groups
Figures 2 and 3 show the age groups of respondents in all regions and by region, respectively. In total,
the age distribution is 30’s 38%, 20’s 27%, 40’s 24%, 50’s 8%, and over 60’s 3% in descending order.
On the other hand, age group by regions show the difference of age in different regions. An extreme
example is for Korea, where 80% is in their 20’s. The reason for this disparity is due to the fact that the
respondents in Korea were students in Soongsil University, which is a partner university of SSI
International.
Taiwan

27

92

Korea

3%
8%

20's
27%

24%

30's
40's

66

North America

3

12Hong Kong
EuropeSoutheast Asia

50's
60 and overJapan
Others2

20's

Figure 2 Age Groups

4
7
4

6

2

5

20%

30's

40's

1

1

40%

60%

80%

60 and overFigure 3 Age Groups by Region
-2-

1
1

5

1

50's

2
4

6

5
4

0%

4
13

1

3

13

14
4

5
5 32

10

15

3

China

38%

19

7

46
10

1

100%

3.3 Gender
Figure 4 shows the gender of respondents. The
percentage of male and female are about 60 and 40,
respectively.

2%
Male
38%

Female60%
Prefer not to say

Figure 4 Genders

3.4 Household Income

Figures 5 and 6 show the household income of respondents for all and by regions. The exchange rateused were, 1US$=100yen, 1NT$=3.6yen, and 10 Korean won=1yen. The results of household income
indicate that income of under 4.5 million accounts for 41%, the second group was household with morethan 10 million yen income at 26%. The result by region indicates that households in North America,Hong Kong, and China have higher incomes. Based on the age attribute 80% of the respondents from
Korea are in their 20’s and are students, and this may contribute to the result of lesser income.

under 4.5 million yen

26%

41%

4.5 - 5.82 million yen
5.83 - 10 million yen

21%

over 10 million yen

Taiwan
33
21
Korea
41
North America 1 3
7
Hong Kong 2 1
14
Europe10China 1 3
7Southeast Asia
2
4
Japan
5
Others
2

4

0%

40%

12%

Figure 5 Household Income

20%

69

47

13

19

13

36
24
10

8
17
7

2

2

2

1

3

60%

80%

under 4.5 million yen

4.5 - 5.82 million yen

5.83 - 10 million yen

over 10 million yen

100%

Figure 6 Household Income by Region
Based on the results of individual attribute of respondents, most responses in Korea are from students
of 20’s, which are extremely different from other regions in terms of age and household income.
Therefore, we had to exclude responses from Korea, and 347 data have been analyzed hereafter.

4. Results of Survey
4.1 First Experience with Sake
To the question “When were you first introduced to sake?” with one or two selectable options, “interestin Japanese food” and “interest in Japanese culture” were the most common responses as shown in
Figure 7. When we include the response of “during a trip to Japan”, the interest in Japan like Japanesefood and Japanese culture is the strongest trigger for the first chance to drink sake. Since interest inJapanese cuisine is the strongest factor to experience sake, it is a good reason to what the international
consumers expect in Japanese cuisine. “Suggestion by restaurant staff” and “interest in advertisement
on TV or internet” were minority responses, but “like to drink alcoholic beverage” and “at an event ofJapanese food or sake” had considerable amount of response. There was no difference by regions.

-3-

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

interest in Japanese food46%

interest in Japanese culture

37%
33%

like to drink alcoholic beverage

23%

at an event of Japanese food or sake

17%

during a trip to Japansuggestion by family or friends
suggestion by restaurant staff
for the sake of good business relations
interest in advertisement on TV or internet

50%

4%
3%
3%
2%

Figure 7 First opportunity to drink sake

4.2 Frequency of Drinking Sake
To the question “How often do you drink sake?”, the respondents who infrequently drink sake,
responding “hardly drink”(13%) or “one or two days in a month”(45%), make up almost 60% as shownin Figure 8. The respondents who regularly drink sake, responding “one or two days in a week”(27%)
or “more than two days in a week”(15%), are the remaining 40%. By region, the number of respondents
who regularly drink sake are large in Hong Kong(61%), China(50%), others(50%), and Taiwan(43%) asshown in Figure 9.

hardly drink

15% 13%one or two days in a month

27%
45%

one or two days in a week

Taiwan
North America
Hong Kong
EuropeChina
Southeast Asia
Japan
Others11

Figure 8 Frequency of Drinking Sake

47
22

16
13
1

6
17
9

5

13
4

13
3
2

5

1

7
3

0%

more than two days in a week

85
12

20%

1
3
3
1

2
40%

60%

25
6
8
3

80%

100%

hardly drink

one or two days in a month

one or two days in a week

more than two days in a week

Figure 9 Frequency of Drinking Sake by Region

4.3 Temperature of Serving Sake
To the question “How do you usually drink sake?”, “chilled” was the most common response (64%),
followed by “depending on the time and situation” (23%) as shown in Figure 10. More consumers seemto adjust the serving temperature of sake according to time, place, and occasion. Although sake is a
lot of times served chilled for international consumers, we should make them conscious of the fact thatchoosing the serving temperature suitable for the aroma and flavor of each sake is quite important. Theinternational consumers who routinely drink sake “at room temperature” (10%) or “warmed” (5%) werethe minority, and the former preconception of “SAKE is served HOT” has become obsolete.
Correspondence analysis was conducted to examine if there was any difference in the temperature ofsake served by region. The correspondence analysis is a kind of intuitively understandable
visualization method, which indicates a digitalized scatter chart so that the more correlated are plottedcloser and the less correlated are farther apart. As shown in Figure 11, more consumers in Taiwan and
China drink sake chilled, while more consumers in North America, Europe, Japan, and Hong Kong drink
sake by adjusting the serving temperature depending on the time and situation.
-4-

10%

5%

chilleddepending on time and situation

23%
62%

at room temperature
warmedFigure 10 Temperature of Sake

Figure 11 Temperature of Sake by Region

4.4 Type of Cuisine Paired with Sake

As shown in Figure 12, to the question “Do you usually drink sake while eating a meal?”, there were only
a few (4%) who responded, “drinking sake and eating a meal are two different things”. On the other
hand, “yes, I do so” (56%) and “depending on the time and situation” (40%) made up most of the
responses, which indicates that many international consumers seem to drink sake with a meal in thesame manner as wine.
We asked the 194 respondents who chose “yes, I do so” about the type of cuisine they have while
drinking sake, the response of “Japanese food” was the leading answer (73%) as shown in Figure 13.
The respondents who chose “food of your own country” (8%) were the minority. Japanese food is surely
an important factor in serving sake for international consumers which is consistent with the previous
question of the first encounter of sake.
1%

1%
Japanese food4%
yes, I do so8%food around the world18%
depending on time and

40%
56%

food of your country

situation73%

drinking and eating are twodifferent things

dessertpairing with sake

Figure 13 What Type of Food?

Figure 12 Do You Drink Sake during Meals?

The “food around the world” was 18% of the response, and it was especially high for Taiwan and Hong
Kong as shown in Figure 14. It seems to indicate that for people of Taiwan and Hong Kong, suggesting
to pair sake with cuisine from around the world is recommended.

-5-

Taiwan

60

8

North America

24

11

22

Hong Kong

1 1

15

4

Europe

13

China

16

1

9

Japan

4

Others

3

20%

2
2

Southeast Asia

0%

6

40%

60%

Japanese food

food of your country

dessertpairing with sake

80%

1

100%

food around the world

Figure 14 Type of Cuisine Paired with Sake by Region

4.5 Regular and Favorite Alcohol Beverage
To the question “What alcoholic beverage do you usually prefer to drink?”, we should note, following the
expecting answer of “sake” (37%), “wine” came in second (32%) surpassing “beer”, as shown in Figure
15.
Furthermore, when asked about the reason for their choice of alcoholic beverage, the respondents whochose “tasty” (58%), “accustomed to drink” (20%), or “easily available” (16%) accounted for 94% asshown in Figure 16. From this result, when recommending sake to international consumers, it isadvisable to remember to first ask their preference of sake.

1%

1%

1%

2%

1%

sake

1%

wine

2%

2% 1%
1%

tasty

0%

accustomed

beer

4%

16%

whisky7%37%

inexpensiveliqueurshochu made in Japan

14%

20%

other brewed beverage
32%

easily available

highly diverse
be interested inother distilled beveragedepending on time and situation

healthy
good pairing with food

Chinese rice wine
cocktail

58%

Figure 16 Reason to Choose that Alcohol Beverage

Figure 15 Choice of Regular Alcohol Beverage

4.6 Sake Type Preference
The sake type preference of respondents according to the four-type classification of sake by the aroma
and flavor is shown in Figure 17. The responses of “fruity and aromatic type” (28%), “light andrefreshing type” (20%), and “full body and umami-rich type” (24%) are almost equal in number of
responses, but “well-aged type” (3%) is considerably low. The result is an indication of the importanceof explaining that there are four types of sake by the aroma and flavor to international consumers.
-6-

Assuming blindly that they prefer Ginjo-shu or Daiginjo-shu with fruity aroma should be avoided which
can also be said for Japanese sake beginner. In addition, since the respondents who chose “do notcare about the type” (22%) is quite high, it is effective to recommend sake which is suitable for season,
scene, and meal. The small number of responses to “well-aged type” (3%) is probably due to the factthat there is little opportunity for it to be served overseas.
A correspondence analysis was conducted to examine if there was any difference in the favorite type ofsake by region. Figure 18 indicates that many consumers who prefer fruity and aromatic type are in
Hong Kong, light and refreshing type in Taiwan, and full body and umami-rich type in Europe, China,
Southeast Asia, and North America.

3% 3%

20%

fruity and aromatic type28%

full body and umami-rich type
do not care about the typelight and refreshing type

22%

24%

no knowledge of typewell-aged typeFigure 17 Favorite Type of Sake

Figure 18 Favorite Type of Sake by Region

4.7 Deciding Factors in Sake Selection
Figure 19 shows the results of the question“What do you value the most when you selectsake produced in Japan?” The response of“aroma and flavor” was the leading answer(64%), followed by “sake and food pairing”(18%).
The respondents who chose“inexpensive” (4%), “popular” (2%), or “brandname” (3%) were the minority. The resultclearly shows that explaining the aroma andflavor characteristics of sake is quite effective
and recommending sake in light of the pairingwith meals is also a good practice.

3%

2%

1%

1% 0%

1%

aroma and flavor
sake and food pairing

4%

suggestion by staff

6%

inexpensive
brand name19%

popular65%

not in particularcost-effectivenesshigh priceavailability

Figure 19 Deciding Factors in Sake Selection

4.8 Place of Preference to Drink
Figure 20 shows the results of the question “Where do you prefer most to drink sake?”. The responsesof “eating out such as restaurant” (53%) or “your house” (41%) account for 94%. The number of people
that prefer to drink sake at home was unexpectedly high.
Taiwan was the only region where “your house” scored more than “eating out”, as shown in Figure 21.
-7-

2%

1% 1%
1%

1%

Taiwaneating out
my house

53%

83
22

Europe

16

China

party
anywhere with friends

12

3

17

11

11
17

2
9

Southeast Asia

do not care about place

315 4

31

Hong Kong

eating out and my house

41%

71

North America

2

12

3

Japan

9

4

Others4

2

in Japan0%

Figure 20 Places Preferred to Drink

20%

40%

60%

80%

eating out
eating out and my house

my house
party

anywhere with friends
in Japando not care about place

100%

Figure 21 Places Preferred by Region

4.9 Places of Purchase
Figure 22 shows the results to the question “Where do you mainly purchase sake?”, in which
respondents chose 1 or 2 closest options that apply.
“In Japan during the visit to Japan” is notably the top answer with 55%. By further analysis of theanswer, we found that adding the respondents who just chose the option “duty-free shop in airport orseaport”, the percentage of people buying sake in Japan becomes 57%. The response of “liquor stores”
was the most popular answer, when they purchase in their countries. Since many of the respondents
answered they drink sake at home, it is important to explain how to drink and enjoy sake while they arepurchasing at the stores in Japan.
A correspondence analysis was conducted to examine if there was any difference by region where theypurchase sake. Figure 23 shows that there is a clear difference where they purchase by different
regions. In Hong Kong people buy at supermarkets; in China at liquor floor of department stores andonline shopping website; in Taiwan at liquor stores; and in North America at Japanese or Asian groceries.
This indicates that local sake distributors and retailers vary from one region to another.

0%

20%

40%

60%
55%

in Japan during the visit to Japan44%

liquor store
Japanese or Asian grocery
online shopping website
supermarket
liquor floor of department store
duty-free shop in airport or seaportnever purchasedfrom importer
Japanese restaurants

18%
15%
13%
11%
8%
3%
2%
1%

Figure 23 Places of Purchase by Region

Figure 22 Places of Purchase-8-

4.10 Size and Price of Sake Purchased at a Liquor StoreAs shown in Figure 24, for the question about the size of sake purchased at a liquor store, the answerof “720mL” was 80% at the top. This result is obvious because the bottle of 720mL is the most common
size distributed overseas.
The price they paid for a bottle of 720mL, 3000yen level was the most common at 29.1%, closely
followed by 4000yen level at 27%, shown in Figure 25. Since these 720mL bottles are the top-selling
products at 1,000-yen level in Japan, it is two to three times higher. The much higher retail priceoverseas is due to the usual customs duty, liquor tax, shipping cost, and importer’s margin added to thecost. In Hong Kong, however, the price of sake is suppressed about 1.5 times of that of Japan because
there is no customs duty and liquor tax levied.
A correspondence analysis was conducted to examine if there was any difference in the price of sakepurchased at liquor store by region. Figure 26 shows that the price bracket of a 720mL bottle is higher
in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, but comparatively lower in Europe and North America, and for obvious
reason, lowest in Japan.
0%

20%

40%

60%

80% 100%

720mL

80%

less than 300mL

9%depending on the situation

7%

never purchased

3%

1,800mL

1%

Figure 24 Size of Bottle Purchased
0%5%

never purchased
under 1,000 yen
1,000 yen level
2,000 yen level

10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

4%
1%
7%
16%

3,000 yen level29%

4,000 yen level
5,000 yen and over

27%
15%

Figure 26 Price of 720mL Bottle by Region

Figure 25 Price of 720mL Bottle

4.11 Size and Price of Sake Ordered at a Restaurant
As shown in Figure 27, “by the glass” (51%) was the most common response to the question “What sizeof sake do you usually order at a restaurant?”, followed by “bottle 720mL (42%), accounting for morethan 90%. Very similar to Japan, ordering sake by the glass has become more common at restaurant
overseas.
To the question “When you order a bottle of 720mL sake at a restaurant, how much do you usually pay
for it?”, the response of “4,000-yen level and 5,000-yen level” was the leading answer (28%), followedby “6,000-yen level and 7,000-yen level” (20%), and “2,000-yen level and 3,000-yen level” (16%),accounting for more than 60% , as shown in Figure 28. The most common response of “4,000-yen
level and 5,000-yen level” seems to be slightly higher than the price range served in Japan.
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0%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
glassbottle(720mL)
bottle(1,800mL)
1 go tokkuri(180mL)
bottle(300mL)
2 go tokkuri(360mL)
depending on the situation
do not order sakedo not order sakeunder 2,000 yen
2,000 yen - 4,000 yen
4,001 yen - 6,000 yen
6,001 yen - 8,000 yen
8,000 yen - 10,000 yen
10,000 yen and over

53%
41%
2%
1%
1%
1%
0.3%
0.3%

Figure 27 Size Ordered in Restaurants

5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30%
10%
9%
16%
28%
20%
13%
4%

Figure 28 Price of 720mL Ordered in Restaurants

Figure 29 shows the price of a bottle of 720mL sake ordered at a restaurant by region, which points outthat the price is higher in China, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia than in North America, Europe, andTaiwan. Figure 30 shows that respondents in their 20’s prefer smaller sizes, indicating that smaller size
assortment of sake should be a wiser strategy. Service of sake by the glass is appreciated by 30’s and40’s as well as 20’s and should be the key service of sake. However, there is a concerned that thepeople in the restaurant business do not have information about the storage and deterioration of sake.
Some types of sake starts deteriorating right after opening the bottle. It seems to be that 1800mL bottle
is rare served in restaurants overseas.

China

2 1

Hong kong 1

5Southeast Asia

4

9

7

10

3

3

14
2

2

16

30

60

30

16 3

North America

3

9

13

9

4 1

4

Japan

2

0%

6

2

TaiwanEurope

2

8

4

6
4

20%

40%

60%

1

6

3

1

80%

under 2,000 yen

2,000 yen - 4,000 yen

4,001 yen - 6,000 yen

6,001 yen - 8,000 yen

8,001 yen - 10,000 yen

10,000 yen and over

1

100%

Figure 29 Price of 720mL Ordered in Restaurant by
RegionFigure 30 Size Purchased/Ordered by Age Group

4.12 Evaluation of Sake Produced in Japan and Overseas
4.12.1 Strong Preference to Sake Produced in Japan
In recent years, sake is also produced overseas, and has 4 times the volume compared to thoseexported from Japan. Since 2016, some of the overseas produced sake has been awarded medals in
the Sake genre by IWC (International Wine Challenge) which is a competition organized in England foralcohol beverages. Figure 31 shows the response to the question “When you order or purchase sake,do you specify sake produced in Japan”. About three quarters of respondents chose “always choosesake produced in Japan”, which shows that many international consumers are sticking to sake produced
in Japan.
Figure 32 shows the result of the correspondence analysis by region. The response of “choose sake- 10 -

produced in Japan according to time, place and occasion” was the most common response in North
America. In the United States, sake has been produced locally since the 80’s, by major Japanese sakebreweries. About 80% of those are consumed within the United States, and the rest exported to Europe
and other countries. This seems to be the reason to the common response of “choose sake produced
in Japan according to time, place and occasion” in North America. On the other hand, many
respondents living in Japan chose “do not care”. Currently, there is a trend among Japanese who lovesake to value sake produced in foreign countries regardless of the aroma and flavor. They choosesake produced in foreign countries for something to talk about when they find it in restaurants. The
same may be said of international people living in Japan.
0%

20%

40%

60%

always choose sake produced in

76%

Japan
choose sake produced in Japanaccording to time, place and occasion
do not care about

80%

15%

9%

Figure 31 Choice of Sake Produced in Japan

Figure 32 Choice of Sake Produced in Japan by Region
To understand the background of the choice and evaluation of Japanese products and other countries,
we asked the following 4 questions; “suit your taste?”, “quality is high?”, “too expensive?”, and “manyopportunities to buy and easily available?”.
4.12.2 “Suit Your Taste?”Figure 33 shows the responses to the questions “Does sake produced in Japan suit your taste ?” and“Dose sake produced in countries other than Japan suit your taste?”. 97% of respondents answeredsake produced in Japan suits their taste. There were more respondents answering sake produced
overseas does not suit their taste.
4.12.3 “How is the Quality?”
Figure 34 shows the result for the question “Is the quality of sake high” for both Japanese and overseas
products. 87% of the respondents answered the quality of sake produced in Japan is high, but only
11% answered high for sake produced overseas. Most respondents seem to recognize the quality ofsake produced in Japan is higher than sake produced overseas.

- 11 -

100%

100%

80%

80%

60%

60%

40%

40%

20%

20%

0%

0%
yes

no

produced in Japan

no ideayes

produced overseas

produced in Japan

Figure 33 Suit Your Taste?

nono idea

produced overseas

Figure 34 Quality High?

4.12.4 “Too Expensive?”
Figure 35 shows the result of the question “Is the sake produced in Japan too expensive? How aboutsake produced overseas”. 47% answered sake produced in Japan is too expensive and 44% did notthink so. Since previous questions have shown that 3,000-yen level and 4,000-yen level are the mostcommon price brackets for 720mL bottle overseas (cf. Figure 25), sake produced in Japan is notconsidered too expensive compared to wine and other alcohols.
A correspondence analysis was carried out to examine which regions perceived sake produced in Japan“expensive”. As shown in Figure 36, many respondents in Taiwan evaluate sake produced in Japan to
be expensive. On the other hand, many respondents in China and Hong Kong evaluated it as not too
expensive.
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
yes
produced in Japannono idea
produced overseas

Figure 35 Too Expensive?
Figure 36 Evaluation on Price of Sake
Produced in Japan by Region
4.12.15 Opportunities to Buy and Availability of Brands
Figure 37 shows the response to the question “Are there many opportunities to buy sake and easily
available?” for both that is produced in Japan and overseas. While 46% of respondents answered sakeproduced in Japan is easily available, 50% of respondents answered it is not easily available.
Figure 38 is the result of the correspondence analysis between resident regions and availability of sakebrands produced in Japan. Many respondents in North America, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asia
answered sake produced in Japan is easily available whereas many respondents in China and Taiwan- 12 -

answered it is not easily available. This indicates that sake produced in Japan is not exported as muchin variety of brands to Taiwan and especially to China, compared with that of to Hong Kong. It can beassumed that residents in Hong Kong have greater knowledge of Japanese brands.
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
yes
produced in Japannono idea

produced overseas

Figure 37 Opportunities to Buy

Figure 38 Availability of Sake Brands Produced
in Japan by region
4.12.6 Evaluation on Sake Produced Overseas by Region
As the next step, correspondence analyses were conducted to examine the difference in evaluation
towards sake produced overseas by region. We were especially interested in the result of North
America where there is a history of locally produced sake, and Europe where there is a very long historyof wine culture (cf. Figure 39 and Figure 40).
The results show that evaluation on the quality of sake produced overseas is almost the same for North
America and Europe. Consumers in Europe tend to have little appreciation for sake produced overseas,
but North American consumers think sake produced overseas suit their taste. This indicates that sakeproduced locally in North America has taken root. It is also due to North American consumers choosesake according to time, place and occasion (cf. Figure 32). On the other hand, consumers in Europe
value sake “made in Japan”.

Figure 39 Evaluation on Quality of Sake
Produced Overseas by Region- 13 -

Figure 40 Evaluation on Preference of Sake
Produced Overseas by Region

4.13 Future Demand and Growth of Sake Produced in Japan
4.13.1 Demand of Sake Produced in JapanTo the question “Do you think the demand for sake produced in Japan will increase in your country?”,
combining “very much” (33%) with “quite a lot” (52%) accounts for 85% as shown in Figure 41. This
indicates that many international consumers think the demand for sake produced in Japan will increasein their resident regions in the future.
In addition, a correspondence analysis was conducted to examine if there was any difference in the
demand for sake produced in Japan by region. As shown in Figure 42, many respondents answered“very much” in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and North America, “quite a lot” in Taiwan and China.
Meanwhile, many respondents in Europe answered, “a little” or “no idea”. The demand for sakeproduced in Japan is expected to increase especially in Asia and North America.
1% 3%
11%

very much
33%

quite a lot
a little

52%

not at all
no ideaFigure 41 Future Demand for Japanese Products

Figure 42 Future Demand for Japanese Products by Region
4.13.2 Suggested Action to Increase Sake Fans
To the question “In your country or region, what action do you think should be taken to increase the fansfor sake produced in Japan?” with no limit of selectable options, more than half of the respondents (56%)
answered “spread Japanese culture and enhance the interest in sake” as shown in Figure 43. This
result parallels the response to the first sake experience, “interest in Japanese culture” and “interest inJapanese food”. In conclusion, to expose international consumers to Japanese culture and food shouldbe the important strategy in promotion of sake. The runner-up of response was “increase variety oftype and price” (47%), followed by “increase places to buy” (41%), “provide more productinformation ”(32%), propose ways to drink sake” (29%), and “provide types of sake for casual scenes”(25%).

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0%

spread Japanese culture
increase variety of type and priceincrease places to buy
provide more product information
propose ways to drink sakeprovide types of sake for casual scenes
promote popular brandincrease inexpensive sakeeasy-to-understand labelling
smart designed label
improve quality
provide types of sake for formal scenes
reduce tax and tariffincrease expensive sake

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%
56%

47%
41%
32%
29%
25%
19%
18%
18%
14%
13%
10%
3%
2%

Figure 43 Actions to Increase Sake Fans

5. Opinions or Suggestions on Sake Produced in JapanTo the final question “Please feel free to write your opinion or suggestion on sake produced in Japan”,
there were 110 responses. From the responses, representative responses are picked up andsummarized.

5.1 Price Setting
There are suggestions on price setting, such as “Sake is too expensive compared to wine. If we candrink sake more cheaply at restaurants, we will gain a deeper understanding of sake.” (Canada), and “Ifthe price of 720ml bottle is high, people who drink sake for the first time have difficulty in buying it. The
300ml bottle is suitable when bringing sake of new brand name from Japan.” (America).

5.2 Education for Serving Staff
The lack of knowledge of the serving staff is pointed out, such as “It is important that people working in
the food and beverage industry are educated to deepen their knowledge about the product and to sell itin the right way.” (Italy), and “There are few staff at restaurants who can make an educated comment on
sake. Basically, restaurant staff members do not possess the knowledge of Sake” (Taiwan).

5.3 Methods of Service
There were opinions on sake served in Korea, such as “Sake should be served at popular restaurants
other than Japanese restaurants.” (Korea), and “I am often disappointed because paper packed sake isfrequently served at Japanese-style bar.” (Korea). There were few proposals for ways of drinking sake,such as “I want to be informed of recommended ways of drinking sake. General consumers do not know
there are various ways of drinking sake.” (Taiwan).

5.4 Sake and Food Pairing
Many responses were for sake and Japanese food pairing. “It is necessary to propose a pairing withvarious kinds of Japanese food.” (America), and ”Japanese restaurants introduce sake as a pairing withfood.” (America). Respondents from China and Korea stress that pairing local food should also be
focused, such as “Sake should be paired with local food preserving special characteristics of sake.”(China), “There is a biased view that sake does not go well with Korean food.” (Korea), and “It isnecessary for sake to come close to Korean food culture.” (Korea).
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5.5 Opportunity to Buy Sake
There are many requests concerning the availability of sake, such as “High-quality sake is not available.”(Sweden), “Wine is available in a supermarket, but sake is unobtainable in it.” (Philippines), “Sake will
be conspicuous if displaced next to wine as an optional extra.” (America), “It is useful if the places will
increase, where we can easily buy sake like beer.” (Korea), and “It is better if the places will increase,
where sake attracts our notice.” (Korea). This coincides with the result that many respondents
answered “increase places to buy” (41%) to the question “What action should be taken to increase thefans for sake produced in Japan?”.
5.6 Quality Management
Many respondents pointed out that the quality control of sake should be enhanced during shipment andin local sales outlets. Local distributors and others should be educated about the quality control of sake,such as “The difference in the quality of sake is large between purchased in Japan and America.”(America), ”Great product storing and logistics are a big issue in Dubai, no experts in the local
distributors.” (UAE), and “The temperature of sake during shipment should be properly managed by
distributor.” (Taiwan). In addition, there are opinions, such as ”It is hard to maintain the quality of Junmai
or Junmai Ginjo Nama Genshu.” (America), and “I hope the storage life and best suited drinking periodof sake will be prolonged.” (Taiwan).

5.7 More Information of Sake
Many suggestions were made concerning one of the most common responses “provide more productinformation” (32%) to the question “What action should be taken to increase the fans for sake produced
in Japan?” Many respondents pointed out little information service of sake, such as ”Getting
information and knowledge in Spanish is key.” (Spain), “Many people think there is only one variety ofsake.” (Germany), “Many people don't know why better-quality sake is expensive.” (Germany),“Introduce the variety and different qualities of various sake” (America), “General consumers think tasty
sake is only Daiginjyo or Junmai Daiginjyo.” (Taiwan), and ”More website or mobile Apps in English or
Chinese for independent rating and tasting notes included” (Hong Kong).

5.8 Events
Many respondents hope that more events on sake are held on-site, such as “I think that the best way tomake Japanese sake popular is to present it in Japanese restaurants and ethnic food festivals.” (Italy),“Need more education via promotional fares such as Japanese days” (Bahrain), “Provide more sakedinner, tasting event and class” (Hong Kong), and “I would like to see the Japanese government and theregional prefectural governments help promote sake in Canada.” (Canada). In addition, many
respondents hope that there are more events on sake with specific themes, such as “Sales promotionof sake should be strengthened for consumers who have not experienced to drink sake.” (Hong Kong),“Sales promotion of sake should be conducted by prefecture.” (Hong Kong), and “Sales promotion ofsake is required for young people.” (Korea).

5.9 Communication and Tour of Brewery
Many respondents desire communication and tour of brewery, such as “Tours of sake brewery should
be advertised overseas.” (Hong Kong), “More tours of sake brewery are desired.” (China), and “Moretasting events with brewery are desired.” (Taiwan). This indicates that increasing the opportunity to visit
sake brewery has efficacy for inbound tourists.

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5.10 Appealing the Aroma and Flavor of Sake
New types of taste and appealing methods were suggested in addition to the classification of speciallydesignated sake and four-type classification of sake by the aroma and flavor, such as “The current
classification method gave incorrect message to customer.” (China), and “A new taste of sake should becreated to get more customers.” (China). Improvements on the label were also pointed out, suchas ”Sake should adopt a friendlier label by having English description and also reading material for
consumers.” (Singapore).

5.11 Locality (Local Sake)
Some answers were about the appeal of locally produced sake reflecting the nature, soil and climate of
the region (terroir). “US customers want to be able to tour a Sake brewery using all local ingredientsand be able to sample buy and drink in that location.” (America), and “Good sake should be maderegionally.” (Germany).

5.12 Custom Duty etc.
The higher price of sake due to the custom duty, liquor tax, and import cost seems to be a major obstaclein the propagation of sake. For example, Taiwan has much demand for sake and the market size isbig, but they put custom duty of 40% for sake. “In Taiwan, sake is more expensive than other alcoholic
beverages due to the custom duty.” (Taiwan), ”Although sake has high potential in the market, sake is
too expensive due to the unreasonable custom duty.” (Taiwan), “If sake gets less expensive by reducing
the liquor tax and cost of distribution, sake will attract consumer’s attention and spread among
consumers.” (Korea), and “Sake is expensive almost same as fine wine due to the high import cost anddifficult to approach.” (France).

5.13 Internationalization of Sake Qualification
Qualification of sake by the qualified person of the region to provide information to general consumers,
seems to be an important strategy to obtain new consumers. “Internationalization of qualification forsake is seen as a good thing.” (Korea), and ”We are lucky in the UK to be able to pass examination on
Sake. It gives us much support in understanding the product and suggesting it to others.” (England).

6. Proposals for Improving the Service Styles
Based on the result of this survey, we have four proposals for the service styles for international
consumers.
6.1 Understand the Interest towards Japanese Cuisine
To the question “When were you first introduced to sake?”, “interest in Japanese food” was the mostcommon response. In addition, the type of food eaten while drinking sake was predominantly
Japanese food. It is, therefore, essential to have a deep insight into Japanese food when targeting at
international consumers.
6.2 Understand the Interest of towards Japanese Culture
Interest in Japanese culture was also the common response to the question “When were you first
introduced to sake?”. It is also desirable to have extended knowledge of Japanese culture.
6.3 Usage of Four-Type Classification by Aroma and Flavor
To the question about the favorite type of sake, the consumers choosing the fruity and aromatic type,the light and refreshing type, and the full body and umami-rich type were almost equal in numbers. To- 17 -

the question about the important factors when choosing sake, the response of “aroma and flavor” wasthe leading answer, followed by “sake and food pairing”, on the other hand, the respondents who chose“popular”, “inexpensive” or “high price” were smaller in number. These results indicate that the fourtype classification of sake by the aroma and flavor proposed by SSI (Sake Service Institute) should bequite effective.
6.4 Target Wine Lovers
The survey shows that wine lovers are interested in sake as well. Wine is enjoyed all over the world
not only by wine connoisseurs, but also by regular wine drinkers with less knowledge, and those wine
lovers are most suited as the targets to promote sake. They are also quick to understand sake,because wine and sake are both brewed alcohol beverage and enjoyed with meals.

7. Remarks
We have extracted some interesting points from the result of the preference survey on sake targeted atinternational consumers. Based on the survey results, we have suggested four effective strategies topromote sake for international consumers.
Tokyo Olympic & Paralympic Games is coming up soon and Osaka World Exposition will take place in
2025. Tourist to Japan is expected to continue increasing. Since sake is a proud Japanese culture,
we should take this opportunity to carry on the survey research to optimize the advantages of sake, andpromote international friendship with people around the world through sake.

Project team for sake preference survey targeting international consumers, Research and
Evaluation Group of Local Sake*:
Satoru AMANO (Project Manager, translation), Misao INOUE, Yuji KANAI, Masaki KOMORI, Takashi
TAKAHASHI, Emiko TSUKUMO, Naoya NAMISATO, Hiroshi NUMATA, Kenny YANG, Yoshitsugu
WATANABE

Cooperation: Akira HIROE, President of Tokyo Kasei Gakuin University, Emeritus of Rikkyo University* Research and Evaluation Group of Local Sake (established in 2013) :The group is composed of professional tasters affiliated with SSI (24 members as of July 2018). The
group evaluates the characteristic features of local sake (sake made by independent breweries) bytasting and conducts research on the local sake to publish the report.

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