#Japan #Tokyo #Japanese Sake #Sake Rink #Shochu Menu

Introduction of Sake Rink

In an exciting development for foreign travelers visiting Japan, the mobile sake menu service 'Sake Rink' has officially launched. With the influx of international tourists expected to reach a record high of 36.9 million by 2024, the demand for authentic Japanese experiences, particularly in food and drink, has surged. Interestingly, nearly 40% of these visitors are motivated by a desire to try Japanese cuisine and enjoy traditional beverages like sake.

Japan's culinary landscape is rich and diverse, ranging from luxurious sushi and kaiseki dining to popular street foods like yakitori and ramen. However, the unique alcoholic beverages native to Japan, especially sake and shochu, are among the top experiences that foreign visitors wish to explore during their stay.

Background Challenges

Despite the continuous adaptation in many restaurants to accommodate inbound travelers with multilingual menus, there persists a significant gap in the availability of liquor menus in various languages. While food menus have made great strides in multilingual offerings, sake and shochu drink menus still face several key challenges:

1. Lack of Information: Many sake brands are only presented with English pronunciations without any descriptive information about them. Product names encompass various details—including brand, sake rice, classifications, and brewing methods—but explanations are often insufficient. Even for the same brand, different classifications can significantly alter the experience, yet these distinctions remain unexplained.

2. Serving Details: There is often inadequate clarification regarding serving methods (1-go, 2-go, tokuri, bottle, etc.) and size representations, leading to confusion among international guests. Similarly, shochu drink techniques (on the rocks, with water, hot) require better representation.

3. Cultural Etiquette: Information about unique Japanese drinking customs, such as choosing ochoko, the technique of 'mokkiri', and specific sake styles, is generally lacking.

Service Overview

'Sake Rink' addresses these issues by providing a convenient QR code service for restaurants, available in five languages: Korean, English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, and Thai, alongside Japanese. Restaurants can generate unique QR codes that, when scanned by guests with their smartphones, lead to a wealth of information about sake and shochu.

Restaurant Empowerment

The service allows restaurants to directly manage their sake and shochu listings, enabling them to customize product information, set prices, and mark out-of-stock items—all for free. Each establishment has access to an easy-to-use management interface, supporting them in working directly with the system to provide up-to-date information.

Enhanced User Experience

The app features advanced search functionality, allowing users to filter by characteristics such as classification, sake meter value, and origin. Prices can also be compared easily by sorting options based on the price per 10ml across different serving sizes. This tailored user experience ensures that international guests can make informed choices tailored to their preferences.

Open for All Restaurants

Importantly, the entire Sake Rink service is offered free of charge to restaurants, with no initiation fees or ongoing charges. The service is financially supported through advertising revenue from the listed sake brands on the Sake Rink website.

Easy Registration and Updates

Restaurants can apply for the service via the dedicated site on the SURF JAPAN webpage, where they can set up and manage their offerings effortlessly. They also have the option to register various types of beverages, including beers, non-alcoholic drinks, highballs, cocktails, and more.

Moreover, SURF JAPAN hosts a searchable database of approximately 18,000 sake varieties, ensuring easy access to product details. New products can be registered for visibility within 24 hours upon request.

Future Aspirations of SURF JAPAN

Looking ahead, SURF JAPAN plans to extend its multilingual support to sake breweries across Japan, providing them with mobile website capabilities and integrating with their own sites to improve product visibility for overseas users. This initiative aims to enhance the overall inbound tourism experience, ensuring that international guests can explore the richness of Japanese liquor culture seamlessly.

About Surf Japan

Surf Japan, headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo, focuses on multilingual offerings for inbound tourists. By bridging the cultural and informational gap, they help tourists immerse themselves in Japan's rich culinary and beverage landscape. For more information about their services, visit Surf Japan's Website.