How to Drink Sake in Japan: A Beginner’s Guide

You sit down at a small izakaya counter, and the staff slide over a menu with a long column of kanji. Some words look familiar from bottle labels, while others do not. Meanwhile, someone nearby is sipping something warm from a tiny cup, and you wonder whether to ask for that too. This guide explains how to drink sake in Japan in the order you will meet things: where to go, how to read the menu, what to order, how it is served and what matters at the table. TOCHow to Drink Sake in Japan: The Short Answer To drink sake in Japan, choose a place, order a glass or a small flask, and decide whether you want it chilled, at room temperature or warm. Then sip it slowly with food and a glass of water. You do not need Japanese or any formal training. Most restaurants also make ordering fairly simple. Many list sake by the glass, and staff are used to guests who know very little, so asking for a recommendation is one of the most normal things you can do. Once you know a handful of words, such as the names for chilled and warm sake, the menu stops looking like a wall of kanji. Sake in Japan: Quick Facts Japanese name日本酒 (nihonshu) or 清酒 (seishu); “sake” can also mean alcohol in general Typical ...