Sake, or nihonshu as it’s usually called in Japan, has become the representative Japanese alcoholic beverage in the eyes of the world. From affordable ‘one cup’ nihonshu which can be found is any convenience store, to extremely expensive high-end sake, it’s a drink with a long history and is appropriate for any occasion.

But sadly, despite the proud place it holds in Japanese culture, the sake industry has been slowly in decline. These days, Japanese young people often turn to wine or beer to make a toast, and the rate of female drinkers in particular has been decreasing.

To combat this, Ginten thought up a new way to refresh the sake industry and appeal to the market it was losing, by promoting sparking sake and creating a nihonshu subscription box.

There is a way to add an artificial sort of sparkle to rice wine called forced carbonation, however, this cheap trick can impact the flavour of the sake. The sparkling sake promoted by Ginten adds an extra fermentation process which carbonates the beverage, giving it a natural fizz and ensures there is no negative effects on the drink itself.

The sparkling sakes promoted by Ginten are from various high quality nihonshu purveyors and they are all certified by the Japan Awasake Association as real sparking sake.

If you have an interest in sake and would like to learn about and try different varieties, there will also be a subscription box service which will include carefully selected nihonshu (sparkling and traditional). This is an affordable way to sample various high quality brands, open to both people in Japan and overseas sake fans.

The project to help revitalise the sake industry utilised crowdfunding to get off the ground. It has reached its goal, but the Japankuru Funding project is still open if you want to back Ginten and get some sparkling returns. If you’re quick you could even have a bottle of sparkling sake on your Christmas dinner table this year!