Sake Thoughts – Sake Popularity Pings Up After Tourism Boom

So, we see everything! If it’s about sake or even indirectly about sake, we see and hear everything at True Sake. How? Why? Because we have many ears, and lots of eyes! In other words, our amazing customers keep us in the know about everything in the sake world. They see something, they hear something, they know something, then we’ll find out immediately or on their next visit to the store. It’s pretty cool actually and sometimes it’s even faster than Instagram. 

For the first decade of doing business here in SF, a weird little repeating phenomenon would happen that used to make us chuckle. It never failed really. And it was both funny and sort of confusing. Back then, a certain type of person would come into the store, usually for the first time, and would ask us very specifically if we had a sake from a certain area in Japan. As we were professionals and as we had a huge selection, we usually had something and would show this person a sake from that specific area. And true to form they would nod their head, say OK and then leave. They would NEVER buy the sake. 

What the heck? It was odd. Were they trying to shame us, were they trying to impress us, or were they exuding the fact that THEY went to Japan and THEY knew where to get sake, and how could a dumpy little sake store in San Francisco carry a sake that they thought that THEY could only get on their travels. It was a mystery. It was a conundrum, and we would discuss such visits endlessly. In the end, we came up with the same thought that they just wanted to impress us that they had been to that part of Japan and that they knew sake and we didn’t. And that’s it! We joked and said that it would be easier if they had just opened the door and said, “Hey I went to Kanazawa and you didn’t, bye!” 

Fast-forward to today, and it’s like night and day. In case you didn’t know it (of course everybody knows it) there is and has been a tourism BOOM in Japan, and they have broken tourism records for the past two years. Japan is hot! It’s the number one tourism spot in the world for good or bad. The good news is that Japan’s economy needed the help in a big way, and we the “world” have delivered. The bad news is – well, you can imagine. But, the interesting thing for us is that an entire new “group” of customers has passed through our doors and it’s been so positive and cool. The enthusiasm of these newfound tourists has spilled over into a newfound enthusiasm for sake. And that rocks! 

Now when the door opens and a person comes in and says, “Do you have a sake from Ibaraki?” We say, “Yup!” and they erupt and say “Yes,” and usually buy it. Thank you tourism. It’s so much fun, because the enthusiasm is off the charts. People, who are now customers, are so stoked when they can re-touch or re-visit their amazing trip to Japan with a bottle of sake from their experience. And in a word, these people are a new “layer” or “chapter” of sake drinkers. It’s sort of magical, and it’s cooler than the sushi craze sake drinkers. (Yes, this new set of tourists is not the “sushi & sake” slaves who only drink sake at sushi restaurants.) Their eyes light up when they describe being in a sake bar or an Izakaya filled with awesome sakes and experiences. They also get very stoked when they see that we carry the exact sake, and that always makes us smile. 

Basically we are seeing another evolutionary step from monkey to caveman that went from the novice, to the hot “saki” drinker, to the Japanophile, to the sushi-sake lover, to the sake lover and that is really fun to witness. The sake lover is here, and we are here for them. 

In talking about this and sharing with others I personally feel like this new flock of enthused tourists has brought forth between 8-10% new sake drinkers to the store. (This is not a scientific assessment, just a gut feel) It’s a big number, but it’s also not just a number it’s a feeling. We obviously love sake, but these folks just fell in love again or for the first time with sake and they come and share that love with us. It’s powerful and very much appreciated.  As we say quite often we don’t sell sake, we sell stories about sake, and then the sake sells itself. But with this awesome band of new customers we don’t have to tell the story, they tell us the story, and then they pay us! Just kidding, but the point remains the sake world is one big story and they are now a big part of it! The sake lovers have arrived en masse.