This beverage is called sake in English, but in Japanese, sake (酒) or o-sake (お酒) refers to alcoholic drinks in general. The Japanese term for this specific beverage is Nihonshu (日本酒), meaning “Japanese sake.”

Sake is also referred to in English as rice wine. However, unlike true wine, in which alcohol is produced by fermenting the sugar naturally present in fruit, sake is made through a brewing process more like that of beer.

To make beer or sake, the sugar needed to produce alcohol must first be converted from starch. But the brewing process for sake differs from beer brewing as well, notably in that for beer, the conversion of starch to sugar and sugar to alcohol occurs in two discrete steps, but with sake they occur simultaneously.

Additionally, alcohol content also differs between sake, wine, and beer. Wine generally contains 9-16% alcohol and most beer is 3-8%, whereas undiluted sake is 18-20% alcohol, although this is often lowered to around 15% by diluting the sake with water prior to bottling.

Traditional Sake Barrels:

During the Kofun period, Chinese culture was introduced into Japan from the Korean Peninsula. As such Buddhism was a large influence on Japanese culture. After the 6th century, Japan directly pursued the imitation of Chinese culture under the Tang dynasty. It was this influence that marked the taboos on the consumption of meat in Japan. In 675 A.D. Emperor Temmu decreed a prohibition on the consumption of cattle, horse, dogs, monkeys, and chickens during the 4th-9th months of the year, to break the law would mean a death sentence.

The 8th century saw many additional decrees made by emperors and empresses on the ban of killing of any animals. In 752 A.D., Empress Kōken decreed a ban even on fishing, but made a promise that adequate rice would be given to fishermen whose livelihood would have otherwise been destroyed. In 927 A.D. regulations were enacted that stated that any government official or member of nobility that ate meat was deemed unclean for three days and could not participate in Shinto observances at the imperial court.

It was also the influence of Chinese and Korean cultures that brought the chopsticks to Japan early in this period. Chopsticks at this time were used by nobility at banquets; they were not used as everyday utensils however, as hands were still commonly used to eat with. Metal spoons were also used during the 8th-9th century, but only by the nobility. Dining tables were also introduced to Japan at this time. Commoners used a legless table called a oshiki, while nobility used a lacquered table with legs called a zen.

Upon the decline of the Tang dynasty in the 9th century, Japan made a move toward its individuality in culture and cuisine. The abandonment of the spoon as a dining utensil is one of the marked differences, and commoners were now eating with chopsticks as well.

The dishes consumed post 9th century included grilled fish and meat (yakimono), simmered food (nimono), steamed foods (mushimono), soups made from chopped vegetables, fish or meat (atsumono), jellied fish (nikogori) simmered with seasonings, sliced raw fish served in a vinegar sauce (namasu), vegetables, seaweed or fish in a strong dressing (aemono), and pickled vegetables (tsukemono) that were cured in salt to cause lactic fermentation. Oil and fat were avoided almost universally in cooking. Sesame oil was used, but rarely, as it was of great expense to produce.

The modern term “Japanese cuisine” or washoku means traditional-style Japanese food, similar to what already existed before the end of national seclusion in 1868. In a broader sense of the word, it could also include foods whose ingredients or cooking methods were subsequently introduced from abroad, but which have been developed by Japanese who made them their own.

Japanese cuisine is known for its emphasis on seasonality of food, quality of ingredients and presentation.

• Ramen – thin, wheat-based noodles with soda water. The dough is set to rise before being pulled.
• Shirataki – noodles with very low carbohydrates and calories
• Soba – medium, buckwheat-based noodles
• Somen – very thin, wheat-based noodles
• Udon – thick, wheat-based noodles

Kanji are ideograms, i.e. each character has its own meaning and corresponds to a word. By combining characters, more words can be created. For example, the combination of “electricity” with “car” means “train”. There are several ten thousands of characters, of which 2000 to 3000 are required to understand newspapers. A set of 1945 characters has been officially declared as the “kanji for everyday use”.

Before the introduction of Chinese characters, no Japanese writing system existed. When adopting the characters, the Japanese did not only introduce the characters’ original Chinese pronunciations, but also associated them with the corresponding, native Japanese words and their pronunciations. Consequently, most kanji can still be pronounced in at least two ways, a Chinese (on yomi) and a Japanese (kun yomi) way, which considerably further complicates the study of the Japanese language.

Kanji are used for writing nouns, adjectives, adverbs and verbs. But unlike the Chinese language, Japanese cannot be written entirely in kanji. For grammatical endings and words without corresponding kanji, two additional, syllable based scripts are being used, hiragana and katakana, each consisting of 46 syllables.

During the Heian period 794-1185, the custom of elaborate layers of colored kimono robes became popular with Japanese women.  Persons of the royal court sometimes wore up to sixteen kimono layers. During the Kamakura period of 1185-1133 with the rising influence of the military class and warriors, people had no patience or need for elaborate kimono. Practicality prevailed and during this period the kosode meaning small sleeve was introduced into the kimono. 

In 1615, military leader Tokugawa moved the capital of Japan from Kyoto, where the emperor resided to Edo, the present day Tokyo. Confucianism was adopted and hierarchy became the guiding principle where citizens were ranked based on their class. During the Edo period, people began to define their status by their kimono clothing. During this time the greatest artistic accomplishments were made with the kimono.

After 1853, the US Navy sailed to Tokyo and the beginning of Japan’s commercial industry was opened to the Western world. Although Japanese people continued to wear the kimono for another hundred years, the beginning of the end of this practice was near. 

During the Meiji period of 1868-1912, women began working outside their homes and required different clothing to accommodate their work. The Japanese people developed techniques to compete with the machine woven cloth available from the West. Cloth from other parts of the world were bought to make the kimono and the clothing. During the Taisho period of 1912-1926, Tokyo suffered a devastating earthquake which leveled most of the homes. Many of the old kimono were lost at this time. 

During the Showa period 1926-1989, the japanese government curtailed silk production by taxing it to support the military buildup. Kimono designs became less complex and material was conserved. After World War II, as Japan’s economy gradually recovered, kimono became even more affordable and were produced in greater quantities. Europe and America fashion ideas affected the kimono designs and motifs, but their shape remained the same. Kimono and obi colors changed with the season and with the age and status of the wearer.