Everybody has their own favorite drink, but when you’re dropped into a country with a thriving drinking culture, you might want to reassess your options and see what’s common to drink in Japan. After all, the bartender might not know what you’re talking about when you order an Appletini.

Fortunately, there are lots and lots of options for you when you’re drinking in Japan. You might not recognize all of them, but they’re largely accessible and enjoyable to drink. Let’s take a look at some of the drinks you’ll encounter when you’re drinking in Japan:

Beer

Beer is the safest drink to get in Japan for a couple different reasons. It’s one of the most popular beverages around the country—one of the most common phrases you’ll hear in bars and restaurants is 生ビール, or “draft beer”—and secondly, Japanese beers are relatively mild and easy to drink. Japanese beers have been renowned as relatively light and dry for decades.

The big names in Japanese beer (and combatants in the Great Japanese Beer War) are Asahi, Kirin, and Sapporo. Microbreweries are peppered throughout the country, but you’ll be able to find at least one of the big names pretty much anywhere in Japan.

Verdict: Recommended.

Third-Category Beer

In order to avoid Japanese taxes on malts, one of the main ingredients in beer, companies have produced cheap beverages with little to no malt content. These beverages, known as “happoushu” (発泡酒) and “third-category beer” (第三のビール), have emerged as a cheap alternative to beer.

A while back Néojaponisme did a great video about tasting some of the more famous third-category beers:

Unless you’re really pinching pennies, it might be best to avoid this type of beverage. They’re definitely inexpensive, but these beverages are to beer as Jolly Ranchers are to actual fruit. The tradeoff of taste for price is a big turnoff of this “fake beer.”

Verdict: Avoid if possible.

Sake

Most people have heard of sake, but what they don’t know is that sake isn’t actually called sake in Japan. In Japanese, sake just means “alcohol,” so ordering sake in Japan will probably get you some blank stares.

Instead, it’s called “nihonshu” (日本酒), which literally translates into “Japan alcohol.” If you’ve only had sake outside of Japan or have only drank the cheap One Cup stuff, then you should definitely check out the varieties available in Japan.

For more about sake, read our earlier post, 4 Types of Sake and How to Enjoy Them.

Verdict: Recommended.

Whisky

I won’t go too much into detail since we already did a post about Japanese whisky, but the Japanese whisky industry in Japan is flourishing and growing bigger every year. Many of the big beer producing companies—Asahi, Suntory, etc.—also have their own whisky labels as well.

Whisky in Japanese generally takes after Scottish whisky rather than the American-style whiskeys some of you might be used to. This might be a concern for those with discerning palates, but it probably doesn’t make a difference for 90% of people.

The terminology is a bit different in Japanese, but pretty similar. “On the rocks” is “rokku” (ロック), and “neat” or “straight” is just (ストレート).

Verdict: Highly recommended!

Highballs

In Japan, a highball (ハイボール) is a mixture of whisky and soda water that’s become surprisingly popular. A lot of people don’t like the taste of straight whisky, and whisky (especially some of the higher end Japanese whiskies) can be very, very expensive. Highballs fix both of these problems by cutting the whisky with a cheaper liquid, soda water.

Unfortunately, I think that the result is the worst of both worlds. A highball doesn’t have the interesting mix of flavors that a more complicated cocktails have, and it blows away any sort of subtle flavors the whisky might have with a blast of carbonation.

But if you’re looking to get some whisky down the hatch quickly and cheaply, a highball is a good solution to that.

Verdict: Not recommended.

Shochu

Shochu (焼酎) is a Japanese drink that’s usually made from a grain (like barley or rice) or other ingredients like sweet potatoes, chestnut, or even brown sugar.

On its own, it’s not terribly exciting; it’s a little stronger than sake, but not as strong as hard liquor. People will drink shochu on its own, but more commonly you’ll see it as part of a mixed drink, either in chuhai (see below) or in “sours.”

Verdict: Take it or leave it.

Chuhai

You might have already read our love letter to chuhai from earlier this year, but if you don’t know about chuhai, here’s the lowdown:

“Chuhai” (チューハイ) is a combination of the words shochu and highball. It’s basically shochu with soda water added, although chuhai tends to be flavored more than straight highballs.

Verdict: Recommended.

Soju

Not to be confused with shoju, soju (ソジュ) is originally a Korean drink that’s been making a lot of headway in Japan. In addition to the similar-sounding names, soju has a lot in common with shochu; the taste is very comparable and the two drinks can be made out of lots of different ingredients (although rice is most commonly used).

Shochu and soju are consumed the same way as well: it’s sometimes drank straight or on the rocks, but also quite frequently mixed with soda or juice.

Verdict: Take it or leave it.

Wine

Wine has a lot of cultural significance in other parts of the world but for Japan—a country that enjoys wine, but doesn’t produce much of its own—it’s a beverage that’s not very popular outside of a small demographic.

Maybe once Japan makes its own version of Sideways, wine will become as popular as it is with middle-aged rich Americans.

Verdict: Indifferent.

Umeshu

Umeshu (梅酒) is a unique kind of Japanese plum liqueur. that can be served like whisky or any other straight liquor: either neat or on the rocks.

Different types of umeshu have a range of flavors, from sour to very sweet. I wasn’t a big fan of the kinds of umeshu I’ve had in Japan; at its worst, I thought umeshu tasted like sweet cough syrup. I guess this is how Japanese people feel when they drink root beer.

Verdict: Not recommended.

Awamori

Unique to the southern Okinawa region of Japan, awamori (泡盛) is a very strong, distilled liquor made out of rice. While the alcohol content of awamori can be as low as 25%, it can be much, much higher, peaking at around 60%.

Awamori is definitely an acquired taste, and can really catch you off guard if you’re not expecting it. Did I mention that it’s strong? It’s really strong.

Verdict: Where am I?

Hopefully, this list gives you some idea of what your options are when you go drinking in Japan. Of course this list is far from complete, as any comprehensive list would probably take up a whole book; but this should cover some of the most options available to you.

So enjoy yourself, but make sure not to miss the last train. 乾杯！

Wallpapers and Coloring Sheet

Want a desktop background of our chubby li’l drunk salaryman? Are you a parent who wants to give their child a cool coloring sheet—or better yet, are you a full-grown adult who wants to do some coloring? Our amazing illustrator Aya has you covered!

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Coloring activity sheet

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Header photo by Ricky Brigante

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But one liquor in particular has grown in sophistication and popularity both in Japan and abroad: whisky.

You can find some of the old reliable brands of American whiskey in Japanese stores: Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, and Wild Turkey can all be had pretty easily if you know where to look.

Leo, doing his best Lost in Translation impression

There are also lots and lots of domestic whiskies, made right in Japan. And for a country with no real cultural ties to Scotland, there are a surprising number of whisky manufacturers.

In the last couple of decades, Japanese whisky has earned quite the reputation as a quality whisky, winning awards all around the world and even trouncing Scottish whiskies.

At the time, Japanese whiskies beating out Scottish whiskies was unheard of. It would be like Scottish sushi winning international acclaim.

Now though, people all over the world recognize and enjoy Japanese whisky as some of the finest out there. But a lot of people still don’t really know the different Japanese brands.

Fear not! I’m here to help you out, and show you some of the major players in the Japanese whisky market today:

Suntory

After Bill Murray endorsed Suntory in Lost In Translation, it seems like almost everybody now knows about Suntory whisky.

Suntory deserves to be well-known, too. It was the first company to make whisky in Japan, and is still a powerhouse on the market today.

Suntory whisky is everywhere in Japan. I think no matter what convenience store I went to in Japan, no matter where I was, I was able to find Suntory whisky of some kind.

But the convenience store whiskies aren’t why Suntory is known throughout the world. The company also produces more high-end brands like Yamazaki, Hakushu, and Hibiki. In fact, on its English website it doesn’t even mention its name-brand Suntory whisky.

Nikka

In business for the better part of a century, Nikka is one of Japan’s most recognizable whisky brands. Every bottle of the company’s spirits has the face of the blue-eyed, mustached W. P. Lowrie, an obscure figure in the history of whisky.

Best friends Koichi and W. P. Lowrie

Nikka is probably best known for Nikka Black, a cheap whisky available basically everywhere, most notably in convenience stores. Nikka also offers much more high-end whiskies for those with more refined tastes.

White people will give you a mustache and make you drink whisky

We actually got the chance to visit Nikka’s original distillery in Yoichi, Hokkaido while we were visiting Japan in February. (Expect a video of our visit to Nikka in the future.)

Not only did the Nikka distillery have Nikka Black and the fancier varieties, but the tasting room there offered blended whisky, single malt, pure malt, and virtually any other kind of whisky you can think of and virtually every age imaginable.

Kirin

Kirin always kind of seems to be playing catch-up. Its beer has trailed behind Asahi after the great beer wars of the 80^s, and it plays third string to Suntory and Nikka in the whisky game.

Still, Kirin has been doing its best to catch up with Suntory and Nikka, producing very respectable whiskies of its own. Its Fuji Gotemba brand has some of the most incredible single malt whiskies available in Japan.

Highballs

While Japanese whisky is widely enjoyed, it’s not the kind of thing that most people can enjoy on an everyday basis. After all, it’s expensive, powerful, and doesn’t always go down smoothly.

For those reasons and more, highballs — whisky mixed with soda water — have recently become one of Japan’s favorite drinks. Even though the Japanese have been enjoying highballs for almost 100 years, they’ve seen a massive revival in recent years.

You can find highballs in basically any restaurant that has both whisky and soda, and more and more you can find vending machines and convenience stores stocked full of the stuff.

A while back, the guys at Néojaponisme sampled a variety of canned highballs and reported the results. The verdict? Not great:

Have you tried Japanese whisky? What do you think? How well does it stack up against other whiskies? Let me know in the comments!

Further reading: Nonjatta, Beginner’s guide to Japanese Whisky

Header image by Shoko Muraguchi