WAKAZE, a sake startup based in Setagaya, Tokyo, began selling its canned sparkling sake, SummerFall, in Japan in December 2024. With an alcohol content of 11%, it has a refreshing, sweet & sour flavor, and is aimed at young people in their 20s and 30s who are not fans of regular sake.

The product will be sold in around 100 supermarkets and department stores in Tokyo, and will also be offered to izakaya and other restaurants. In the United States, the product was launched in California in spring 2024, and has been popular with young people as a convenient sake that goes well with Japanese food.

Releasing overseas first has allowed WAKAZE to circumvent Japan’s complicated rules about sake manufacturing, with new brewery licenses only granted to breweries producing sake for export only, to protect traditional, ‘legacy’ breweries. This ‘reimporting’ strategy has seen them form a capital alliance with Takara Holdings in 2023 to accelerate its overseas expansion, where they plan to expand into the Asian market, including Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Read more about sake brewing and regulation in our article about the topic [here].

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