In the previous entries I have emphasized the importance of looking inward to facilitate the selling of sake to Japanese, but sometimes it is advisable to look outward in order to look in. This concept may best be understood by considering the opening lines of the Velvet Underground’s “I’ll Be Your Mirror.”
I’ll be your mirror,
Reflect what you are, in case you don’t know
These days nihon-shu appears to be more appreciated overseas than it is in its birthplace. One of those countries in which sake sales have been encouraging is Monaco, where the figures are 0, 47, 159, 108 (volume, ℓ) in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, respectively.1 Nothing to crow about, eh? Well, compared with, say, South Korea’s 5,483,104 ℓ in 2025, maybe not, but consider the population of the principality—38,500 (estimate). However, far more important than its sake imports is what some Monégasques do with that sake. That will be the focus of next week’s entry.
1https://japansake.or.jp/sake/en/sake-statistics-data/export/
Drinking Japan 