Japanese Local Specialty Soda

November 21, 2010 - Food & Drink, Place - Tagged: Beverage, Fukuoka, Hokkaido, Osaka

There are many kinds of regional specialty sodas in Japan. Local specialty soda pop is produced by small companies and sold only in certain towns or areas. And the appearance of the bottles is usually very classic.

Today, I would like to introduce some of these drinks. We call clear kinds of soda “cider” in Japan, so let me use the word “cider” this time.

1) Osaka Cider (Osaka prefecture)

This old, small Osaka based beverage company discontinued cider production 30 years ago, but they resumed it 5 years ago because of the “local product consumption” boom. The letters on the label are written in the old-fashioned way (from right to left). The cider has a citrus flavor.

"maaco" some rights reserved. flickr

2) Sepia no Shigeki (Hokkaido prefecture)

Made from sugar beets which grow only in Hokkaido and pure mineral water of Shikotsu-lake. Sepia no Shigeki literally means “Stimulation” of Sepia, but this soda pop is tenderly sweet and mild.

"hiroooooki" some rights reserved. flickr

3) Nokojima Cider (Fukuoka prefecture)

Nokojima is an island in Fukuoka gulf. The retro-style label is shaped just like Nokojima Island and the bottle is made of beautiful pale blue glass; people feel nostalgic with this cider in hand. It features a light lemon flavor.

"koemu" some rights reserved. flickr

4) Fujiyama Cider (Yamaguchi prefecture)

Oh! Fujiyama!! You must have thought of Mt. Fuji, but the name of this cider is not actually from that famous Mt. Fuji. The name of the cider making company happens to be Fujiyama Co., Ltd. (^^; The round bottle looks very classic.

If you have a chance to travel around Japan, make sure to look for local specialty cider in the regions you visit!