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Can’t remember which Japanese sake you drank? There’s an app for that!

SCORE 1,443 Yukari Mitsuhashi Yukari Mitsuhashi
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If you’re a fan of Japanese sake, you should keep a spot open on your homescreen for Sakenote. This app allows you to keep track of sake you’ve drank, write a review of it, take photos, and even note where you had it. If your geo-location setting is on, the app automatically detects where you are so that you can look back on those places later on. Sakenote works sort of like Snooth Wine or the Japanese wine tracking app called Vinica developed by Kakaku.com. It’s very simple. You just start by tapping the plus sign in the upper right corner to add your favorite sake to your list. You can even search for sake names and brands using the Roman alphabet. If you want to search by kanji, there are apps like imiwa available to hand-draw your kanji so you can then copy and paste. When taking photos of the sake’s label, you might want to take photos of Tsumami (light snacks) as well so that it can help to trigger your memory later. You can share your sake with your friends on Twitter or Facebook as well. The app’s developer has plans to collaborate with sake manufacturers and…

Sakenote-app

If you’re a fan of Japanese sake, you should keep a spot open on your homescreen for Sakenote. This app allows you to keep track of sake you’ve drank, write a review of it, take photos, and even note where you had it. If your geo-location setting is on, the app automatically detects where you are so that you can look back on those places later on.

Sakenote works sort of like Snooth Wine or the Japanese wine tracking app called Vinica developed by Kakaku.com. It’s very simple. You just start by tapping the plus sign in the upper right corner to add your favorite sake to your list. You can even search for sake names and brands using the Roman alphabet. If you want to search by kanji, there are apps like imiwa available to hand-draw your kanji so you can then copy and paste.

When taking photos of the sake’s label, you might want to take photos of Tsumami (light snacks) as well so that it can help to trigger your memory later. You can share your sake with your friends on Twitter or Facebook as well. The app’s developer has plans to collaborate with sake manufacturers and restaurants to provide even more additional features later on.

Even if you become forgetful while drinking, Sakenote is a good way to ensure that you’ve remembered all the important details about your drinking. The app is available on iOS and Android.

Update: Readers may recall that we a wrote about a very similar app once before called Sakelover. It’s actually the same app, with a rebrand so that they could take the service global.

Related news

  1. Too drunk to remember what sake you’re drinking? This app has you covered
  2. Tokyo-based startup Clear launches English news site focused on Japanese sake
  3. Subscription-based Japanese sake service? Yes please!

Too drunk to remember what sake you’re drinking? This app has you covered

Masaru Ikeda Masaru Ikeda
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Japanese sake is enjoying great popularity at restaurants and bars all around the world. I was surprised to watch a recent TV documentary showing a sommelier in France explaining to his customers the difference between ordinary Japanese sake and specially brewed types such as Kijoshu or Daiginjou. For sake professionals like him, it’s not so hard to remember sake brands, where in Japan a sake is produced, or even what specific ingredients are used. However, for those who love Japanese sake, but don’t have such encyclopedic knowledge, is there any way to keep track of specific kinds of sake so you can remember it next time? Sake Lover is a new service that can fill that role. Tokyo-based startup Sonic Garden recently introduced its iOS app, which allows you to record which restaurant or bar you’ve visited (it’s GPS-enabled), and what sake you’ve had. The app is available in both Japanese and English, allowing you to easily find a specific sake brand just by entering the first one or two letters into the app. As for why the startup developed this app, CEO Yoshihito Kuranuki says that they hope to encourage consumers to have more sake and enjoy this particular…

Japanese sake is enjoying great popularity at restaurants and bars all around the world. I was surprised to watch a recent TV documentary showing a sommelier in France explaining to his customers the difference between ordinary Japanese sake and specially brewed types such as Kijoshu or Daiginjou. For sake professionals like him, it’s not so hard to remember sake brands, where in Japan a sake is produced, or even what specific ingredients are used.

However, for those who love Japanese sake, but don’t have such encyclopedic knowledge, is there any way to keep track of specific kinds of sake so you can remember it next time?

sakelover_multiple

Sake Lover is a new service that can fill that role. Tokyo-based startup Sonic Garden recently introduced its iOS app, which allows you to record which restaurant or bar you’ve visited (it’s GPS-enabled), and what sake you’ve had. The app is available in both Japanese and English, allowing you to easily find a specific sake brand just by entering the first one or two letters into the app.

sawanoiAs for why the startup developed this app, CEO Yoshihito Kuranuki says that they hope to encourage consumers to have more sake and enjoy this particular aspect of Japanese traditional culture, and in the process maybe it can help local distilleries and breweries survive in this mass production era.

Sonic Garden was launched in 2009 following the management buyout of Japanese system integration company TiS Inc., where Mr. Kuranuki used to work. The startup is also known as a provider of business communication tools like Skip (social network platform for business), YourRoom (task management tool), and Message Leaf (a contact form plug-in).

 

Related news

  1. Can’t remember which Japanese sake you drank? There’s an app for that!
  2. Tokyo-based startup Clear launches English news site focused on Japanese sake
  3. Subscription-based Japanese sake service? Yes please!

Subscription-based Japanese sake service? Yes please!

Yukari Mitsuhashi Yukari Mitsuhashi
SHARE:

Hanami season is not only a wonderful time to check out cherry blossoms, but it also gives us a great excuse to drink sake in broad daylight guilt-free. But most of us are not sake experts, and it can often be difficult to choose one given the variety of choices out there. But Sakelife can be a solution for many facing this dilemma. The service is a monthly subscription commerce for Japanese sake. It began back in Feburary of 2012 by collecting its initial funding on the crowdfunding website, Campfire. The project succeeded in just three hours and gained four times the amount of funding they had asked for. Sakelife curates quality bottles of sake for its users every two months, including a sake glass as well. The subscription also comes with an informative weekly newsletter about sake. The curation is the responsibility of Masanori Takahashi, the 25th representative of a long-established sake maker whose roots go all the way back to the Muromachi period (1336). Sake subscription is available in two types of plans starting at 3150 yen (about $33) including the shipping fee. We’ve heard rumors that the startup is planning to launch outside of Japan, so we…

sakelife-subscription

Hanami season is not only a wonderful time to check out cherry blossoms, but it also gives us a great excuse to drink sake in broad daylight guilt-free. But most of us are not sake experts, and it can often be difficult to choose one given the variety of choices out there. But Sakelife can be a solution for many facing this dilemma. The service is a monthly subscription commerce for Japanese sake.

It began back in Feburary of 2012 by collecting its initial funding on the crowdfunding website, Campfire. The project succeeded in just three hours and gained four times the amount of funding they had asked for.

Sakelife curates quality bottles of sake for its users every two months, including a sake glass as well. The subscription also comes with an informative weekly newsletter about sake. The curation is the responsibility of Masanori Takahashi, the 25th representative of a long-established sake maker whose roots go all the way back to the Muromachi period (1336).

Sake subscription is available in two types of plans starting at 3150 yen (about $33) including the shipping fee. We’ve heard rumors that the startup is planning to launch outside of Japan, so we will let you know if and when it’s available to overseas users.

Speaking of sake, we recently came across a project called Shuzo-Meigara Note (which translates as ‘sake brewer notebook’) that aims to promote sake culture. Shuzo-Meigara uses unused sake brewer’s cardboard and makes it into a sleek hand-made design notebook.

shuzo-meigara-notebooks

There are fourteen kinds of notebooks availabe on an ecommerce website, but shipment is limited to Japan for now. Shuzo-Meigara note can be a nice gift for friends who enjoy sake, and and it also helps promote the sake brewery. The traditional and powerful font of sake labels makes the notebook very unique and original.

Related news

  1. Tokyo-based startup Clear launches English news site focused on Japanese sake
  2. Japan’s subscription-based service ‘Box To You’ partners with Yahoo Japan
  3. sakura Japan tech this week: Groovy, Gung Ho, and Subscription Sake

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