An App for Sake Fans the World Over

Not quite sure about the sake in your hand? No matter, bring up the sake fan World app on your smartphone, scan the label on the bottle, and it will show you everything you need to know.

Sakefan World will provide you with useful information like the type of sake, the proper name, the brewery, alcohol content, rice used, rice-polishing rate, flavour profile, and more. It also boasts video and photo stories about the brewery, its brewers and its locale.

The app was developed to help non-Japanese speaking sake drinkers identify the myriad of labels in the market. It also helps the breweries, as they do not have to produce special labels specifically for export. One of the goals behind the app is to standardise the terms and jargon used so that they are consistent worldwide.

The app also serves as a way to learn about Japan and its lesser-known sights – as part of the brewery profile, you also learn about the local attractions and specialties. It’s a deft way for the Japanese government to help promote Japanese culture and tourist attractions: the app was commissioned by none other than the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Sakefan World was developed by Kenichiro Oka and Kazuto Tsuchida. Tsuchida is a sales manager at Takakuwa Art Printing Co, a printing company that works with almost 1,500 breweries in Japan, printing about 100,000 different labels, while Oka manages smartphone apps and web marketing design at BIGLOBE, a major Japanese Internet Service Provider.

Although still a work in progress due to its limited library of breweries and sake (only 19 breweries featured so far), sakefan World is worth checking out if you are a sake drinker. Given time, it may become an indispensable, and entertaining reference for your sake journey.

Currently available only on iOS and on the web, the Android version will be released at a later date.

Web http://sakefanworld.info/
App https://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/sakefan-world/id1045909991?mt=8

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