Fancy a gulp of curry lemonade? Or how about some refreshing salty cider? Sold in department stores and over the Internet, regionally produced cider and ramune are becoming increasingly popular with both people nostalgic for the past and young people who dig the look of retro ramune bottles and cider labels.
Japanese cider is a nonalcoholic drink similar to Sprite, while ramune, introduced to Japan in 1876, resembles the British version of lemonade (clear, not cloudy). For me, the drinks are indistinguishable in taste, but that certainly can’t be said for the plethora of locally made cider and ramune that have been popping up all over the country. According to Kyodo News, in January of this year there were 127 varieties of regionally produced soft drinks, 2.4 times the figure four years ago.
The fun thing about the boom is that each area has its own take on the classic summer drinks, introducing local ingredients and using local water that has its own distinctive taste. Take Hokkaido’s melon ramune, for instance, which tastes of locally grown akaniku (red meat) melons. And as the largest producer of wasabi in Japan, Shizuoka naturally produces a kick-ass wasabi-flavored ramune, which probably should be placed in the “drink if you dare" category.” There’s even a salt cider, useful in summer to help rehydrate the body, made in the salt-producing village of Okunoto in Ishikawa Prefecture.