Sake's future is decided
by how many new drinkers
it meets.
sakejump is a platform connecting Japanese drinks with the drinkers they have not yet met. Around the planning and production of Japan's largest sake events, Wakate no Yoake and Konsai, we run overseas events in Hong Kong, Beijing, Berlin and London, produce the specialty store sakejump takanawa, and operate an online store, an app and a podcast. Through every touchpoint, we grow new drinkers and expand the sake market itself.
The fire the brewers lit themselves, carried to the next era
The story of Wakate no Yoake began on September 9, 2007, at Nakano Sun Plaza in Tokyo. Young brewers of the time gathered around a shared wish: to cross the old boundaries between trading partners, bring their generation of breweries together, and lift up a declining industry. The first edition was held with the support of sake retailers and senior brewers. Not an event company, not government: a place of learning and challenge founded by the makers themselves. That is its origin.
Across two eras, 2007 to 2017 and 2018 to 2022, leading breweries nationwide served as organizers, holding editions in Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Sendai, Fukuoka and beyond. Many breweries that took flight here now lead the sake scene.
In September 2022, camo Inc. took over this historic event from the breweries. Keeping the founding wish to see young breweries thrive, it moved the venue to Otemachi, Tokyo, and greatly expanded structure and scale, growing roughly tenfold since the handover. With over 40 editions held, 150+ breweries from 42 prefectures have taken part, involving about one in ten of Japan's roughly 1,500 sake licenses: a movement without parallel in the industry.
Its greatest value is that makers and drinkers can talk face to face. You meet the person behind the label and touch their passion and the story of the land, and that turns a single glass into something unforgettable.
A festival of Japanese drinks, born with the city
Konsai is a festival of Japanese drinks born in April 2025 alongside the opening of Takanawa Gateway City. True to its name, a wish for the blending and growth of a community, it features not only sake but shochu breweries too. The first edition rotated 80+ breweries from across Japan, gathering some 250 labels in the new district.
If Wakate no Yoake is a festival focused on the makers, Konsai is an open, street-facing celebration where even people new to sake can drop by. Food from a kitchen car in one hand, a casual glass in passing: from such chance encounters, new drinkers are born. The second edition, Konsai 2026, expanded to five days (June 10 to 14) with 100+ breweries and about 15,000 visitors, growing into an early-summer fixture of Takanawa.
Hong Kong, Beijing, Berlin, London
Sake's new drinkers are not only in Japan. In 2025, sakejump held events in Hong Kong (1881 Heritage) and Beijing, introducing Japan's makers directly to local hospitality professionals and enthusiasts.
In 2026, alongside Hong Kong, we moved into Europe: co-hosting at the historic Markthalle Neun in Berlin with a local partner, and holding an event at The Magazine in Hyde Park, London. Both grew out of a collaboration with Richie Hawtin, the world-renowned techno DJ who also holds the honorary title of Sake Samurai, with breweries traveling from Japan to meet drinkers in person.
Our aim is not a one-off export promotion. It is to make a place for sake within the world's food scene and grow a lasting market together with local partners. As Japanese cuisine wins acclaim worldwide, we believe Japanese drinks are what raise its value further.
The energy of an event, brought into daily life
Not letting the encounters born at events end in a moment: from that thought came sakejump takanawa, a specialty store for Japanese drinks. It opened on March 28, 2026, at NEWoMan TAKANAWA MIMURE, a 3-minute walk from JR Takanawa Gateway Station.
Sake and craft sake selected from 90+ breweries line the shelves, with paid tastings at the bar counter, sake-vessel sales, and regular brewery visits and experience events. Not simply a place to sell sake, but a hub that conveys the makers' philosophy, background and sense of place. A few event days a year and a store open 365 days: together, they let someone who fell for sake at an event keep sake in their daily life.
Sake is a culture and a traditional industry, woven from nature and human effort — one Japan is proud to share with the world.
But its present, and its future, cannot be called bright as things stand.
Building every kind of place that connects makers and drinkers,
growing the number of new drinkers around the world,
expanding the market for sake.
sakejump keeps being the platform for that —
in real places, and online,
carrying the story forward.
Start with a glass.