The potential of [tourism x sake] as seen from the "Cool Japan DX Summit"
With "traditional sake brewing" being registered as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, sake is attracting more attention than ever before, but what kind of impression is it actually getting? We report on our booth at the "Cool Japan DX Summit 2024" held at Happo-en in Tokyo and the potential of sake we felt there.

With "traditional sake brewing" now registered as an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, sake is attracting more attention than ever before.
On the other hand, it is also interesting to know what kind of impression people actually have. One event that can give us an idea of this is the "Cool Japan DX Summit 2024" held at Happo-en in Tokyo on December 12, 9.
"Cool Japan" has become a key phrase in Japan's quest to become a tourism-oriented nation, and for the first time, Sake World exhibited a booth to explore the possibilities of Japanese sake.
INDEX
The event will be held in one of Japan's leading Japanese gardens
The Cool Japan DX Summit has been held in various cities around Japan so far, but this time it will be held at Happo-en in Tokyo. The event space within the Japanese garden, located in the Shirokanedai area, one of the most prestigious residential areas in Tokyo, will be the venue.
The venue was divided into two, one for talk sessions and the other for corporate exhibition booths.
At the talk session, the Cool Japan strategy was discussed from various angles, and the high level of interest was evident, with television stations coming to cover the event.
In a session related to sake, Fukumitsu Taichiro, the 14th generation head of Fukumitsuya in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, discussed fermentation with actor Takumi Saito and former Japanese national soccer team player Keita Suzuki. He introduced the value creation that comes from the technology born from sake brewing.
In addition, in a session discussing future Cool Japan strategies, "sake" was raised as one of the leading contents. It was impressive that sake was treated as a particularly hot topic, as it was registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage a few days before the event.
High expectations for "Kyoto"
This time, Sake World exhibited a booth as a sponsor of the event, and also provided sake from their original brand, "Assemblage Club," at the after-party held after the session.
The purpose of the booth was to introduce the Sake World project as a whole, but even as it was being set up many visitors stopped to look around and ask questions about the project from all angles.
What was particularly striking was the fact that Sake World has diversified its sake-related businesses, including an NFT marketplace, a media site, an original sake brand, a sake brewery, and a sake-making experience facility. Some people were amazed and went beyond interest to see how they were able to launch all of these in such a short period of time.
The fact that the operating company (Leaf Publications Co., Ltd.) is based in Kyoto also attracted attention.
As mentioned above, the Cool Japan DX Summit is an event to discuss Japan's future tourism strategy, and within that, there are particularly high expectations for KYOTO, a tourist city that Japan is proud of around the world.
The same can be said for the Osaka-Kansai Expo, which is scheduled to open next year and was included in one of the talk sessions. Both are expected to be powerful opportunities to attract foreign tourists (events).
In other regions too, promoting the appeal of Japan on an ongoing basis will lead to digital transformation in tourism and is thought to be the key to the future Cool Japan strategy. "Local tourism" is no longer a disadvantage, but is on the verge of becoming a major advantage.
What Sake World can do
It was also striking that expectations for Kyoto have turned into a kind of yearning.
It is well known that Kyoto is a popular tourist destination for inbound tourists, which means that it is being treated as a brand more than ever before within the country.
We also learned that "experience" is a key word in future tourism strategies. Popular tourist spots have already become standard, so in order to attract repeat visitors, it seems that the challenge going forward will be to create new spaces where people can experience Japanese culture.
Among these, Sake World's new business, "My Sake World," a facility where people can experience making sake, has attracted interest and great expectations due to the possibility that it could provide value different from that of the past. The fact that it also includes the "immersive" element, which is a recent marketing trend, has also attracted even more interest.
Click here for related articles

- Become a sake blender today! Original blend sake experience facility from Kyoto [My Sake World Oike Bettei]
-
#MySakeWorld
The Assemblage Club, the "main subject," also received very positive reviews from visitors who tried it. While it must be taken into account that it was a new experience, it is also possible that one of the reasons for this was that "drinking sake from Kyoto in Tokyo" is surprisingly rare.
Despite being an exhibitor at a Japanese garden in one of Tokyo's most luxurious residential areas, a place that is as far removed from home as a Kyoto company, it was a day filled with many new realizations. We were able to gauge the current state of our business, and we realized that tourism is a field that Sake World should focus on strengthening in the future.
The editorial team will continue to travel to various locations both in Japan and abroad, aiming to maximize the value of sake through exchanges.