2025 is attracting increasing attention

This time the venue was moved from Happo-en to TODA HALL & CONFERENCE TOKYO.
Located right next to the Yaesu exit of Tokyo Station, the event saw a greater variety of exhibitors and speakers than last year. After speaking with Yoshitaka Shinohara, CEO of Vpon Japan, the event's organizer, he said that there's no doubt that the event is attracting more attention every year.

At the Cool Japan DX Summit 2025, each company will set up a booth in front of the session venue. In other words, even if you are just attending a session, your eyes will inevitably be drawn to the booth.
However, this does not necessarily mean that we have an advantage. In fact, if our message is not conveyed at first sight, we will be faced with an even more hopeless outcome. We set up our booth with the awareness that we would be "exposed" to the public more than last year.

Realizing the changes over the past year

As mentioned at the beginning, this was Sake World's second time participating in the Cool Japan DX Summit, and as a result, it was a day where we were able to inadvertently experience the changes our business has undergone over the past year.

Sake World currently operates six businesses, but as of the last time (December 2024), only three of those businesses were in operation (Assemblage Club, Sake World NFT, and Sake World Media). While the original sake-making experience facility "My Sake World" was in the pre-opening period of its first store, Oike Bettei, and the custom-made sake production facility, Makinokura, had just taken over the business, the company was completely devoid of sake brewery brand owner services (brewery investment).

This is the first two years since the business was launched, so it's not particularly strange to see such changes, but the people involved don't have a chance to look back, so these opportunities are valuable. Time flies.
Now that the business has become more concrete and diversified, they must be even more careful about how they communicate their slogan, "Maximizing the Value of Sake." Without this, no matter how "unique" it may be, they cannot expect any further progress.

Many visitors stopped by the booth, looked around, and asked questions about the various businesses.
Among the visitors were people who had previously visited "My Sake World," as well as former readers who had stopped by after seeing a poster for "Leaf," the original business of the operating company, Leaf Publications. This could be seen as a result of the accumulated experience of celebrating the 30th anniversary of the magazine's founding in 2026, as well as the results of public relations activities related to the "new business" over the past year.

On the other hand, we also realized that we needed to come up with some ideas to encourage further growth.
Both Sake World and Leaf Publications will need to be more strategic in how they communicate the unique characteristics of their Kyoto-based companies that operate a wide range of businesses, and the way they present their booths will change accordingly.

The same applies to the networking event after the session.
This time, Sake World will be offering a new product, KASUMI, from their just-released original brand, Assemblage Club.
Other alcoholic beverages on offer included Fukumitsuya, located in Ishikawa Prefecture, and Gekkeikan, also located in Fushimi. The former had its signature brand "Kaga Tobi," while the latter had its "Argo," which has been incredibly popular in recent years. KURAONE, which offers a variety of canned sake brands, also offered sake ice cream at their booth.

The networking event was attended by business people from various fields, including actors Hideaki Ito and Takumi Saito, and Hiroshi Mizohata, director of the Osaka Tourism Bureau and the man who spearheaded last year's Osaka Kansai Expo. It was a rare opportunity to have the Assemblage Club among them.
On the other hand, for those who buy the product, it means that brands are evaluated equally, regardless of the number of years the company has been in business or how well-known the business is.
As a result, the product was consumed in its entirety at an early stage, demonstrating some of its potential, but there are many things to consider when it comes to full-scale sales expansion, such as what kind of brand it should be, and what position it should establish as a sake, or more specifically, as an alcoholic beverage.

The sessions and other booths were a huge success

Due to the large number of visitors that were more than expected on the day, we were unable to see much of the session at another venue, but it was also a great success.
The Cool Japan DX Summit 2025 covers not only things directly related to "tourism" such as inbound tourism, traditional culture, food, and fashion, but also the content created by combining these. In other words, if something applies to you even a little, it's applicable, and the same can be said for the session speakers, with a diverse range of speakers discussing a variety of themes, and attendees listened intently to every word. In the area of ​​sake, the aforementioned Fukumitsuya spoke on the theme of "fermentation," with Fukumitsu Taichiro, the 14th generation head of the family, as the speaker.

Opening session

As for the booths, the services offered by each company hinted at the further development of Cool Japan. They came from both within Japan and overseas, including Kyoto-based companies like Leaf Publications and Gekkeikan, as well as "participants" from across the ocean, Taiwan.

Masami Oishi (left) and Atsushi Odaka (right) of Gekkeikan Research Institute. The company will hold the Fushimi Sake Festival 2026 at its Showa Brewery in March.

KURAONEⓇ CEO Katsunari Sawada also participated in the pre-opening of My Sake World Kyoto Kawaramachi store.

At first glance, you might wonder, "Is this even related?", but once you actually hear the explanation, you'll find yourself slapping your knee and saying, "I see!" It all makes sense. There are still countless combinations with Cool Japan. The same goes for Sake World. Sake has always had a strong affinity with the tourism sector, but there is still room for improvement in expression techniques, such as My Sake World.

According to Shinohara, they intend to hold the event again in 2026. What position will this project be in one year from now? I look forward to seeing the mutual development of both parties.