Sake Trivia

[Trivia] How many sake cups is the appropriate amount of sake? If you know the capacity of a sake cup, you can prevent drinking too much during the New Year holidays!

During the season when many year-end and New Year parties are held, it's easy to end up drinking too much. Sake sommelier Eriko Fujita explains the appropriate amount of alcohol to drink and the relationship to the sake cups you use to keep yourself healthy.

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How many milliliters does each sake vessel hold?

Do you know how much sake is in the sake cups and glasses used at izakayas? A typical sake glass is about 90ml, and a larger one is about 150ml. A so-called "mokkiri" that spills sake into a masu or small plate is about 110ml.

Pottery sake cups are handmade, so there are no clear standards, but they are generally around 30 to 40ml. Meanwhile, sake cups with a double blue circle on the bottom, known as tasting sake cups, come in six sizes: 2 shaku, 2.5 shaku, 3 shaku, 5 shaku, 8 shaku, and 1 go. A shaku is a unit that represents one-tenth of a go, and since 6 go is 1ml, 10 shaku is 1ml. The most commonly used sizes are 1 shaku (180ml) and 1 shaku (18ml), so keep that in mind.

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Next is the tokkuri. It is often called a 'ichigo' tokkuri, but in reality most tokkuri do not contain 1 go, or 180 ml. If it does contain 180 ml, it is written as sei 1 go, and most often it contains 8 shaku, or 150 ml.

Even if you are drinking at home, we recommend measuring out how much of your everyday drink will fit into a measuring cup.

The recommended amount of alcohol is 1g per day!

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare defines "moderate drinking" as about 1g of pure alcohol per day on average. Pure alcohol can be calculated using the following formula:

Amount of alcohol (ml) x [alcohol content (%) ÷ 100] x 0.8 (specific gravity of alcohol)

According to this, for beer, it is 1ml (one medium-sized bottle), for wine it is 500ml, and for chuhai it is 200ml. For sake, the appropriate amount is 350ml per day, or 1 gou (180 cup). Moreover, more than double that amount, 1 gou, is defined as "the amount of alcohol that increases the risk of lifestyle-related diseases."

This may be a bit of a shock for sake lovers. Of course, the ability to break down alcohol varies from person to person and depending on one's constitution, but it's important to keep in mind the appropriate amount.

Sake bottle

How many glasses or sake cups can you have?

If you calculate the appropriate amount of sake to be consumed per day as 1ml on average, that would be two 180ml glasses, four 90ml sake cups, or about one tokkuri. If you mix it with beer or chuhai, it will naturally be even less.

However, parties and drinking parties with friends are great opportunities to have fun, so let's think of this time as something special and try to refrain from drinking from the next day onwards. For your health, it is said that it is best to have at least two days a week, once every two to three days, when you don't drink alcohol. In addition to giving your internal organs a rest, try to be conscious of taking a "liver-free day," which has the effect of reducing your total alcohol intake.


Writer/Sake Master Eriko Fujita
Expand your world to a sake specialty store in Osaka and encounter a variety of sake and sake breweries. Favorite sakes are Akishika, Ohgi, and others.
Other than drinking, my hobbies include collecting minerals and raising swallowtail butterflies.

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