Japan is a country of drinkers - and a few rituals should be considered before taking a tipple. Never pour a drink for yourself; your friend or host should do this for you and you in turn should keep your companions' glasses filled to the brim! A word you'll hear quite often is kampai - this means 'cheers' in Japanese.
Whilst Sake (rice wine) is the national drink of Japan, lager-beer (pronounced beer-ru in Japanese) is the most popular. Widely available brands include Kirin, Sapporo, Suntory, and Asahi. They are all worth a taste and average about 5% abv.
Watch out for cheaper brands though - these are not actually beer at all but happoshu, a malt flavoured beverage. This looks and tastes like cheap beer but the low malt content allows the brewers to avoid beer taxes! As for the Sake, our advice is to have the cheap stuff (a little rough on the palate) hot, but drink the quality brands (strong and fresh tasting) well chilled.
A wide variety of alco-pops called Chu-hai are available. Get them from a Konbini (convenience store) such as Lawsons, Circle K or Family Mart, or in a restaurant or bar. Chu-hai is made from Shochu, a distilled spirit, which can be bought neat although this is not advised. Whisky is very popular amongst Japanese men - Scotch is considered the best and is highly sought after.
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