A person prepares for a display as he pours Japanese sake into a wooden cup traditionally used to drink sake, in Tokyo. — Photo: AP/Hiro Komae)
Japanese tipples sake and shochu – and the knowledge and skills honed over centuries to make them – have been added to Unesco's Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
AFP looks at how sake, a rice wine, is made, its myriad varieties, and its role in everyday life and traditions:
