Premium Sake Pub GASHUE, an Izakaya Specializing in Japanese Sake Culture class with food and beverage for inbound customers will start in January 2026.

GASHUE Corporation (Head office: Setagaya-ku, Tokyo) will start a new "culture class with food and drink" business targeting inbound (foreign tourists visiting Japan) customers at "Premium Sake Pub GASHUE," a Japanese-style pub specializing in Japanese sake operated in Higashiueno, Taito-ku, Tokyo, from January 2026, with the aim of promoting the evolution and transformation of its business model. The new business will be a "culture class with food and beverage" business that offers lectures on Japanese sake to inbound visitors (foreign tourists visiting Japan).

Inbound visitors

Izakaya" industry requires business reform

The "Izakaya" industry, where many establishments have become "Galapagos red lanterns" under the old business model, has been exposed to a severe external environment of a continuously shrinking domestic market for Japanese sake and changing consumer trends toward eating out due to the Corona disaster, and is expected to decline by 2024. Last year (2024), the number of bankruptcies of "bars and beer halls," mainly izakaya (Japanese style pubs), reached a record high. (According to the results of the "Restaurants" Bankruptcy Trends Survey (2024) by Teikoku Databank.)

There are concerns that the economic environment surrounding the entire sake value chain, starting with sake brewers, will further deteriorate in the future due to soaring sake rice prices and high-temperature damage to sake rice caused by global warming, etc. The "Izakaya" industry, which plays a part, is required to actively challenge its own business reforms to survive. The "izakaya" industry, which plays a part in this trend, is required to actively take on the challenge of reforming its business conditions in order to survive.

Number of "Izakaya" bankruptcies and domestic sake shipments / Number of foreign visitors to Japan / Number of customers and amount spent on food and beverage

Promoting business reforms using inbound business as a catalyst

Under such a severe business environment, we have decided to promote the multifaceted transformation of our business structure by expanding our inbound business, using the increase in inbound business as a tailwind, and to strategically promote our business reform and evolution toward our own survival.

As part of the promotion of this management strategy, we have decided to enter into the new business of "culture classes" for inbound customers. This is based on our judgment that, because it is a "Galapagos business," it is possible to evolve management with originality, without being bound by conventional wisdom.

Inbound Response Capabilities Accumulated Ahead of Other Companies in the Industry

Our company was established in 2018 by Fumiaki Kako (current Representative Director), a former general trading company, with the founding philosophy of "protecting, conveying, and developing the 'Japanese sake culture'" and is primarily engaged in the management of restaurants specializing in Japanese sake.

Based on this philosophy, we have been actively working on "responding to inbound customers" since the opening of the restaurant, and are currently developing a "sake retail sales business" for inbound customers at the restaurant, and are also working to diversify our business beyond the existing "izakaya" business framework by setting inbound customers as one of our targets. As a result, we have been able to increase the number of customers who have been attracted by the services we provide at our stores.

As a result, our services have been highly evaluated by many inbound customers on global review websites such as Google Maps and Tripadvisor, and this year we received the This year, the hotel also received the "Traveler's Choice Award Best of the Best 2025," which is given to the top 1% of the establishments listed on Tripadvisor.

Reviews on Google Maps and Tripadvisor (as of October 21, 2025)

To be a driving force for continuous innovation to reform the "Izakaya" restaurant business format

The "culture class" business for inbound customers, which is to be launched, will lead to an increase in the number of touch points with inbound customers and a corresponding increase in recognition of our company overseas, which in turn will lead to the globalization of our company's philosophy of "propagating 'Japanese Sake Culture. We aim to be a driving force of continuous "Galapagos Innovation" for the transformation and evolution of the "Izakaya" business format, which will lead to the global development of the "propagation of Japanese Sake Culture", our company philosophy.

Company Profile

Company name: GASHUE Co.

Representative: Fumiaki Kako, Representative Director (Formerly with Mitsubishi Corporation)

Location: 1-35-2-409 Nozawa, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 154-0003, Japan

Establishment : June 2018

Business : Management of restaurants specializing in Japanese sake, etc.

Capital ： 15 million yen

URL ： https://www.gashue.co.jp/