Drink Japan is set to return to London on Friday 25th and Saturday 26th September 2026, bringing a vibrant showcase of Japanese beverages, artisan producers, and tasting experiences to The Lindley Hall at the Royal Horticultural Halls. Designed for drink lovers, Japan enthusiasts, and curious newcomers alike, the event offers a rare chance to explore the depth and variety of Japan’s contemporary drinks culture in one place.
From sake and shochu to whisky, beer, wine, cocktails, tea, and non-alcoholic drinks, Drink Japan brings together a wide range of flavours under one roof. Visitors can also enjoy Japanese cuisine samples, meet producers and experts, and discover more about the craftsmanship and innovation behind the drinks themselves.
Drink your way across Japan
A showcase of Japanese craftsmanship
The official Drink Japan website presents the event as a platform for helping Japanese drinks, food, and culture become a natural part of the UK’s contemporary food and drink landscape. Rather than functioning as a standard tasting fair, it aims to connect Japanese brands with visitors, importers, and industry professionals through education, cultural exchange, and direct engagement.
It emphasises understanding the stories, traditions, and people behind them, from long-established producers to newer names bringing fresh ideas to the market.
Who is behind Drink Japan
Drink Japan is run by Rie Yoshitake and Chris Ashton, two of the people most responsible for Japanese drinks having any profile in Britain at all.
Yoshitake is a sake ambassador representing the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association and the Sake Samurai Association, and directs the Japanese Culinary Academy in the UK. She received Japan’s MAFF Minister’s Award in 2014 and the Foreign Minister’s Award in 2019. Ashton ran the International Wine Challenge for more than 16 years and built its sake division, and has been designated both a Cool Japan Ambassador and a Sake Samurai.
The two of them, with Toshie Hiraide, set up the IWC’s sake competition in 2007. Drink Japan is the consumer facing end of nearly two decades of that work, which is why the exhibitor list reaches breweries that do not normally travel.
Session times and ticketing
The event includes complimentary tastings of hundreds of Japanese drinks and food samples with every ticket, along with the chance to meet the makers and experts behind them.
There are four sessions across the two days, and a ticket admits you to one session only. Tickets are not transferable between sessions, and each session has a fixed number available, so book the slot you actually want.
| Session | Standard | Two for one OFFER |
|---|---|---|
| Friday 25th September, 12pm to 4pm | £30 | £17.50 per person |
| Friday 25th September, 5pm to 9pm | £35 | Not available |
| Saturday 26th September, 12pm to 4pm | £30 | £17.50 per person |
| Saturday 26th September, 5pm to 9pm | £35 | Not available |
Both afternoon sessions carry a two for one offer: add it to your basket and a second ticket comes free, which works out at £17.50 each. Eventbrite adds a booking fee to some tiers at checkout, so the Saturday afternoon pair comes to £19.67 per person and the Saturday evening ticket to £38.62. Advance booking is required.
The Friday afternoon session doubles as the trade preview, so expect importers, sommeliers and buyers working the room alongside you. Trade entry is free with advance professional registration, and badges are collected on the door with a business card.
Before you go. Strictly over 18s. No food or drink can be brought into the venue, and no animals other than guide dogs. Most exhibitors sell on the day, so bring a card if you expect to take bottles home.
Free masterclasses across both days
Every masterclass at Drink Japan is free and included with entry. Sessions run 30 minutes each, four a day, and you register at the ticket gate on the day rather than booking ahead. They go on a first come basis, so it is worth deciding which one you want before you arrive.
Friday 25th September
- 1pm, Sake Unlocked: Taste, Pair and Discover, hosted by the National Tax Agency of Japan. An informal introduction to tasting sake and pairing it with food. This sitting is trade only.
- 2:30pm, The Spirit of Okinawa: Discover the World of Awamori
- 6pm, Beyond Matcha: A Modern Japanese Tea Experience, hosted by AWAIDO
- 7:30pm, The Art of Awamori: From Tradition to Innovation
Saturday 26th September
- 1pm, Discover Awamori: Okinawa’s Timeless Spirit
- 2:30pm, Sake Unlocked: Taste, Pair and Discover, hosted by the National Tax Agency of Japan
- 6pm, a further masterclass still to be confirmed
- 7:30pm, Taste, Evaluate, Enjoy: A WSET Sake Masterclass, hosted by WSET
Three separate awamori classes across the weekend is unusual, and worth taking advantage of. Between them they cover the traditional side of the spirit and what distillers are doing with it now. The WSET session closing Saturday is the most technical of the set, and the one to pick if you want a framework for judging sake rather than simply enjoying it.
Performances on the main hall stage
Two sets of live performance run through the event, both on the Main Hall Stage and both included with entry.
Tenor Takumi Torio and soprano Nozomi Fukushima perform a short opera set. Torio is a member of the vocal group REAL TRAUM and moves between opera and pop. Fukushima studied at Tokyo University of the Arts and at Trinity Laban Conservatoire in London, and works across musical theatre, plays and concerts. They perform at 12:45pm and 5:45pm on the Friday, and 12:45pm on the Saturday.
Taiko drummer Joji Hirota leads an ensemble at 2:15pm and 7:15pm on the Friday. Hirota has been one of the most recognisable taiko performers working in Britain for years, and a hall this size suits the drums.
Sets run around 15 minutes, so check the times against the session you have booked.
Exhibitors to look out for
Drink Japan brings together large, well-known breweries and smaller craft producers in the same room, so you can taste across both in one visit. Most exhibitors offer free samples, many stands are run by the people who make the drinks, so you can ask questions as you go, and some sell on the day, so you can buy anything you like there and then.
Sake from major and craft breweries
The confirmed sake exhibitors include large heritage breweries and independent producers, with names like Gekkeikan, Dassai, Hakkaisan and Akashi-Tai among those pouring, plus sparkling sake and other styles to try. It is a good way to sample a wide range in one place and find out which you prefer. We will publish a full guide to the sake exhibitors closer to the event.
Some of the breweries pouring have been at it a very long time. Gekkeikan was founded in Fushimi, Kyoto in 1637 and brings Horin Junmai Daiginjo and its sparkling. Urakasumi dates to 1724, Takara Shuzo, behind MIO Sparkling, to 1842, Akashi-Tai to 1856 in Hyogo, Houraisen to 1864 in Aichi, Chiebijin to 1874 in Oita, and Hakkaisan has been brewing with Mt Hakkaisan meltwater in Niigata since 1922.
Alongside them are producers doing something different. Heavensake is the collaboration between French Champagne blender Regis Camus and Japanese breweries. Tazaki Foods brings a spread of styles including yuzu sake, a lychee saketini, kimoto honjozo and a black tea umeshu. Tengu Sake, named IWC Sake Merchant of the Year more than once and behind the UK’s first dedicated sake shop, is also pouring, which makes it a useful stand for asking what to buy afterwards.
It is not all sake either. Coedo brings three of its beers, Fuji Japanese Whisky shows both its single grain and single malt, and there is kokuto shochu made from Amami black sugar. Clearspring and Japan House on Kensington High Street cover the non drinks side.
Okinawan awamori (Rice spirit) and Japanese whisky
The spirits line-up includes Okinawan awamori, a distilled spirit from Japan’s southern islands that is hard to find in the UK, with several island distilleries exhibiting together, plus Japanese whisky. If you want to try something beyond sake, this is a rare chance to do so. We will cover the spirits exhibitors in a separate piece.
The awamori stands sit inside Spirits of Japan, a new zone presented by the Government of Japan and the largest single addition to this year’s event. It splits in two.
The shochu side runs tastings across the three main base ingredients, sweet potato, barley and rice, alongside hands on cocktail workshops where professional bartenders talk through blending and food pairing and you mix your own shochu based drink.
The awamori side is presented by the Okinawa Awamori Distillers Association from the zone’s cocktail bar, and it is the reason to prioritise this corner. Nine Okinawan distilleries are exhibiting together, several from islands whose bottles almost never leave Japan: Yaesen and Ikehara from Ishigaki, Sakimoto from Onna Village and Yonaguni, Kamimura from Uruma City, Izena from Izena Island, Iheya from Iheya Island, Yanbaru from Ogimi Village, Yamakawa from Motobu, and Yoneshima from Kume Island. Kamimura was the first distillery to age awamori in oak casks, which is a good place to start if you have only ever had it young and clear.
Japanese food from Eat Tokyo
There is food alongside the drinks, led by Eat Tokyo, a family of Japanese-owned restaurants that started in Japan over 57 years ago and now has sites in Tokyo, London and Düsseldorf. At the event they serve the kind of menu their restaurants are known for: sushi and sashimi, regional specialities, home-style dishes, and izakaya classics that go well with a drink. It means you can eat proper Japanese food while you sample, rather than tasting on an empty stomach.
More than 50 exhibitors are confirmed and the list is still growing, with names being added as September approaches, so the final line-up is likely to be larger again by the time the doors open.
The Royal Horticultural Halls
Getting to the Lindley Hall
The Lindley Hall sits on Vincent Square in Westminster, roughly equidistant from Victoria, Pimlico and St James’s Park stations and around a ten minute walk from each. Victoria is the easiest arrival point if you are travelling in from outside London. There is no visitor parking on the square, so public transport is the sensible option, and given what you are there to do, the better one.
Which session should you book
All four sessions carry the same exhibitor line-up, so the choice comes down to price, atmosphere, and what else is running while you are in the room.
- Friday afternoon, 12pm to 4pm. The cheapest way in at £30, or £17.50 each on the two for one, and the quietest, since it doubles as the trade preview. The opera set runs at 12:45pm and taiko at 2:15pm. The best pick if you want unhurried time with producers.
- Friday evening, 5pm to 9pm. £35, and the liveliest of the four. Opera at 5:45pm, taiko at 7:15pm, and both the Japanese tea and awamori masterclasses fall inside it.
- Saturday afternoon, 12pm to 4pm. £30, or £17.50 each on the two for one. Opera at 12:45pm, an awamori masterclass at 1pm and the sake introduction at 2:30pm. The strongest value if you want the masterclasses.
- Saturday evening, 5pm to 9pm. £35. No performances scheduled, but it closes with the WSET sake masterclass, the most structured session of the weekend. Pick this one if you want to leave knowing how to taste rather than just what you liked.
A curated showcase of Japanese drinks and food
Drink Japan stands out because it blends the energy of a tasting event with the depth of a cultural showcase. For visitors interested in Japanese beverages, food traditions, or the growing presence of Japanese brands in the UK, it offers a concentrated and engaging way to explore the scene.
With artisan producers, expert hosts, and a varied range of drinks and food samples, the 2026 edition looks set to be another strong celebration of Japanese flavour and craft in London.
Drink Japan 2026: your questions answered
- When and where is Drink Japan 2026? Friday 25th and Saturday 26th September 2026 at The Lindley Hall, 80 Vincent Square, London SW1P 2PB.
- How much are tickets? £30 for afternoon sessions and £35 for evening sessions, booked through Eventbrite. Both afternoon sessions carry a two for one offer that works out at £17.50 per person. Trade entry is free with advance professional registration.
- Are the tastings included? Yes. Entry includes complimentary tastings of hundreds of Japanese drinks plus food samples. Many exhibitors also sell bottles on the day.
- Do I need to book masterclasses in advance? No. All masterclasses are free and you register at the ticket gate on the day.
- Is there an age restriction? Yes, strictly over 18s.
- Can I attend more than one session? No. A ticket admits you to one session only and is not transferable between sessions.
- How many exhibitors are there? More than 50 confirmed and still growing.
- What drinks are covered? Sake, shochu, awamori, Japanese whisky, beer, wine, cocktails, tea and non alcoholic options.
