In 1909, Ise City based sake company, Ogawa Shoten, began making its original “S-Cider”, a light, crisp and bubbly non-alcoholic cider to the delight of children and adults as a refreshingly simple carbonated drink. In its day, S-Cider was a favorite of many and was sold all over Japan and even, at one point, exported to Taiwan. However, with the introduction of soft drinks like Coca Cola and others, S-Cider found itself with simply too much competition and Ogawa Shoten was faced with plummeting profits and therefore made the decision to drastically reduce production of S-Cider. For local residents, S-Cider was still available, but for many, it was lost to the history books as it were—but never forgotten. Ogawa Shoten produced S-Cider up until the early 1970’s and then In 1999, after several generations of doing business in Ise City, Ogawa Shoten closed its doors, all but closing the final chapter of S-Cider forever.
A twist of fate:
In 2001, a local non-profit organization was tasked with renovating Ogawa Shoten’s warehouses and while doing so, they stumbled upon ONE bottle of original S-Cider. Knowing what they had found, they began to think about how and if it would be possible to recreate what many of them remembered as a proud part of Ise City’s past.
Soon after, the NPO members approached Ise Kadoya and asked if we were interested in being part of the project, which of course we were since we knew what it meant to Ise City’s past and also because it was once a favorite of my father. With a little luck and a commitment to the original recipe, S-Cider would return.
The comeback:
After analyzing the original ingredients and lots of fun trial and error, we think we succeeded in recreating the original taste of S-Cider and have recently pushed it back in the spotlight. S-Cider is now being sold again—much to the delight of my father and so many others who remember its bubbly sweet taste from times past. We have used the original label and package design and hope this becomes not only a trip down memory lane for the older generation but something that gives the next generation something to smile about. S-Cider is available in Ise City, Toba City and Ise Shima and of course, at both of our restaurants.
A part of S-Cider’s profits will be donated to Ise-Kawasaki Machizukuri Shu, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Ise City’s Kawasaki district.