culture corner: Ramune

After a long day of playing under the searing summer sun, it’s an American childhood tradition to sit on the porch gulping down icy glass after glass of sweet lemonade and munch on homemade cookies. For Japanese children the way to cool off with friends is to go to the nearest okashi-ya (candy shop) and sit under any available shade sipping a cold bottle of ramune.

Ramune, a name supposedly derived from the English word “lemonade" is a popular summer beverage recognized by its simple yet unusual blue glass bottle and its popularity as a candy flavor. Surprisingly, the inventor of the popular soda was a Scottish pharmacist named Alexander Cameron Sim who lived much of his life in Japan. Ramune’s claim to fame was not in an extraordinary flavor but rather the bottle in which it came. While some are made of plastic, many of the unusual Codd-neck bottles are traditionally made of heavy blue glass. The bottle is shaped like a snowman; the “head” of the bottle is a small hollow separated from the body by two dimples in the bottle’s neck. At the mouth of the bottle blocking the flow of the bubbly liquid is a glass marble held in place by the carbon dioxide pressure inside. The first Ramune bottles used cork, but no one knows the real reason or origin of the marble. In order to get the first refreshing sip, the marble has to be pushed down into the hollow of the bottle using a small device that comes with the drink. The small pop-kachink of the falling marble is instantly followed by an eruption of sticky white foam. The marble then stays in its little chamber where it rattles and clinks around as the drinker quenches his or her thirst.

The soda inside is usually clear and akin to club soda, but with a subtle citrus taste, similar to Sprite. Though the original “lemon-lime” flavor of Ramune is the most popular, pineapple, melon, orange, Blue Hawaii, lychee, kiwi, strawberry, and even wasabi and curry flavors are also available.

Removing the marble from the bottle made Ramune both a popular children’s puzzle and drink. Breaking the glass served as a simple solution, and so did melting down the plastic ones. It took a real master to retrieve the marble without breaking the bottle. Today, however, many of the plastic bottles come with detachable mouths so that the marble can easily be removed.

The Ramune version of a cereal box toy, the marble can be played with once it is removed. Marble playing in Japan supposedly began in the 1800s when children began removing the marbles from Ramune bottles to use as toys. The glass bottles are often saved by tourists and foreigners as souvenirs and even kept by recyclers as pretty makeshift vases. Children typically collect the marbles, though some keep the bottles as summer mementos. So on a steamy summer afternoon in Japan, instead of settling for that cup of lemonade, remember that cloudless sky-blue bottle of Ramune.

—Mine Furusho