WAIN99 · Taiwan
Japan comes to meet Taiwan, too.
Tea in a cocktail, a shared favourite story, a bartender crossing the sea. Find a new connection with Taiwan.
A taste of Taiwan, through its bars.
Taipei’s Bar Mood brings local oolong tea and osmanthus into cocktails. Its approach earned the 2022 Sustainable Bar Award from Asia’s 50 Best Bars. Ask about an ingredient: a glass can open a conversation about the place that grew it.
Explore cocktails →Japan comes to meet Taiwan, too.
Japan was Taiwan’s largest source by visitor residence in the Tourism Administration’s 2024 figures. These are arrivals, including repeat visits, rather than unique people or a measure of affection.
Tokyo and Taipei meet at the counter.
The Peninsula Tokyo’s 2024 announcement introduced an August 19–20 guest programme with Taipei’s Ellen Y. Su of Indulge Experimental Bistro. In Taipei, the bar at Hotel Metropolitan Premier Taipei announced a cocktail-and-food pairing created with The Tokyo Station Hotel, offered for a limited period until October 9, 2026. It is an example of a Tokyo hotel’s recipes being introduced at a bar in Taipei.
The Peninsula Tokyo · 2024 ↗ / Hotel Metropolitan Premier Taipei · 2026 ↗
Stories become a reason to connect.
For Taiwan’s 2025 Comic Exhibition, a publisher announced signing sessions with Japanese manga artists Nagabe and Hanasawa Namio alongside Taiwanese artist Daisuke. Through WAIN99’s IP collaborations, non-alcoholic syrups and everyday goods bring these stories into daily life.
Discover IP collaborations →Meet Taiwan through VTubers.
Taiwan’s Springfish Studio introduces groups including RESCUTE and the Xtreme Deep Field Project on its website. Follow a voice, song or stream to discover creators from Taiwan. This corner will grow with more introductions to creators and their work.
From Yokohama to Taiwan: the WAIN99 story.
WAIN99 was founded in Yokohama on May 13, 2019, and expanded with its directly operated Taiwan shop 小九屋 in 2025. Japanese makers, European drinks and IP collaborations connect everyday tastes and stories across Japan and Taiwan.
Read the WAIN99 story →Why alcohol affects people differently: ALDH2.
Alcohol becomes acetaldehyde, then acetate. ALDH2 helps with the second step. Reduced or inactive ALDH2 occurs in people in both Japan and Taiwan; nationality alone cannot determine someone’s response.
Japan’s health ministry describes regional variation. Taiwan’s Health Promotion Administration reports flushing in nearly half its population; this is not a like-for-like measurement comparing enzyme activity across the two places. Flushing or a racing heart is not evidence of efficient metabolism. How well ALDH2 works depends on the gene type inherited from your parents, and drinking to get used to alcohol does not change it. If you flush easily, please do not push yourself to drink. For the effects on health, see the public guidance below.
Photo credits
xiangyang17 · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Display crop