I like to indulge in a cold glass of fizzy soda once or twice a week, though my wife would rather I didn’t. And while I’m spoilt for choice here in Japan, I’m still partial to Coca Cola.
Japan is the second biggest market in the world for The Coca Cola Company. They have more than 50 brands with over 850 products on store shelves and in vending machines; everything from canned coffee to alcoholic lemonade. But when it comes down to actual Coca Cola, there are three main varieties available; Coca Cola, Coke Zero and Coke Plus (Fiber).
But no Diet Coke, which happens to be my favourite.
So, why do I like Diet Coke? I’d like to say that a moment of self-reflection or a hospital diagnosis pushed me towards going sugar-free. But the reality is that a university vending machine ran out of regular Coke. So I bought Diet Coke and found myself quite enjoying it. Yes, at the grand old age of eighteen, I could finally tick the “Drank a Diet Coke” box off the list of life experiences. I was finally over the dumb jokes and schoolyard banter that had left a childish stigma around Diet Coke. I was finally over the ads with shirtless, male window-cleaners with rock hard abs, gyrating in front of female office workers slurping cans of Diet Coke. Yes, I could feel the kilograms melt away with every sip. Diet Coke tasted better than the regular stuff.
So, where the hell is Diet Coke in Japan? The history of Diet Coke in Japan is a confusing one of renewals and rebranding. After ousting “Coca Cola Light” from shelves back in 1999, Diet Coke was “renewed” twice before retiring from the Japanese market in 2007, with Coke Zero taking its place. Pepsico had similar problems with Diet Pepsi being rereleased three times, though it has just managed to cling on. The problem; the average Japanese person doesn’t drink soda every day, and they’re quite fussy about artificial sweeteners.
Compared to the likes of the US or the UK, Japan isn’t really a soda-drinking country. In fact much of Coca Cola, Suntory and Kirin’s non-alcoholic trade is devoted to tea and coffee, both hot and cold. In 2020, 30% and 19% of Japan’s soft drinks market was that of ready-to-drink (RTD) tea and coffee respectively. Carbonated drinks amounted to 15%, while mineral water had 14% of the market share. In the same year, Japan’s population of 126 million people generated 7.27 billion USD in the carbonated soft drink market. While that might seem a lot, compare that to the UK’s 8.73 billion USD from a popular of 67 million, and it’s clear that the average Japanese person isn’t chugging a litre of soda every day. It’s certainly an impressive feat once you consider that there’s one vending machine for every 23 people in the country.
Browsing through the Japan Cola Database, the main complaints towards “diet” sodas are about the “bad aftertaste” and “muted flavour” from artificial sweeteners. Artificial sweeteners have been a tough nut to crack in Japan, and it shows with the lack of variety in supermarkets and the general absence of them in cafes and restaurants. The likes of Acesulframe K, Sucralose and Aspartame have been switched in and out of various brands for the last couple of decades with little change to public opinion and little commercial success. After having suffered through numerous health checks and consultations, it’s clear that Japanese doctors and dieticians would rather people avoid sugar altogether rather than substitute it for a low-calorie, “alternative” option.
Interestingly, while Japan’s obesity rate remains low, the country’s diabetes rates steadily grows with each year. In 2019, Japan had a rate of 12.1% compared to the UK’s rate of 7%. So it might be time for Japan to finally embrace “sugar-alternatives” and revive the glorious taste of Diet Coke.
Lost Cynic in Japan 