With the focus on delicious fruity flavour combos rather than upping the alcohol content, Japanese cocktails are the perfect beverage for anyone who would prefer to avoid hard alcohol. Using fresh ingredients, real fruits and healthful teas, these easy-to-sip quaffs are rather revitalising instead of ruinous, and allow you to feel positively fresh the next day. Drinking alcohol is accepted as the norm in social situations, and Japan is no exception, from hanami picnics to celebrate cherry blossom season to business meetings in izakaya restaurants. Rather than force you to order a soft drink if you want to pace yourself, they offer a commonly-available selection of classy low-alcohol cocktails. Try a Lemon Sour made with shochu, soda water and fresh lemon juice, a Matcha Hai highball, Umeshu (plum wine) and tonic or Red Eye Beer made with tomato juice. Find out why cocktails are one such illustration of the Japanese approach to perfecting a craft.