“Sake is surprisingly versatile,” he added. “I’ve discovered it goes well with many Western recipes, perhaps even better than wine or beer.”

Fresh oysters, for example, usually go well with Champagne or Chablis, which have a crisp acidity. But Mr. Shichida, who runs the 140-year-old Tenzan brewery, says sake works better. The drink is mellower and less acidic, and its cleansing properties help remove the oysters’ briny taste, he said. And sake’s umami — a savory sensation considered to be the “fifth taste” — helps improve their fleshiness.

At a recent dinner at Hixter, a restaurant here, the head chef, Ronnie Murray, paired a plate of Launceston lamb and meaty girolle mushrooms with Mr. Shichida’s 75 Junmai, a full-bodied sake that uses unpolished rice, a rarity even in Japan. The Japanese generally prize sake that contains highly polished rice, which produces a flowery and smooth taste. By contrast, Mr. Shichida’s sake had a round, woody flavor with a tempered acidity that complemented the earthy lamb.

“Wine tends to be more acidic and cuts through the taste of meat,” said Gareth Groves, the head of marketing at Bibendum Wine, a retailer that recently announced that it was stocking sake from Japan. “Sake is less about cutting through the food than sitting alongside it.”

Most Westerners generally view sake as a clear-colored liquor to be savored with sushi and sashimi, with an alcohol content of 15 to 20 percent. It is thought to have originated in the seventh century and is considered the drink of the gods in the Shinto religion.