Actually, Ramune consists of little more than sweetened soda water with an essence vaguely reminiscent of citrus. Although it is pleasant enough to drink, it is not the taste which attracts many people.
The first thing to catch attention is the shape of the bottle, made of heavy dark green glass. About one-third of the way down, the bottle is pinched-in almost in half. Two large circles on one side give the impression of large eyes. The bottle, attractive and of a very unique appearance, definitely invites one to have a taste of what is inside.
Three or four years ago, it was difficult to find a bottle of Ramune. Once, until modern, now more familiar cola type drinks took over, it was usually the only soft drink for sale outside the large cities.
Twenty years ago, the minute you went anywhere into the countryside, the only soft drinks to choose from were Ramune and uncarbonated orange pop. Afew years later carbonated cola and fruit flavored drinks began making inroads into the Ramune market. A few years after that, the other drinks took over completely, Ramune disappeared from sight. Only in the most remote little villages and at a few festival stands was it for sale. No one really seemed to notice.
This is a drink with a past. It appeared early in the Meiji period, soon after Japan was reopened to the outside world a century ago. No one knows for sure, but general opinion has it that the name is a corruption of lemonade. Indeed, it sounds more like the English word than the present day Japanese word which is an acknowledged attempt to say "lemonade". Another theory has it that a man named Mr. Ramune was the one to first make it, although this idea has few subscribers.
Whatever the origin of the word, the drink has been around for at least the lifetime of most people. it was traditionally made and bottled by small local stores rather than at a large bottling plant. The pinched-in shape of the bottle s accounted for by the stopper, which is a marble set in to a rubber washer. The narrow waist keeps the marble from falling all the way to the bottom when it is pushed into the bottle to open it.