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As well as the several other kinds of Japanese alcoholic drinks I seem to have
found two words which both mean the drink known in the west as "saké".

Now I know 酒{さけ} can be used for many kinds of alcohol in Japan. I thought the
Japanese word for what us westerners call "sake" was 日本酒{にほんしゅ}.

But just now another traveller came home to the hostel with some Japanese
alcohol. One had the label 清酒{せいしゅ}, so I looked it up, expecting it to be for
a different Japanese alcohol I didn't know about before.

But the definitions on the English Wiktionary and WWWJDIC seem to be the same
for both words. Is there a difference? Is one a special kind of saké? Or is
one word more generic or more old fashioned etc?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-18T11:16:07.017
14925
2019-03-02T13:14:12.423
2014-03-18T14:09:00.893
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question
word-choice words synonyms food
Are 清酒{せいしゅ} and 日本酒{にほんしゅ} two words for the same thing?
There is a clear difference (no pun intended) between 日本酒 and 清酒. The clue is
in the kanji 「清」 = "clear".

Technically speaking, 清酒 is one of the two main types of 日本酒 --- 1) 清酒 and 2)
にごり[酒]{ざけ}. The former is refined and colorless and the latter, unrefined and
cloudy.

Informally, however, quite a few native speakers use 日本酒 and 清酒 fairly
interchangeably.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2014-03-18T11:37:56.883
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2019-03-02T13:14:12.423
2019-03-02T13:14:12.423
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answer