The Japanese soft drink ramune takes its name from the English word “lemonade.”
The name reflects the drink’s origin as a carbonated lemonade. Scottish pharmacist Alexander Cameron Sim introduced the beverage in Kobe in 1884, and its name was adapted into Japanese as ramune. Although the original flavor is lemon-lime, ramune later became associated with many fruit and novelty flavors.
Ramune is best recognized by its distinctive Codd-neck bottle, sealed with a glass marble. Pressure from the carbonated drink pushes the marble against a rubber ring, creating the bottle’s characteristic closure. The marble must be pushed down before drinking, and molded supports in the neck keep it from blocking the flow.
A frequent misunderstanding is that ramune is a single brand. It is a category of Japanese soft drink made by multiple producers. In Japan, “cider” can describe a clear lemon-lime soda, so the original flavor may resemble what English-speaking consumers call lemon-lime soda rather than alcoholic cider. Ramune is especially associated with summer festivals.