Japanese sake to the sound of Austrian waltzes 

Austria has adopted the slogan “Composing the Future” for EXPO 2025 in Osaka to show the world just how much it has to offer economically, technologically and culturally. International interaction brings markets and people together, and cultural cooperation has a special role to play here.
We are shining a spotlight on the special cultural relationships that exist between Japan and Austria with an exceptional project – and presenting a special edition sake at EXPO 2025. The popular traditional Japanese drink from the renowned DASSAI brand has been brewed to the strains of the Lagoon Waltz by Johann Strauss, exclusively played by members of the Vienna Philharmonic as part of the “Philharmonic Taste” program and members of the Japan Century Symphony Orchestra.
The “DASSAI – Composing the Future” special edition will be unveiled at the EXPO 2025 National Day on 23 May 2025, with a message that is more important than ever right now: the future is best composed together.

A “making of” film has documented the production process and the recording sessions by the musicians involved in the joint “DASSAI – Composing the Future” project.

The Vienna Philharmonic has made regular appearances in Japan since 1956. At the behest of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber, Andreas Grossbauer, a member of the Vienna Philharmonic since 2007 and the founder of the “Philharmonic Taste” project, has taken Johann Strauss’ 200^th birthday as an opportunity to forge an extraordinary musical link between Austria and Japan.
An ensemble drawn from the ranks of the Vienna Philharmonic has recorded Arnold Schönberg’s arrangement of Johann Strauss’ Lagoon Waltz in the Vienna State Opera and the original version of the waltz has been taped by the Japan Century Symphony Orchestra in Japan. Recording engineer Georg Burdicek has mixed a version of these tracks that flips back and forth between the Austrian and Japanese recordings.

Sake is a popular and traditional drink from Japan that is made from rice, and the Asahi Shuzo brewery’s DASSAI brand has achieved a worldwide reputation for premium quality sake, winning a host of prizes.
An audio recording of Johann Strauss’ Lagoon Waltz played by members of the Vienna Philharmonic and the Japan Century Symphony Orchestra has been used during the fermentation of the “DASSAI – Composing the Future” special edition.

The aim of the “DASSAI – Composing the Future” project at EXPO 2025 is to demonstrate the economic links between Austria and Japan with concrete examples of cooperative projects that attract public interest in both countries. This is intended to inspire and motivate companies to engage in new economic initiatives and intensify existing collaborations – so cultural ties are transformed into even stronger economic ties.