Ramune

File:Ramune Sangaria.jpeg

A Ramune Sangaria bottle

Ramune (Japanese:ラムネ) is a popular carbonated soft drink sold in Japan. It is widely known for the unique design of its bottle, which are also called Codd-neck bottles after its inventor, Hiram Codd. They are made of glass and sealed with a glass marble; the marble is held in place by the pressure of the carbon dioxide in the drink. To open the bottle, a device to push the marble in is provided with the bottle. The marble is pushed inside the neck of the bottle where it rattles around while drinking. Two little glass nodes inside the bottle allow the drinker to hook the marble in place while drinking. Japanese people find it amusing to watch foreigners drinking Ramune, as it takes practice to learn to stop the marble blocking the flow of drink. Ramune is one of the modern symbols of summer in Japan and is often widely consumed during warm festival days and nights. At the stalls where it is sold the bottles are usually recollected for recycling.

Other than the unique design of their bottles, their flavour is otherwise quite conventional, largely resembling other carbonated lemon-lime sodas. The word "ramune" is derived from the English "lemonade". Both fizzy lemonade and the unique bottles were imported from the United Kingdom at the same time, and have thus become associated with each other.

According to some sources, marble playing in Japan began when children began removing the marbles from the Ramune bottles in order to play marble-games shortly after the introduction of the bottles in 1876. Ramune was a popular drink in the Japanese Imperial Navy before the second world war, and this aided its popularity in Japan.

The codd-neck marble lock in the neck of the bottle.

Ramune is also a kind of hard, white candy with a fizzy flavour, and a flavour of gum. The name comes from the aforementioned soda bearing the same name, and the same flavour.