In Japan’s historic city of Kanazawa, artisans skillfully carve large blocks of ice into beautiful, translucent pieces that are used to keep a variety of beverages cold.

These artisans are affiliated with the Japanese company Kuramoto Ice, which has been producing premium quality ice in the Ishikawa region for nearly a century.

In Japan, there are dozens of companies producing such ultra-transparent and high-quality ice.

This ice holds special importance in Japanese cocktail culture, and industry insiders say it takes longer to melt than regular ice, which adds less water to the drink.

After its popularity in Japan, this luxury ice is also making its way overseas from the US to Australia, where a piece of ice fetches up to ¥200.

Kuramoto Ice is among the few Japanese companies that export this ice overseas.

According to the company, since the start of exports in 2019, its overall sales have more than doubled.

According to company head Kazuhiko Kuramoto, to produce quality ice, water is slowly frozen and kept in constant motion.

Japanese experts use a method for making ice that was originally introduced to America. It takes 48 to 72 hours for the water to freeze completely in this method, while normal household ice is made in a few hours and in industrial machines in about 30 minutes.

During the freezing process, various particles and impurities in the water migrate towards the center of the ice, experts remove this water and add fresh water, while constant stirring also eliminates air bubbles.

This process results in a highly transparent ice known as ‘Jin Pyo’ in Japanese.