Just wanted to show my support for the OP. For me, the actual conversation is much easier to navigate than the anticipated conversations going round in my head. :)

That would be "dokutaa sutoppu" ;)

Have a good time!

The yellow smiley face is confusing me... I'm not sure I can get this right: "No alcohol for me thanks. I'm Doctor Yellow. No, I mean, I'm a Doctor Pepper. Oh doctor doctor ... "

what surprises me was the OP considered that you're forced to drink alcohol.
yes, it happens, but in a quite limited relationship and also disappearing these days .

If I were in the OP's situation - I'd go to a department store food basement. Buy a fair amount more of whatever I'd care to drink. Still water - sparkling water - whatever. The kind of more expensive stuff in nice bottles. Get it wrapped very nicely (which is normally not a problem). Present it as a gift to my host(s). And indicate that it was my drink of preference during my visit. Do you think that would work? And be polite too? Robyn

P.S. to OP - last time in Japan - I was drinking diet tonic water. No problem finding it in high end department store food basements.

In the big cities, sure. But out in the boonies, where there's not much else to do at night, drinking is still very much apart of the culture.

I suggest you ask for an orange whip. It's a very entertaining way to learn about Japanese culture.

I used to drink it when I was in Japan in the early 1990's. Going by a hazy memory and my (at the time) crappy Jpns, it was a mix of acesulfame potassium with a small amount of sugar to take the bitter taste off.

There's no way the sweetener "dissolves bones" (simply because if that was true it wouldn't still be on the market in most of the world!) although carbonated drinks in general reduce calcium in bones, IIRC.

It would "work" in the sense that the hosts would likely abide by the request, but now you've gone from saying "I cannot drink this" to "I will only drink this!", which I don't believe is the OP's intention at all.

Present it as a gift to my host(s). And indicate that it was my drink of preference during my visit.

Also, presenting something as a "gift" and then telling them you want to drink it yourself - that's kind of the opposite of a gift, and the opposite of polite. I can't think of any circumstances under which that wouldn't be outright rude.

The OP has a medical reason for not drinking alcohol. Outside of reasons like that, there's no reason why he should not at least try to drink whatever the host family offers, be it mugicha or aojiru or whatever.

I assume that he's not going all the way to Japan just to remain completely in his current comfort zone?

Agreed. Ask what they have that's non-alcoholic. Nothing rude about that and they will certainly have several interesting options from which to choose.

I agree also.
I've been off the sauce for my last couple of visits (pregnant and then breastfeeding) and, despite being in memorial occasions, celebrations and parties where the consumption of alcohol was normal, it felt natural to be drinking alternatives and wasn't an issue for me at all.

What the OP hasn't brought up is any comment about his degree of intolerance to alcohol. Alcohol does turn up in a range of foods. Some of the higher end soy sauces might be 1 to 3% alcohol, sake gets poured into the stews, the mirin sweetener could be alcoholic, it's actually quite a list.
These stealth nips never bothered me, but for those with zero tolerance/acceptance of alcohol there is a serious challenge to socialising in Japan. But merely avoiding alcoholic drinks? Not so much of a problem, I certainly don't remember having to tell absolutely everyone I came across that I was breastfeeding when I was last in Japan.

Perhaps if one bought a very large amount? Robyn

Can't see it. Sorry, robyng

Only difference is that taking a very large amount of water as a 'gift' would be weird rather than rude (or, more likely, weird AND rude).

In my own experience, anything taken to a Japanese household as a genuine gift meant to be consumed ends up in the family shrine for a while so that loved ones who have passed on get their share first (a big reason why these gifts are, in the main, so carefully and thoughtfully packaged).

See if I can explain it a bit more.
Imagine that MrLapLap has passed on and that I keep a shrine for him in the Japanese tradition. You, robyng, come to my home and bring a bottle (or even a very big bottle) of Finnish glacier water. It just so happens that this is something that MrLapLap might have enjoyed or found amusing and, although I'm a bit puzzled by the 'gift', I play along and place it at the shrine. My expectation is that it will stay there for a few hours at least, perhaps a day or more. Except, having presented it to us, my household, as a gift, you now want it back so you can drink it yourself.:confused: