Order a Japanese beer in the UK and you’re unlikely to be presented with much in the way of choice, either in brand name or flavour profile. Japan’s post-war beer market has been utterly dominated by the country’s four major breweries – Asahi, Kirin, Suntory, and Sapporo, each producing a variant on classic European pilsners.
apanese beer culture is relatively young, the drink only having been introduced into the country in the mid-18o0s by Dutch traders, but is now firmly entrenched with the Japanese comfortably ahead of any other Asian nation in terms of per capita consumption. Beer gained rapidly in popularity after the Second World War, overtaking sake to become the nation’s favourite alcoholic beverage in the 1960s.
In both production and consumption, beer enjoyed year on year growth throughout much of the latter part of the 20th century, as the spending power of the average Japanese consumer skyrocketed. By the 1990’s however the country’s economic fortunes had turned as the collapse of the bubble heralded a protracted period of stagnation. With Japan’s taxation of beer extremely high, many consumers turned to cheaper, low-malt beer alternatives including Happoushu and Happousei. The major breweries followed suit, directing the bulk of their production to these alternative beverages so that by 2009, beer production of the four giants had fallen to less than half of 1994 levels.
Beer gained rapidly in popularity after the Second World War
This reduction in output by major corporations should not, however, be taken as signalling the beginning of the end for Japanese beer culture. Even as the market for the national brands has shrunk since the mid-1990s, the output of smaller micro-breweries has exploded, enjoying growth in excess of 15% a year according to the Japan Craft Beer Association
Mirroring the US craft beer renaissance of recent years, Japan’s taste for ‘ij-biiru’ – local beer – still represents a tiny fraction of the country’s overall beer market, but enormous growth in interest means that there are now some 260 microbreweries in operation from Hokkaido to Okinawa where as recently as twenty years ago such businesses simply did not exist.
the process of sake production is, in fact, much more akin to that of beer
As with their US counterparts, Japanese micro-breweries emerged in the wake of deregulation of brewing laws. Prior to 1994, brewing licenses were to be granted only to premises with annual production in excess of two million litres. Relaxation in that year allowed for the operation of smaller breweries with an output of at least 60,000 litres leading to the emergence of many new producers, many of them linked to traditional sake breweries.
Although often thought of as rice wine, the process of sake production is, in fact, much more akin to that of beer involving, as it does, the extraction of sugars from grain. In this sense, given centuries of practice, it makes perfect sense that these new Japanese brews should be gaining significant positive attention from beer lovers worldwide.
In contrast to the pale lagers of the major brewers, Japan’s micro-breweries are producing beers in a dizzying array of styles from full bodied IPAs, stouts, and porters to German style Weiss biers and a wide variety of fruit and spice beers. Lacking the aggressive flavour profiles of many US craft beers, the best of this new breed to Japanese beers are robust and bold, while retaining a lighter side. Many producers are also choosing to put a uniquely Japanese spin on their brews by including unorthodox regional ingredients including ginger root, red rice, sweet potatoes, and even miso paste.
A lot of people are saying 2012 is the year of craft beer in Japan
US born craft brewer Bryan Baird, owner of Japanese microbrewery Baird Brewing, sees this diversity as key to the appeal of ji-biiru; “Japan doesn’t have an indigenous beer culture like Germany or England. Therefore, the Japanese are not socially or historically constricted by the straitjacket of a deeply established culture and this renders them very interested in a broad array of styles and approaches to beer.”
Until recently, finding somewhere to actually drink ji-biiru in Japan has often been difficult. The dominance of the big breweries has long been upheld by contracts with many bars and restaurants but this is beginning to change. According to Ry Beville , editor of The Japan Beer Times, “A lot of people are saying 2012 is the year of craft beer in Japan. You’re seeing an explosion of craft beer bars and restaurants in Tokyo. There’s over 100. All across the country, they’re popping up every week.”
This nascent industry shows no signs of slowing down. It seems that eighteen years of practice and perseverance is beginning to pay off for Japan’s independent brewers, as the demand for ji-biiru begins to catch up with capacity for production, and their products finally click with the tastes of Japan’s legion of thirsty beer drinkers.
By Sam Jones
