Beer in Japan

Common card · No. 365131

Beer in Japan mostly comes from the country's four major breweries—Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Suntory—which mainly produce pale lagers around 5% ABV. Beer is widely consumed in Japan, and is often described in reference works as more popular than sake. In addition to standard beer, beer-like beverages made with lower levels of malt—legally and commercially distinguished in Japan—include happōshu (発泡酒) and other low- or non-malt “beer-taste” products, which have held a substantial share of the market in part because applicable liquor taxes vary by ingredients and malt content. Microbreweries and “craft beer” have also grown since deregulation in 1994, supplying a wider range of styles than the mass-market lagers that dominated the postwar period. Craft beer bars and pubs are popular in major cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, and commonly feature locally produced beer alongside imports.

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