{"id":47480,"date":"2023-12-02T10:50:42","date_gmt":"2023-12-02T14:50:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebeertimes.com\/?p=47480"},"modified":"2026-07-02T17:22:54","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T21:22:54","slug":"history-of-beer-in-japan-legacy-new-craft-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebeertimes.com\/en\/history-of-beer-in-japan-legacy-new-craft-culture\/","title":{"rendered":"The History of Beer in Japan and Its Legacy Towards a New Craft Culture"},"content":{"rendered":"
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When one thinks of Japanese alcoholic beverages, sake<\/a> is undoubtedly the first that comes to mind, but despite its foreign origins, beer is today without a doubt the most popular drink in Japan.<\/p>\n

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The history of beer in Japan<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Japan is considered one of the most tolerant countries when it comes to alcohol consumption, as 66% of its population considers it morally acceptable, compared to 46% of Czechs, 41% of Germans, and 38% of Britons.<\/p>\n

Today, despite having one of the highest alcohol taxes in the world, beer is the most produced and most sold alcoholic beverage in Japan \u2014 all of this despite the fact that home brewing is in practice prohibited (beverages over 1% alcohol) and the minimum drinking age is set at 20.<\/p>\n

In Japan, approximately 3.5 billion liters of beer are produced each year, followed from much further behind by 500 million liters of Shochu<\/a> \u2014 a distilled alcoholic spirit made from barley, sweet potato, or rice \u2014 and 425 million liters of traditional Sake, considered by many to be a type of beer in its own right, as it is made from fermented rice.<\/p>\n