Tokyo Aleworks: Keeping its doors open to the community
Tokyo Aleworks offers periodic one-day brewing classes for customers to try their hand at making beer, just one way it opens its doors to young brewers and the local community.
Craft beer boom spells hope for hops in Iwate town
Encouraged by the craft beer boom, the city of Tono in Iwate Prefecture has been welcoming outsiders wanting to try new ways to revive its hop-growing industry and transform the community into a "beer town." Japan imports about 95 percent of hops for domestic beer ...
Two Fingers gets two thumbs up for craft beer and cooking
Two Fingers is a bright little eight-tap, 15-seater pub in the residential streets in northwestern Ikebukuro that was opened in February by two enthusiasts who turned their shared passion for beer into a classic labor-of-love project.
An ongoing evolution: 25 years of craft beer in Japan
In its first 25 years, Japanese craft beer has faced its share of challenges. Cultivating Craft wraps up with a look at how far the craft beer boom has come, but also what industry experts say needs to improve.
Beer Pub Takumiya: A place to talk, a place to drink
Takumi Shiraishi owns three lively craft beer pubs across Kyoto where he encourages customers to commune over a good pint and plates of locally grown food.
Coedo Brewery's beer is rooted in agriculture
A desire to use perfectly edible produce deemed "unsuitable" for sale led Coedo Brewery to innovate with local ingredients in beer, and now its brews are on shelves nationwide.
For Shonan Beer, quality and locality drive success
Investment in the local Kanazawa Prefecture market and a focus on the quality of the beer are the keys to success for Shonan Beer.
Kirin's Spring Valley Brewery to introduce beer-a-day subscription service at Ginza restaurant
Tokyo-based Spring Valley Brewery Co. will start a monthly subscription service to allow customers to try one glass of a selected beer each weekday. Customers will be able to choose a 250-milliliter glass of beer from a lineup of up to 17 varieties each weekday ...
Homebrewing in Japan: Craft beer's creative foundation
Craft beer in Japan is experiencing a second renaissance. However, many of Japan's breweries are still trying to catch up to the innovation and skill level of their overseas counterparts. Could legalizing homebrewing help boost creativity?
Hinomoto Beer Parlor: Drink locally, eat independently
It wouldn't be wrong to call Hinomoto a pub. After all it's a craft beer specialist, with 10 taps all devoted to Japanese beers and a counter where you can sit and drink to your heart's content. But that doesn't tell the whole story ...
For Locobeer, success starts close to home
With only one full-time employee, Chiba Prefecture-based Locobeer has kept its local focus for over 20 years, all the while brewing an award-winning and eclectic lineup of beer.
Schmatz Nakameguro: From food truck to prime premises
Timing and location are everything. For the Tokyo-based German beer pub Schmatz, both were in perfect alignment when its latest branch opened in Nakameguro, overlooking the sakura (cherry blossom) trees lining the river just as they were about to blossom.
