J-Beer sales slump, Pongi wanted for questioning

[maninjapan]

Heineken - only when desperate. I like Corona with lime when I don't feel like drinking "beer".

Yeah heineken's a strange one. On the flight over, they had a choice of stella, kirin and heineken (no guiness due to the widget i guess) - and at the end of the flight, the stewerdess was trying to offload the heinken on us, saying that nobody was drinking it. Politely told her why and she gave out a slight japanese girl giggle but see understood when we said happoshu!

Corona is great on a very very hot day when it's ice cold and it is light which is good for when you're eating; however, my ultimate lager (can't say guiness as it's not a lager) has to be Kronenbourg Blanc. yummy yummy get in my tummy!

[groovewonder]

Okinawa's Nihede-biru isn't bad at all.

[Mulboyne]

I posted this earlier in the thread although it looks a bit incongruous:

Independent: Liverpool firm's failure brings police raids in Japan

A Japanese pension fund has lost up to $125m in the collapse of the UK-based Invaro Group, which had links to the Imperial Consolidated scandal. The losses at the All Japan Liquor Merchants Cooperative Association (AJLMA) fund has left some 20,000 Japanese people without a pension. The chances of any money being returned are said to be "probably quite small".

Here's the follow-up:

Japan Liquor Assn Sues Credit Suisse Over Pensions

An association of liquor retailers in Japan filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking Y16 billion in damages from Credit Suisse (CSR) and other parties for what they say was a failure to brief them on risks inherent in a pension fund investment in foreign bonds that resulted in heavy losses, Kyodo News reports. The All Japan Liquor Merchants Association filed the suit at the Tokyo District Court, saying it lost some Y14.4 billion from investing in those instruments between January and May of 2003 after a broker solicited investment via Credit Suisse.
The association, based in Tokyo, says Credit Suisse and the financial broker, targeted in the suit, stressed that they were safe to invest in when they were in fact high-risk financial products, Kyodo said. The amount of damages has been increased to cover commissions paid to the Swiss financial group and attorney fees, the association said.

In addition to the heavy losses at the association, its former secretary general Hideo Seki, 50, has been indicted on a charge of breach of trust, but he says he is innocent and that the decision was up to the executive director at the time. Seki has also been indicted for allegedly embezzling Y25 million in pension funds between October and December 1999 when he was running the union's pension investments.

[Iraira]

[Taro Toporific]

You wanna drink real beer in Japan? Try a selection from a microbrewery, like Ginga Kogen, or Yonayona Ale. Pricey, but your taste buds & liver will thank you.

[INDENT]

A Pint of Yona Yona Ale, Please! Japan's Microbrewers Win Fans
By Rocky Swift
Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Of the 23 varieties of beer at the Tokyo Real Ale festival last weekend, Tomo Onuki recommended the Yona Yona Scottish Ale. But then, judging by his kilt and the thistle tattooed on his neck, it's possible he was biased.
Onuki and hundreds of others were packed into the Sumida Riverside Hall for the one-day event, representing a small, fervent minority in Japan that prefer strong, small-batch beers to the weaker, mass-produced brands like Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo that dominate the market.
With no small degree of irony, the festival took place in Tokyo's Asakusa district, in the literal shadow of market leader Asahi Breweries Ltd.'s headquarters, a golden tower built to resemble a mug of the company's flagship product, complete with stylized bubbles near the roof.
Onuki, 29, described himself and his fellow real-ale drinkers as ``beer baka,'' or ``beer crazy,'' a band of consumers looking for an alternative to the weakened products promoted by the big brewers. In recent years, cheap, beer-like beverages -- designed to skirt taxes based on a brew's malt content -- have taken a bigger share of Japan's beer market.
In contrast, ale is strong, complex and expensive. So- called real ale follows an even stricter definition, dictating that the beer is brewed with traditional ingredients, is unfiltered and served without the external gas source that gives most beers their foamy tops. Real ales tend to be thick, dark and high in alcohol -- about 6 percent to 8 percent, compared with the 5 percent or less of most lagers.
A pint of premium ale can cost about 1,200 yen ($10), compared with about 700 yen for a standard Japanese lager.
...more...


[/INDENT]