In 1853 a United States naval officer, Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry, negotiated tirelessly for several months with Japanese officials to achieve the goal of opening the doors of trade with Japan.

For two centuries, Japanese ports were closed to all but a few Dutch and Chinese traders. The United States hoped Japan would agree to open certain ports so American vessels could begin to trade with the mysterious island kingdom.

It is said that along with other gifts Matthew Calbraith Perry presented several cases of unknown in Japan beer for the Tokugawa Shogunate .

The beverage was nice and so the Japanese government decided to establish the own manufacturing in the country. Thus, in 1876 there was built the first brewery in Sapporo.

In 1889 the Japanese government sold the brewery to private companies and in this way Japan Beer Brewery Company, Sapporo Brewery, Nippon Brewing Company and Osaka Beer Brewing Company (the predecessor of Asahi Breweries) were formed.

The beer expert of the last one, Hiizu Ikuta, was sent to Germany to study brewing at the famous School of Weihenstephen in Bavaria. After returning, he became a manager of Suita Brewery that was a part of Osaka Beer Brewing Company and began its own experiments with recipes.

The result was creation of the unique beer recipe that was manufactured under Asahi brand since 1892.



Asahi history