Sapporo Breweries

' Be Exciting.' This was the first goal I set for Sapporo when I became president in November. It means that while we will not abandon our heritage--the very fabric of Sapporo--we are firmly focused on the future. For that future to be bright, all employees must embrace change. Our aim is to construct a corporate culture that fosters initiative and lateral thinking. This will create a rejuvenated Sapporo--and value for our shareholders. I intend to make this vision a reality by, in essence, undertaking to remold Sapporo just as if we were establishing an entirely new company' (March 2000). --Tatsushi Iwama, president Key Dates: Group of Japanese businessmen buy the brewery and reorganize it as Sapporo Brewery Ltd. The Sapporo Brewery, the Nippon Brewing Company, and the Osaka Brewery are amalgamated as Dai Nippon Brewery Co., Ltd. Dai Nippon is divided into Nippon Breweries, Ltd. and Asahi Breweries, Ltd.; Nippon Breweries is the successor to Sapporo Brewery but initially markets only Nippon Beer. Nippon Breweries changes its name to Sapporo Breweries Limited; through a joint venture with Guinness plc, the company begins selling Guinness Irish stout in Japan. Sapporo-developed Yebisu Garden Place, a downtown Tokyo office complex featuring retail outlets and condominiums, opens and becomes the company's new headquarters. Over the course of its more than 120-year history, Sapporo Breweries Limited has evolved from a government-owned beer maker into a multifaceted consumer products concern. In the early 21st century, its interests included the namesake Sapporo beers and a full line of soft drinks, wine, teas, and coffees, as well as real estate, restaurants, and hotels. Sapporo Breweries also imports Guinness Irish stout into Japan. Along with Kirin Brewery Company, Limited, Asahi Breweries, Ltd., and Suntory Ltd., Sapporo ranks among Japan's 'Big Four' breweries; it holds about 16 percent of the country's beer market, placing it number three behind Kirin and Asahi. Overseas, the Sapporo brand is the best-selling Japanese beer in the United States and is also exported to Taiwan; Sapporo Premium Lager is produced in Ireland on a contract basis by Diageo plc and sold throughout Europe; and a joint venture in China brews Sapporo Premium Lager for the local market. The original government facility was designed by the brewmaster Seibei Nakagawa, who had returned to Japan after studying beer-making techniques in Germany. The first product brewed in the factory was called Sapporo cold beer or German beer, and even some of the early labels were printed in German as well as in Japanese. In 1886 the brewery was sold by the government to Okura-Gumi, a private trading company. One year later, Okura-Gumi itself was purchased by a group of Japanese businessmen, who then reorganized the brewing operations under the name Sapporo Brewery Ltd. A number of other breweries, which would soon figure prominently in Sapporo's development, also were started during this time, including Nippon Brewing Company Ltd., Osaka Brewery, Kirin Brewery Company, and the Nippon Beer Kosen Brewery. In 1906 the Sapporo Brewery, the Nippon Brewing Company, and the Osaka Brewery were amalgamated as the Dai Nippon Brewery Co., Ltd. This process of amalgamation and consolidation continued for 20 years until, in 1933, the Nippon Beer Kosen Brewery also was absorbed by Dai Nippon. During the 1920s and 1930s Japanese militarists, implementing their plan to make Japan the dominant economic power in Asia, began to centralize the brewing industry. By 1943, the merger of all Japanese breweries was virtually complete: Dai Nippon and Kirin were the only two brewing companies left in Japan. In fact, the militarists were powerful enough to force the Sapporo division of Dai Nippon to establish joint ventures in the occupied territories of Korea and Manchuria. At this stage, local markets were dominated by particular brands. Dai Nippon sold Sapporo beer in the region north o