Microbrewery number in Japan 2014-2022
Small-scale production
After relaxations of requirements to acquire a liquor license in Japan, small-scale breweries started the production of microbrews. Despite the overwhelming popularity of low-cost alternatives on the market, such as low-malt beer (happoshu) and ‘new genre beer’, the domestic production of craft beer showed a steady increase in recent years. As only a small number of microbreweries can afford the export of small quantities of beer-like beverages, the target groups are mainly domestic consumers, who are slowly discovering the variety in flavor profiles of microbrews.
Craft beer in the beer market
Compared to the annual beer production volume of major breweries, which exceeds several billion kiloliters, the beer-like beverages of microbreweries barely make up one percent of the domestic beer market. While beer and beer-like beverages remain the preferred alcoholic drink of consumers, the higher retail prices of craft beverages discourage frequent consumptions.