At the start of each season in Japan, the major domestic (Japanese) beer brewers offer special beers related to the season.
I just bought Suntory’s new 発泡酒 (malt liquor beer) for this spring, called 「春咲く薫り」(“Spring Blossom Fragrance”).
春咲く薫り(はるさくかおり)
I like it. Tastes good!
In Japan, a number of fast-food restaurants, including Burger King, have beer and other alcohol drinks on their menu.
And now, Starbucks Japan, at least at one location so far, have begun selling alcohol too.
A Starbucks in the trendy 下北沢 (Shimokitazawa) area of Tokyo have added beer and wine to their menu.
Another way that they are trying to separate from the usual Starbucks coffeeshop image is that the staff at that particular store will wear their own street clothes rather than the Starbucks uniform.
Here are a couple of retro Kirin Beer posters that I saw yesterday at an 居酒屋 (Japanese izakaya restaurant).
「大正15年」 (1926) キリンビール (Kirin Beer) poster.
「昭和10年」 (1935) キリンビール (Kirin Beer) poster.
Compare those with a more modern Japanese beer poster:
The 2012 Tokyo Marathon was held today.
Twenty-nine year old Michael Kipyego of Kenya, Africa came in first place with a time of 2 hrs 07.37 seconds.
藤原新 (Arata Fujiwara) came in second just a few hundredths of a seconds later.
Arata Fujiwara of Japan and Michael Kipyego of Kenya show their silver and gold medals, respectively.
I don’t enjoy running…or even jogging, for that matter. So I can’t imagine running a 42 kilometer (26.22 miles) marathon!
Do you like to run or jog? Have you ever run a marathon? The Tokyo Marathon?
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Now that it’s getting closer to the end of winter and 花見 (“Cherry Blossom Viewing”) season will be here before long, many Japanese brewers have begun selling beers in cans decorated with 桜 (Cherry Blossoms).
Beer brewers in Japan are always offering special beers. One of the most common is season beers for spring, autumn, Cherry Blossom season, and starting at this time of year…winter beer.
Around this time last year, I bought Kirin’s winter beer…and today, I bought a case of Asahi 「冬の贈り物」 (“Winter Gift”) beer.
(Actually a 発泡酒 (low-malt liquor)...but tastes like lager beer to me)
Do beer brewers in your country sell “seasonal beers”? Do brewers outside of Japan sell 発泡酒 (low-malt liquor) that is similar in taste and appearance to lager beer…but cheaper?
Have you ever tried a Japanese 発泡酒 (low-malt liquor)? What do you think of them?
I’m sure that many countries have beer posters and advertisements that feature pretty women.
I remember the Budweiser Beer “Bud Girls” ads in America.
I remember this "Bud Girls" poster from the '80s in America
Budweiser Beer has "Bud Girls" in Japan, too.
It’s interesting to see how advertising changes and evolves over time in a particular culture.
Pre-World War II beer posters are quite fun to look at. They’re so different from more modern advertisements. Sometimes Japanese 居酒屋 (pubs) and restaurants will have some of these old, retro beer posters on their walls. I like it when I go to a place that has them.
Old "Kirin Beer" poster
Another old 「キリンビール」 ("Kirin Beer") poster
Old 「エビスビール」 ("Ebisu Beer") poster
This one says 「サッポロビール」 ("Sapporo Beer") written from right to left.
When I first came to Japan, it was very common to see beer posters in Japan that showed girls in bikinis holding a mug of beer.
Nowadays beer posters with girls in bikinis can still be seen…but it seems to be more of the trend to have the models in the beer posters be more “conservatively dressed”.
Beer poster for 「サッポロ生ビール」 (Sapporo Draft Beer).
Beer posters are interesting, especially how they’ve changed over time…but what really matters is that the beer is cold!
The weather is still hot and humid in Tokyo now, but some signs of Autumn (秋 (Aki) in Japanese) can be seen now that it’s September.
The leaves haven’t begun to change color yet. That’s called 紅葉 (Kouyou) in Japanese and it does happen in late October or so and it’s very beautiful…especially to someone like me who came to Japan from Florida where the leaves on trees are green all year round.
The signs of Autumn that can be see every year in Japan at this time of year are some foods and drinks that can be purchased now.
All of the major domestic beer brewers in Japan offer special seasonal brews at the turn of each of the seasons. Right now, they’re all offering their various Autumn beers.
I currently have in my house a case of Suntory 「秋楽」 (“Aki-raku“) beer.
Suntory "Aki-raku" autumn brew with 6% alcohol!
This beer’s name translates to “Comfortable Autumn”.
Kirin Beer offers a beer in a similar can called 「秋味」 (“Aki-aji“), which means “The Flavor of Autumn”.
Another sign that autumn is near is when McDonalds in Japan offers their special, popular 「月見バーガー」 (“Tsukimi Burger“).
This burger is only available for a limited-time each year in autumn. And it’s currently on the menu again.
The "Tsukimi Burger" is currently available at McDonalds Japan
The Tsukimi Burger has an egg on it because the egg looks like a full-moon in the sky.
You may wonder what an egg resembling the moon has to do with anything…
But you’d need to understand that for centuries, 月見 (tsukimi)…which means “moon watching”…has been a popular autumn past time in Japan.
月見, autumn moon-gazing parties, are popular and McDonalds capitalized on that and offered a temporary burger for the occasion every year.
Another recent sign that autumn is approaching in Japan is the increasing number of stores that put up Halloween decorations.
When I came to Japan in 1990, Halloween was unheard of here…but, recently, it’s become much more well-known. But it’s still not really celebrated. Going “Trick ‘R Treating” around the neighborhood isn’t done here, and private homes aren’t decorated. But many stores capitalize on the western holiday and put up Halloween decorations in an attempt to draw customers.
Are there unique customs in your country in the transition between seasons?
I think cola has a different image in America than it does here in Japan.
In America, I think, it’s more common for people of all ages from children to adults to drink cola. But in Japan, generally speaking, sweet drinks and foods are usually consumed by children and young women.
People my age, especially men, in Japan normally drink coffee, tea and alcohol. I also don’t have much of a “sweet tooth”. I don’t eat chocolates or candies very often and I seldom drink cola or other sweet drinks.
I like coffee (“normal” coffee…not the overly sweet type found at places like Starbucks) and, of course, beer.
So, in an attempt to lure more people like me into drinking their product, Pepsi-Cola in Japan is offering a new type of cola called “Pepsi Dry“.
The label says 「甘くないコーラ」 ("not sweet cola").
Supposedly this new cola is half as sweet as normal cola and has a “dry, crisp taste”.
I think I’d like this more than normal cola…but I probably won’t bother to try it. As I said, I’m not much of a cola drinker.
How about you? Do you have a sweet tooth? Would you try “Pepsi-Dry”?
Suntory Beer has a new beer in Japan.
It’s called 「絹の贅沢」 (literally: “Luxurious Silk“).
Embarrassing name for a beer and a generic-looking can design…but it was on sale so I bought half-a-case.
It’s tastes good.
But don’t confuse it with Suntory‘s other new offering in a similar can…
I'd never buy this!
This is Suntory “All Free”. Non-alcoholic beer.
Non-alcoholic beer—none for me, thanks.
Do you like beer? What do you think of “non-alcoholic” beer?
Outside of the JR新橋駅 (JR Shinbashi train station) in Tokyo there is a steam locomotive.
This is because Shinbashi Station was the first train station in Japan. It was built in 1872 and at that time trains were powered by steam.
The steam locomotive is outside of JR新橋駅 (JR Shinbashi train station) but that’s not where the first station stood. It’s near the same site…but not exactly.
A ukiyoe painting of the first train station in Japan by Hiroshige
In April 2003 a replica of the original Shinbashi Station was built as a monument and also as a small museum of the history of Japan’s rail service.
It’s called 「旧新橋停車場」 (“Former Shinbashi Train Depot”).
We went there last Sunday because the 「旧新橋停車場」 (“Former Shinbashi Train Depot” (or “Old Shinbashi Station”)) is currently exhibiting photos taken of Tokyo decades ago by Koyo Ishibashi.
Click here to read a post that I wrote about that exhibition.
「旧新橋停車場」 ("Old Shinbashi Station")
It’s an interesting place to see if you’re in Tokyo. Admission is free and if you go before 2011 March 21 you can see Mr. Ishikawa’s excellent photos there too.
After we left 「旧新橋停車場」 (“Old Shinbashi Station”) we walked around the 新橋 (Shinbashi) area of Tokyo.
Tokyo utilizes all space available...restaurants and shops can often be found under train overpasses. This one has a street sign telling cars that the clearance of this narrow road is 2.1 meters
More restaurants under the train overpass
I've never eaten at the "Budweiser Carnaval", but supposedly the waitresses there wear tight "Budweiser" mini-dresses.
Tokyo Five 
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