Oregon Beer in the Willamette Valley and Oreg

Aussies love beer and love to travel. When they do travel they usually want to have unique authentic local experiences. What better drink to have in Japan than a Japanese craft beer then? Made with local ingredients by locals, it’s the ultimate local experience. About ten years ago I started seeing craft beers here and there in Japan. Some were in combinies or convenience stores, and others were in liquor shops, and over the last five years, I’ve noticed an increasing number of craft beer bars have been popping up. Two years ago, on holidays in Gomyo, Kagawa Prefecture (way out in the sticks), I even saw a craft beer brewery there, which shows how far the scene has come in Japan in the last few years. Is Craft Beer Popular in Japan? In some cool neighborhoods like Shimokitazawa, there are several craft beer bars, as well as several liquor shops that sell a wide variety of craft beers. The most impressive craft beer selection is at Kitazawa Konishi along with an awesome Stars Wars treasure trove. Other trendy areas, like Koenji, Nagano, and Shibuya also have more than one craft beer place each. Now there are also some in business centres like Marunouchi, Ginza, Shinagawa and Gotanda. They are becoming so mainstream that I’ve even seen one in Shinjuku! Although craft beer’s popularity in Japan keeps growing and growing, in many izakayas, or Japanese-style pubs, there are not really a lot of them for sale at traditional sushi and ramen shops. So, if you are going out for sushi or some other real Japanese-style cuisine, you may be limited to sake, shochu, and beer from the big producers. Most craft beer bars tend to serve more western or modern style food. The logic seems to be that burgers, hummus, and pita toast go better with the deeply interesting craft beers. Yakitori, ramen, and edamame on the other hand have matched beautifully with sake, shochu, and mainstream beers for centuries. They don’t want to mess with that.