Aug 17, 2017 (dailymail.co.uk) - From beer gardens on the rooftops of department stores to fireworks extravaganzas to quiet, wood-paneled craft breweries, Japanese seem to quaff an awful lot of beer in the summer.
But beer consumption has been tanking for five years straight in Japan, as the younger generation shies away from the obligatory after-work drinking that was a trademark of the dark-suited heroes of Japan Inc.
Japan's annual per capita beer consumption fell about 7 percent between 2010 to 2015, according to a study by major beer maker Kirin.
The future outlook is for more of the same. It's such an obvious trend that there's a Japanese phrase to describe it, "beerooh banareh," or "leaving beer," a gradual decline that hit after beer drinking peaked in about the mid-1990s.
Younger Japanese tend to be more independent-minded than their baby boom generation parents or their grandparents, who saw going out for beers with their office bosses and co-workers as a call of duty.
Brews also are losing out in Japan to a wide variety of other liquors, from wines to "kanchuhai" fruity cocktails, whiskies and cheaper beer-like drinks, and of course, sake.
Naturally, all this worries Haruhiko Matsuba, marketing manager for Asahi Breweries, the industry leader in Japan.
"The custom is getting lost," said Matsuba, who says he enjoys a beer or two a day. "Beer can offer joy, happiness and smiles, and so everyone should try beer again."
Asahi, founded in the late 1800's, is an institution in Tokyo, where its huge golden suds sign shines on the banks of the Sumida River. The annual Sumida River summer fireworks it sponsors each July work like one big huge ad for its beer - this year the city's governor, Yuriko Koike, donned a summer kimono for televised "kanpais" -traditional toasts - by the river.
In its effort to grab attention and help reverse the decline in beer consumption, especially among the younger generation, the iconic Japanese brand has turned to Hollywood. It tapped actor Johnny Depp to help sell a limited-edition version of its 30-year-old hit Super Dry - the brew that helped catapult it to No. 1 in the Japanese beer industry in 1998. The company's latest ad campaign features Depp riffing on an electric guitar on a rooftop before popping a cold one.
