The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-11-25
BEER-BREw1NG IN JAPAN.
Agents From tie Orient Investigat.
ing the Work Here.
tFrom the st. Louis Globe Democracy


(From the St. Louis Globe Democracy
Messrs. c. Uyemwray. the managing d.
rector. and X. Yagi. the brewmaster of
the Sappora Brewing Company. in Sappo-
ra. in the north of Japan. registered at the
st. Nicholas Hotel yesterday. They are
Jananese. but dress as Americans. and
speak English almost as we'll. both hav-
ing been educated in this country. They
are in the United States to see what there
is new in the brewing industry. either as
to the making Of beer or in machinery.
They arrived two weeks ago In San Fran
cisco from Yokohama. and since then have
put in their time with the breweries in
Chicago and Milwaukee.
I'VE are over here to see what new
wrinkles have been put into the brewing
business" said Mr.. Uyemwray to re-
porter for the Globe Democrat" yester-
day. I'm Japan the brewing Of beer is an
infant industry, as the politicians here
would call 1t, and consequently the gov
eminent puts no tax upon the making Of
it. Last year, in all Japan, but little
more than 200, 900 barrels was the produce
ton, and this was divided among half
dozen brewers. All our beer is bottled,
and the bottled beer brings good prices
where people can be induced TO drink it.
Our beer, / think, is better than the beer
made in this country. for the reason that
We copy after Munich and other German
brewers, and make the beer strong and
sweeter than the beer of this country.
of which the ST. Louis beer is the stan
dard. We import our hops principally
from Germany and our malt from this
country.
I'm Japan We had hard work to get any
of the natives to drink beer, and our cus-
Tha
tives are closely welded to their native
sake. a light wine made of rice princi-
pally but in which there is IA per cent
of alcohol, enough to make the drinkers
drunk. and they drink great quantities Of
il. AS the consumption Of beer increases
in Japan the consumption OF sake de-
creases. but our people are a very tenn
perate race, and are not much given to
intoXicsnts of any kind. The drinkers OF
beer are largely increasing every year,
and ii would not surprise me to see the
consumption MANIFOLD larger in the next
few years, for where the japanese once
become beer drinkers they remain beer
drinkers. All OF our beer. as is the case
with all beer brewed in Japan, is bot
tied. and good profits are made from it.
We have no saloons. as saloons are
known in this country, and We sell to
the jobber and to the consumer. In all
Japan there are probably ten breweries,
of which five or six, the largest, are in
Toxic. Most of these breweries make
sake the native drink, as well as hops
and malt lager beer, and all of them are
so prosperous that We expect in year
or two the Government will step in and
put on tax, the same as 1t done in this
country. II We could get the japanese
TO cultivate taste for beer as Ameri-
cans and foreigners in this country drink
1t. our brewcries would be gold mines.
They are not bad money makers as il is.
for very little foreign beer is sold in
Japan. In some of the cities, the big
ones that are the main markets of jap
an, the product of one famous st. Louis
brewery is sold at % cents per pint bot
lie, but outside that the beer consump
ton of Japan is supplied by the native
breweries."
Messrs. Uyemwray and Yagi expect to
visit the East and New York, and will
sail the first week in December from
San Francisco for Jacan. landing in 10.
and reaching Sappora by rail
from that seaport,