Still here

As I write this I'm sipping on a Yona Yona Ale, one of the few micros widely distributed across Japan. Here in Ise, it's sold at a few grocery stores and even one convenience store.

I've neglected this blog for a few weeks, during which I did not really try anything new in the beer world, even from the Big Five. I saw some chatter about a decent offering from Sapporo, but several scans of area store shelves turned up nothing. Perhaps it didn't make as far as Mie.

But my vacation from Good Beer should be coming to an end soon. First of all, the Ise Kadoya nomihoudai night should be going next Wednesday, meaning an hour or two of all-access taps including a line-up of guest beers.

Then, I'm hoping to hit up the Great Japan Beer Festival in Osaka, which takes place over the three-day weekend this month.

Along for the ride will be my dad, who gets into Japan on Monday for a short visit. Besides sampling quality beer, we hope to take in a Hanshin Tigers game and perhaps visit some touristy spots around the Kansai area.

Now that things are picking up again, I'll try to be on the blog and on Twitter with any relevant updates.

ESPN's Page 2 offers The World Cup of Beer

In a group by group breakdown, ESPN.com's Page 2 has created a World Cup of Beer, going so far as to "advance" two countries' beer entries after offering some quick(and dirty) analysis.

What is especially interesting, not surprisingly, is the unknown, such as the beer entries for countries that don't exactly resonate as beer destinations. (Like the entry for Group E's Cameroon, pictured at right.)

Also not surprisingly, Japan is represented by Kirin. The photo shows an Ichiban Shibori -- not a bad rep for the Big Five -- but the write-up references the company's special World Cup edition, which is nothing more than Tanrei happoshu in a different suit.

It seems clear that Page 2 did not attempt to find good beer from the World Cup countries. Rather, they selected a beer that best represents each country according to conventional wisdom.

Fair enough. But I bet we all agree a comprehensive look at the best beer from World Cup countries would be far more interesting (and tasty).

WSJ: Big Five hope for a World Cup sales boost

The Wall Street Journal's Japan Real Time blog had a post a few days back outlining hopes among the Big Five for a boost in sales as fans watch the World Cup and cheer for Japan (who managed a win over Cameroon last night).

Especially, team sponsor Kirin is hoping to cash in with a special World Cup beer being sold across Japan. The article says that Kirin did see a sales increase during the last World Cup in Germany, where Japan failed to make it past the first round.

Things are not looking good for the Big Five overall:

The scale of that challenge was captured by data released today by the five major breweries, which showed an 8.4% on-year drop in sales of cases of beer in May to a record low for the month

What explains the recent, steady drop in beer sales in Japan? A number of factors are often mentioned. This article pointed to the aging population and the bad economy. But are there other things at work? Is beer losing its place as the standard drink among young people? Are the same young people unwilling to spend as much to party as older generations were? Or is the "beer" market, now over-populated with happoshu and other swill, too diffuse to attract new customers?

I don't have the answer, but it is an interesting questions. Another interesting one: Is that special World Cup beer from Kirin any good? Is it even a new kind of beer or just a new label? I ... will check.