Yebisu Beer falls on hard times
Yebisu Beer had become a household name in Tokyo as a hugely popular Kanto region beer, but in 1903, when the Sapporo Beer Tokyo Brewery began shipping Sapporo Beer, volume was 30% lower than the year prior. Not only had Nippon Beer handed its long-held crown to Osaka Beer, but it was edged out by Sapporo Beer, too, falling into third place.
A merger not without difficulties
Nippon Beer had suffered a devastating blow, and president Kyohei Makoshi met with Sapporo Beer chairman Eiichi Shibuzawa and Osaka Beer president Komakichi Torii to debate forming an alliance with the Russo-Japanese War on the horizon. Makoshi’s proposal was accepted by Shibuzawa and Torii, and they agreed to amalgamate. While the three firms had pledged to join forces, they struggled to reach agreement over the particulars of the arrangement. With the Tokyo Brewery online, Sapporo Beer’s production increased by 20% and its balance sheets were exceedingly good. Osaka Beer, for its part, had built a solid foundation in the Osaka area. While the upper echelons of the company had approved of the motion to merge, the three firms were all but at an equilibrium, so they were not able to truly take advantage of this new growth industry and allow their interests to align.
Three firms merge to form Dainippon Beer
Key in brokering understanding through the complex merger was Keigo Kiyoura, Minister of Agriculture and Commerce. Having held the post of Minister of Agriculture and Commerce under the first Katsura cabinet, he was active in promoting the integration of companies in various fields as a way to cement Japan’s international competition. Among these were growing industries like exports. Kiyoura invited the three presidents and brokered understanding between them. His enthusiastic appeals led to, in March 1906, the creation of the Dainippon Beer Brewery, which was Japan’s largest brewery with 70% of the share of the market. Makoshi was appointed as president. Makoshi would later refer to Dainippon Beer as the “King of Eastern Beer,” growing it into the largest beer concern east of the Suez Canal.
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Keigo Kiyoura, Minister of Agriculture and Commerce -
The Dainippon Beer Sapporo Brewery around 1909
(today the Sapporo Factory) -
The Dainippon Beer Meguro Brewery around 1910
(today the Yebisu Garden Place) -
A 1908 poster for Dainippon Beer