The new Nippon Beer emerges
Dainippon Beer was subject to the Act for Elimination of Excessive Concentration of Economic Power, and in September of 1949, it was split up into Nippon Beer and Asahi Beer. Each firm was assigned 100M in capital. While they both received the same amount, their allocation of offices and plants was quite different. Both firms had branches and breweries in Tokyo and Kyushu, but Nippon Beer was given the area from Hokkaido to Nagoya, and Asahi Beer the area west of Osaka. This made for a very uneven distribution. Nippon Beer inherited the Sapporo and Yebisu brands from Dainippon Beer, but given that these were both local brands, adopting them for the name of the new company would not have been a good fit. Therefore, Dainippon Beer was selected for the implication that the company covered the entire Japanese archipelago. (The name means “Great Japan Beer.”)
A new brand: Nippon Beer
In December of 1951, beer manufacturers were allowed to bring back their individual trademarks, and they were free to advertise. Nippon Beer released the Nippon Beer brand, something different from Sapporo and Yebisu. The label features Sapporo Beer’s signature star icon, with an additional label bearing the insignia of the revamped Nippon Beer under Yebisu and Sapporo. This design enhances the appeal of the branding. Consumers were not familiar with it and did not immediately take to it. While beer consumption was growing year over year, Nippon Beer alone struggled to gain acceptance.
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The Nippon Beer label -
The Nippon Beer label -
A 1949 poster for Nippon Beer