Japan: Combined shipments of beer and "happoshu" low-malt beer by Japan's five major breweries in 2003 fell 6.3% from the previous year, down for the second straight year, according to data released January 15 by the brewers. Beer and happoshu shipments by Kirin Brewery Co, Asahi Breweries Ltd, Sapporo Holdings Ltd, Suntory Ltd and Orion Breweries Ltd totaled 513.2 million cases last year. One case holds 12.66 liters of happoshu or beer.

Beer shipments dropped for the seventh year running, by 9.4% to 311.69m cases. Happoshu slid by 1.0% to 201.51m cases. This was Happoshu’s first year-on-year drop since it was launched in 1994. Happoshu overtook beer for the first time, however, in the market for households. The malt beer registered 52.2% share. It is the second consecutive year that shipments have slipped, with an unseasonably mild summer and a tax hike on happoshu being blamed. The sharpest ever fall was in 1976, when the government raised tax on beer.

Asahi was the top brewer for the third straight year, gaining 1.5 pints in market share to 39.9%. Kirin slipped by half a point to 35.7% market share, while Sapporo was third with 13.1%, down one point.

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