Sapporo サッポロビール

Sapporo's history began in 1876, when the Hokkaido Development Commission (Kaitakushi) built a brewery in the city of Sapporo. Brewmaster Seibei Nakagawa, who had studied brewing in Germany, produced Japan's first cold-fermented lager there, sold under the Sapporo brand and its star emblem — making Sapporo the country's oldest surviving beer brand.

In 1906 the brewery merged with Osaka-based Asahi and Tokyo-based Yebisu to form Dai-Nippon Breweries, which came to dominate the Japanese market. Post-war antitrust authorities broke the giant up in 1949, and the Sapporo-lineage company, renamed Nippon Breweries, formally readopted the historic Sapporo name in 1964. Sapporo Breweries today also owns the premium Yebisu brand and operates internationally, including in North America.