Asahi, Kirin, Suntory, Sapporo, Orion, the 5 major players in the beer making market of Japan are lamenting over the same problem these days- drop in their sales figures.

Beer is deem as a traditional beverage and every adult coming of age will learn to consume it, perferences notwithstanding.

After a long, hard day at work, a draft of bitter for the men and a mug of frothy for the ladies is a common sight in izakayas all over the country. Foreign beers started to seep into the market along with open trade and these days for the young yuppies, beer meant belgian imports, beers infused with fruits and flowers.

The younger generations are hooked on the mildness and sweetness of these avant-grade beverages, traditional bitter brews are shunned as being cool and be seen sipping a beer merged together.

Thus, beer-makers tripped all over themselves to get studies done on the drinking habits of the average Japanese consumer. Asahi decided on the road of mimick and infused ginger into their new range of beer.

Kirin, meanwhile, found out that drinkers of age 35 and above finished a typical 350ml can of beer in under 10 minutes but for those younger than 35, the consumers took longer to finish their drink. The primary reason cited was that younger drinkers have their beer while being involved in other activities like surfing the Net, watching tv or playing console games. With the visual distractions, beer is merely an accompaniment.

Armed with the results from their studies, their new product was born with the name of Kirin Smooth. It touts a low alcholic level of 4% so drinkers do not get tipsy too fast, low carbonated so the bloaty feeling after comsumption can be avoided and low yeast removes the tart edge in the taste that comes from the fermenting process.