Tokyo Blog

OK, another beer review now. This time I’m drinking a can of Kirin Strong Seven, a newly released beer from one of Japan’s biggest brewers. It gets its name from the fact that the alcohol percentage by volume for this beer is, predictably, 7%. The taste is quite unusual. I was expecting it to be sweet, like strong beer usually is, but it wasn’t. It tasted a bit artificial to be honest so I didn’t particularly rate this beer very highly compared to the other great beer available in Japan. The advertising for this beer features Hideaki Ito, a fairly rugged and macho individual frowning a lot and looking pissed off, which will no doubt appeal to the overworked salaryman and the twenty-something down-and-outers alike. The beautifully worded catch copy on the front of the can reads, ‘This hard and clear taste brings you the great feeling’. Actually, I have the feeling that this isn’t real beer at all but rather, beer’s evil Japanese impersonator ‘happoshu’. More about that stuff later…