Quote: I am generally very interested in business history and Sapporo is one of my favorite beers, so I was happy to visit the site of the original Sapporo Brewery. It was a rainy day on October 8, 2005. It is no longer an operating brewery and only serves a museum for the Sapporo Beer Company. The museum is located in the original brewery building, and although all the exhibits and descriptions are written only in Japanese, I was able to get the main idea.

The Sapporo beer brewery first started making beer in 1876. This was the first Bavarian-style brewery in Japan, and it used equipment and technology imported from Germany. Sapporo was chosen because it had the reputation of having the cleanest, freshest water. The Sapporo Red Star logo represents the North Start and is a symbol of the Pioneer spirit of the island of Hokkaido. After all, Hokkaido was the "Wild West" of Japan way back in the 1800s.

The exhibit takes about 1 hour to tour. You will find lots of antique signs, bottles, labels, photos, and even film footage that shows that the Japanese loved beer even in the old days. There are two areas where you can have a fresh tasting of the Sapporo and Ebisu beer varieties. More interesting is the Beer Garden, with a delicious all-you-can-eat-and-drink Mongolian Grill restaurant that is smokey and full of large tables with people having a very good time.

The museum is a free activity. I would have liked the exhibition better if there were English versions of the museum descriptions and a free tasting!

From journals Sapporo and Hokkaido Travel Companion