Where can I buy Canadian beer in Tokyo?
At the moment there are three Canadian breweries that export to Japan: Moosehead, Unibroue, and Pacific Western Brewing (PWB). Moosehead is commonly available at larger import beer stores around the country. In the mid-1990s Labatt Ice was the number one imported beer in Japan and had a wide distribution network that included convenience stores, department stores, and chain liquor stores. This is no longer the situation and Labatt has stopped exporting to Japan, though their beers can still be found in numerous retail outlets. Unibroue only entered Japan in the early 2000s and sells primarily to beer stores and beer bars that sell a wide variety of Belgian style ales. PWB of Burnaby, BC, has been operating in Japan since the mid-1990s and has perhaps the largest distribution network amongst Canadian brewing companies in Japan, due to a distribution contract with AEON, which owns Japans largest supermarket, JUSCO. PWB’s CEO, Kazuko Komatsu, has been directly involved in dealing with the
