Imagine waking up one morning and finding out your parents have bought you a brewery? It’s a scene that dreams are made of – at least for beer geeks like me – but for Mayuko and Kaori Ohshita, that’s pretty much what happened back in 1997 when their father, a liquor store operator, decided to start a brewery and put them in charge of it. Come take a look inside Japan’s only woman-only brewery.

21 minutes from Shinjuku by express, Craft Beer Moonlight is one of only three bars in Tokyo that makes beer on premises. It also sells homebrewing supplies.

The question is: Are you worthy?

To celebrate the launch of homebrewer turned commercial brewer Chris Poel’s Bakayaro!, I contacted Chris to ask for the recipe. And he obliged. Find out what’s in Chris’ Bakayaro! yourself and take a brief look inside the Baird Brewery in Numazu.

The smoke-free movement in Japan is something which I wholeheartedly support. To bring to people’s attention that there are a fair number of craft beer bars which are smoke free and still successful, here’s a list of the bars listed in Beer in Japan which are fully non-smoking.

Dinosaurs and craft beer together in one place? That can only be a winner, can’t it?!

End 2009 with a drink – or thirty! Check out Beer in Japan’s guide to events at craft beer bars in Tokyo/Yokohama this Christmas and New Year and end the year very merry indeed! Beer on 2010!

Two events to start December with a bang – Maltan’s 2nd Anniversary where you pour your own beer, and Nagano Trading, Salon de G, and Sugaya Beer’s December to Remember Bonen-kai.

Until now I haven’t posted event details on BIJ, but there are so many good events on this weekend I thought I’d better help get the word out. If you’re a Japanese craft beer lover, you’ll find it difficult to be sober this weekend!

It’s taken months to get this far, but Beer in Japan now has the beginnings of Japan wide craft beer bar listings.

It’s still a work in progress, but covering from Sapporo to Okinawa, it goes some way to help find decent beer outside the Kanto and Kansai regions.