‘The Proper Spirits’ : First Bottles of Japanese Beer Roll Off Valley Line

With the ceremonial tossing of rice by a Shinto priest, the first Japanese beer ever manufactured in the United States for large-scale sale in Japan rolled off the assembly lines at the Van Nuys Anheuser-Busch plant, opening the door to expanding trade.

The new product, Kirin Ice Beer, came off the line at a rate of 2,000 cans per minute after being blessed by the Rev. Alfred Y. Tsuyuki, Shinto priest of the Konko Church of Los Angeles.

“It’s a ceremony filled with the proper spirits,” said Tsuyuki, who said the practice of blessing beer at the start of manufacturing is regularly done in Japan to purify the product.

Anheuser-Busch officials, who said it was the first time their beer had been blessed, were more excited about being the first United States brewery to manufacture a Japanese beer for export to Japan.

“This is the big win--trade and jobs for people who make the beer,” said Stephen J. Burrows, president and chief operating officer of Anheuser-Busch International Inc., which is manufacturing Kirin Ice Beer for Kirin Brewery Co. Ltd. in Tokyo.

“This is the first trial in the history of the Japanese beer industry to ask an American brewer to produce a Japanese brand and export it to Japan on a big scale,” said Kazuhisa Tani, director of international planning for Kirin. “We can quickly introduce the beer into the Japanese market without having to construct a new brewery.”

Although Kirin is the largest beer manufacturer in Japan, Tani said the company wanted to avail itself of Anheuser-Busch’s exclusive ice-brewing technique to manufacture the beer. Last year, the two companies established a joint venture in Japan called Budweiser Japan Company Ltd., which markets and sells Budweiser in Japan.

According to Burrows, 99,360,000 cans of beer will be sent to Japan by May.

Anheuser-Busch officials said no new jobs will be created to produce the initial batch, but industry experts were optimistic that it could mean more job security and more hiring if the venture is successful.

Currently, imported beer only represents 2% of market sales in Japan. Tani said he believes this project will triple that amount.

“For the brewing industry, this is quite a remarkable transaction,” said Robert S. Weinberg, president of R. S. Weinberg and Associates in St. Louis, an independent analyst for the beer industry. “In the long run, it could create significantly more jobs if it is the first of many ventures.”

If Friday’s beer blessing was any indication, the beer could do very well. Even Shinto priest Tsuyuki could not wait to get his robe off and grab a cold one.

“I’m one of the biggest patrons,” he said.