Update: As far as I am aware, there was enough beer for the RWC.

Every once in a while I come across a news item that reminds me that I am still in Japan.  The latest was a small article in The Japan Times this past Monday about the Japanese organizing committee for the 2019 Rugby World Cup worrying if there will be enough beer for the 400,000 foreign rugby fans coming to Japan for the games.  It seems the government—and the organizing committee is essentially a government organization—is asking brewers to have plenty of beer ready, and for restaurants and bars to stay open late to accommodate the thirsty beer swillers.  The government is worried that beer shortages may lead to negative publicity, especially on social media.  Apparently rugby fans drink way more beer than soccer/football fans, six times more at games than soccer fans, at least in England.  Another article a couple days later warmed people to be ready for “rowdy” rugby fans.  No mention was made about any link between beer consumption and rowdiness.

I know the Japanese government has a long history of involvement in the beer industry.  Beer taxes, high relative to other alcoholic beverages, are an important source of revenue for the national budget.  Which is why the national government has in the past actively promoted beer drinking, something you would never see in the US.  I doubt it happens in European countries where beer and brewing are ingrained parts of the culture.  But is this concern about Rugby World Cup beer supplies part of the county’s general omotenashi hospitality?  Or is it an effort to avoid embarrassment?  Or even worse, rioting by hooligans cut off from their favorite imbibe?  I don’t know, but at least I now feel pretty confident I won’t be without a beer this fall.