Why does this not surprise me at all? I'd like to get a study done to see how much beer Japan drinks and compare it with the rest of the world...

That would be interesting. I wonder if it's really no more than anywhere else. I mean how often have you seen salary men stumbling drunk through the streets at 8 or 9 in the evening. Many people here just can't seem to hold their liquor for very long.

Well, if they were just drinking one or two nights a week, I'd think that it was about the same as everywhere else. But so many salarymen drink every single night, that I suspect that per capita, Japan drinks about as much as a party university.

But that just raises the question... What's the official mascot? Personally, I vote for Sammy the Sakura Blossom.

How about Surly?

Jamielein! You have been in Japan too long. Do you think the Japanese could hold a candle to GERMAN beer consumption, or Ireland for that matter. Japan doesn't even crack the top 10!http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/lif_bee_con (Czech Republic isn't on there, it claims to be the highest)

Wow, thanks Les! Leave it to the family's famous economist to sort this one out. I'm so glad to see my stereotypes about Ireland confirmed.