Japan's liquor tax on beer, happoshu and new genre became one rate today, and canned chuhai went up. Tell it what you usually drink and see what changes for you over a year.
Example numbers are filled in. Change them to your own.
| Type | Tax before | Tax after | Price change |
|---|
Price change assumes makers pass the tax change on in full, plus 10% consumption tax. Real shelf prices can differ.
In 2017 Japan decided to move beer, happoshu and new genre to one tax rate in steps, because brewers kept designing drinks to fit the cheaper categories. October 1, 2026 is the last step: all three now pay ¥155,000 per kiloliter.
Low alcohol drinks such as canned chuhai and highballs went from ¥80,000 to ¥100,000 per kiloliter on the same day.
So the old price gap between beer and new genre, about ¥16 of tax per 350 ml can, is gone. If you switched to new genre only to save money, it may be time to look at real beer again.