Trends in Japan » Japanese beer for children

Japanese beer for children - Kodomo no nomimono

Written by: Michael Keferl on May 25, 2007 at 6:16 pm | In 02 Marketing & Ad Trends |

Can you imagine these products being marketed overseas? With so much concern about “the children” these days we doubt that fake beer for kids would make it past the pitch stage at any beverage company. Well, almost any company. Sure, there’s the sparkling grape juice that kids sometimes get on New Years Eve in lieu of champagne, but to have it specifically marketed to kids is a different matter. While Americans would likely overreact and freak out, we haven’t seen any such reaction here in Japan and these drinks have been out for a couple of years now.

kodomo-no-nomimono-beer-for-children

Sangaria started their line of fake alcoholic drinks for kids with Kodomo no nomimono (Children’s drink), and has been successful enough to offer it in bottles, cans, and even six-packs. They also expanded the product line to include children’s versions of wine, champagne, and cocktails. The beer, flavored like apple juice, even foams at the top when poured into a glass!

Doesn’t the kid with the onigiri look alot surlier with a beer in front of him?

The differences between the West and Japan are often highlighted the most in the little things in life, and this is definitely one of them. Japan is well known for its group drinking culture, and this is actually a great way to include the kids during family celebrations. These are even sold at restaurants, which is ideal since most parties in Japan are done outside of the home. Of course, if find your four-year-old passed out in front of the TV with a pile of empty fake beer cans around him, it might be time for a kodomo no intervention.

Pictures of children via Sangaria

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Wow, talk about starting them off young. Might as well give them some Popeye cigarrettes(you’ll know what those are if you’re over 30 and have lived in North America) to complete to ‘look’. That kid with the onigiri looks like an angry drunk.

Comment by jokez — May 27, 2007 #
“That kid with the onigiri looks like an angry drunk.”

Well yeah, but you just know that the girl will be putting out in a few decades…

Comment by Pardon My French — May 28, 2007 #
This is somewhat old news… like 2 years old is it not?

Comment by Maddy — May 28, 2007 #
Just think of how many alcoholics this will enable.

Comment by Mr. Wink — May 28, 2007 #
i am pretty sure group drinking is very important to western culture

Germany…

Comment by threechordme — May 28, 2007 #
This is somewhat old news… like 2 years old is it not?

There was a different brand for kids out a couple of years ago, but it was just beer (not the wine, cocktails, etc) and I haven’t seen it in stores since. These are different, and much more fun IMHO. I see them all over the place these days!

Comment by lawrence — May 28, 2007 #
In the States you have “sparkling” cider in Champagne bottles so children can join in festivities, no?

Same thing.

I dunno about seeing this “all over the place.” It’s not in the popual convenience stores or supermarkets here.

Comment by Adrian Havill — May 28, 2007 #
Yeah, my 8-yr old daughter is nuts for this stuff, especially in summer.
And, yes, in America, there would be a 5-alarm freak out about this. “Oh, my God! We’re teaching kids how to drink! Quick - let’s do something else! Something wholesome and All-American…give him a gun and let’s go shooting!”

Comment by jd — May 28, 2007 #
Yeah, I saw my first “Kodomo no Beer” last month being marketed for Children’s Day. It was a different brand though, and tastes pretty much like beer, which is to say, crap (think O’Doul’s). Why on earth kids would drink it, I have no idea. But while I don’t necessarily think America has the best attitudes towards drinking and children, I think it’s just a bit much to actively encourage it.

i am pretty sure group drinking is very important to western culture
Germany…

Clearly, you have not been to Japan. Trust me when I say, it’s not the same.

Comment by Nathaniel — May 28, 2007 #
Americans tend to go a little crazy and a lot overboard on issues like this. It’s in our culture to think that other people are stupid and that we should control them for their own good.

I once worked on a newspaper where a letter-to- the-editor attacked a quick-market store that sold gasoline but also sold beer and wine. The letter said the store owner was promoting drinking and driving. The store owner wrote back and pointed out that very few people walk to any liquor store, and that unless sniffing gasoline fumes while fueling up made people thirsty, there was no difference between his store and any other.

I suspect that letter writer’s childern are among the complainers here - people who don’t trust others as parents to be able to tell the difference between foamy apple juice and lager.

Comment by Lokki — May 29, 2007 #
Drinking is a big part of cultures outside of the US. It is Not, however, drinking as Americans see it.
The Point is not “to get fucked up”, “Catch a Buzz”, or “Get smashed”
Drinking a beer or a glass of wine is a treat to enjoy, not to be abused. I’m willing to bet that every single one of those kids will turn out less maladjusted than most of the posters here.

Comment by Seriously — May 31, 2007 #
“Just think of how many alcoholics this will enable. :(”

i grew up with all this stuff in japan.. japan has a completely different culture than the US and because of that, their views on alcohol are different too. it’s basically the same idea as the drinking age in europe being much lower than that of the US.

Comment by Andrea — May 31, 2007 #
You don’t really hear too much about alcoholism in Japan, though. This may be teaching them somewhat to drink, but it’s like toy guns and whatnot that surround us everyday that give children good impressions about… you know… bad stuff. O___O

Comment by Gi — May 31, 2007 #
You know, this children’s beer might actually be a good idea.
Psychologically, it could actually prevent a child from growing up and becoming an alcoholic.

It’s the same thing with candy. If a parent strictly regulates their child’s access to sweets, then if the child ever visits the home of a friend where the parents always keep a bowl of chocolates out, they’ll go nuts and devour a good five or ten. However, the kids who always have access to that candy won’t really go for it. Sure they’ll take one or two every so often, but they know it’s always there for them when they want it.

Heck, I grew up in a family where we as kids at the age of 7 were given glasses of champagne on special occasions. No one ever even took more than two sips because we hated the taste so much.

Comment by Az — May 31, 2007 #
American and Japanese cultures are so different that I’m not the least bit surprised over the marketing of this product in Japan. American society has put mindless taboos on everything from nudity to toy guns. They have to have an association and organization to control EVERYTHING, which is probably a reflection of the American people not being able to control themselves like sensible human beings.

Comment by Sm — May 31, 2007 #
Japanisches Kinderbier: Trink aus, Kleiner!…

Die Japaner machen das einzig richtige gegen Jugendliche, die sich mit dem ersten Schluck Alkohol ins Koma saufen, nämlich die Blagen schon im Kindesalter an den guten Stoff heranzuführen. Die japanische Sangaria Brauerei bietet mir ihrer Kodomo no n…

Trackback by Affenheimtheater — June 1, 2007 #
I personally think that once you de-mystify the ‘things adults do’ to kids, it’s not as fascinating to them anymore.

Like speaking to them about the birds and the bees and bringing them out to clubbing once they are of legal age or something?

Once they become informed kiddies they are not as likely to abuse these things.

I am a good example of over-control when I was younger and grew up to be a rebellious kid. Heh!

Comment by barffie — June 1, 2007 #
What’s next? Root BEER and Ginger ALE?

Comment by blaargh — June 3, 2007 #
I knew Americans would freak out over this, Im not and Im American. But to be fair I am half Japanese

Comment by Korgoth — June 3, 2007 #
barffie is so right when he says: once you de-mystify the ‘things adults do’’ to kids, it’s not as fascinating to them anymore.

I noticed in Copenhagen and Amsterdam almost 30 years ago that kids there happily walked by news stands on the pavement which contained postcards and magazines which today would be classed as pornography.

If the same news stands were to appear on the streets of any UK city now it would have crowds of laughing, giggling, raucus boys, followed quickly by the police, then photographs in all the tabloids….maybe even in some of the so called qualities, which used to be above that sort of trashy news.

Those European kids weren’t as shielded from sex as our lot, with the result they were quite calm about it. Whereas our more repressed youngsters would go into frenzy mode.

And which group of youngsters tops the league tables for happiness? Why the Scandinavians and the Dutch. And which are at the foot of the league tables? Why our kids and the equally repressed Americans of course. Is there a lesson here somewhere?

Comment by Brian Hill — June 4, 2007 #
People, read the article again - it’s non-alcoholic. Kids (or adults) can drink bottle after bottle of the stuff and, though they might get sick, will never become alcoholics. We have the stuff here in NYC too and nobody is forming an organization to ban it. (I don’t think anyone is drinking it either, but that’s another story.)

Comment by Saiko Mikan — June 6, 2007 #
PS My Japanese colleague says that this whole product line was the result of Japanese parents giving real beer to kids at parties so they can join in the toast.

Comment by Saiko Mikan — June 6, 2007 #
The American publice (not necessarilly individuals) don’t mind when America makes things like “Root beer” of “Ginger ale” for kids but when other countries does something suddenly they assume something horrible about it. It is hypocritical.
Besides from my experience living in both countries I think American adolescents drink more alcohol than Japanese adolescents…
Though I don’t think there is a difference in alcohol consumption after age 21 between Japan and the United States.

Comment by Nanashi no Gonbei — June 11, 2007 #
I don’t really have any problem with this. A lot of good arguments abou this have been posted, but I guess I feel obliged to pop in my two cents. I’m half-Korean and half… uh… white, more or less, and I bounced between the houses of my Taiwanese and Japanese friends and the houses of my good old American friends… the differences in attitudes and cultural norms were very large. I had to almost “change faces” to go to different friends’ houses. In Japan, there is a difference in the way you view yourself and what you do, and for them, this is “okay.” I think it would cause quite a furor in the United States, but it is not a moral issue, it’s a cultural one. It’s a matter of perspective, not permissiveness.

Comment by Raile Darin — June 17, 2007 #
Sustainable Dogs on Roof…

In an interesting post, Coming Anarchy poses the question what will be sustainable counter-terrorism? In an interesting context, CA reminds one that in 1973 (when Small Is Beautiful started gaining traction, coincidentally), the idea of environmentalis…

Trackback by Prose Before Hos — July 11, 2007 #
Children tend to take after their parents. If their parents drink, then they want to drink, too. I think it’s a good thing that there is a kid-safe alternative to the real thing. A young child would be lucky to get down one beer and still be standing. Really, the drink isn’t the problem, it’s the after-effects. Also, I think kids should be taught to be responsible drinkers for when they do start on the real thing. On a similar note, why do so many people throw such a big fit if a child swears. We all do it. It’s our language. Not everyone swears, but most people use swear words in casual conversation. Why beat our kids for doing the same?

Comment by Knux Kitsune — July 18, 2007 #
Kodomo no nomimono: Cerveja para crianças! o_O…

Assista o comercial de TV (Cerveja para crianças existe sim! =D) Sério, o que esperar de uma cultura, extremamente avançada (sem querer denegrir as outras culturas, é claro), que faz um vídeo educativo dos bons ensinando as crianças a……

Trackback by PortalCab.com — October 25, 2007 #
Ich versteh nicht ganz - warum macht man wieder nur die japanische mentalität dafür verantwortlich?

Die Deutschen machens doch auch nicht anders:

http://www.robby-bubble.com/index_de.html

ob das nun schöner ist - wers meint…

Comment by Robby Bubble — November 27, 2007 #
dijipevacudaqifeinfo…

nice post…

Trackback by dijipevacudaqifeinfo — December 31, 2007 #
Wow, weird to find out about this, though it doesn’t really sound like a bad idea. It’s basically just sparkling apple juice that foams. I don’t see how it could be that bad.

It’s the same thing with candy. If a parent strictly regulates their child’s access to sweets, then if the child ever visits the home of a friend where the parents always keep a bowl of chocolates out, they’ll go nuts and devour a good five or ten. However, the kids who always have access to that candy won’t really go for it. Sure they’ll take one or two every so often, but they know it’s always there for them when they want it.

AZ

A very good point. I work in a retail store as a cashier, and i can which kids have access, and which ones don’t. It would be the exact same with the fake beer. The only problem is just the guys at the FDA. They would never clear it, because they’re just a bunch of confused morons. They have the completely wrong idea about what’s right and wrong for children. America is becoming paranoid, and is losing the ability to look ahead. It’s no longer hard work and working your way up, it seems more like “I’m American, and i deserve to be rich NOW!” It’s dwindling in quality.

I’m all for this idea, but most of the rest of america isn’t.

Comment by Fireblast133 — January 18, 2008 #
darn the system. I thought i plopped the guote down enough.

Comment by Fireblast133 — January 18, 2008 #
I thought that is a cool drink and it is a cool marketing product and note soft drinks probably causes just as much damage

1) I drink
2) My parents do not

I had my first taste of Brandy mix with soft drink when I was 5 during the festive season but that did not turn me into an alcoholic?
Adults should learn how to hold their drinks and marketing products of such does not indicate that kids would instantly become alcoholic if they start drinking alcohol-alike products.
Kids love to play grown-up, remember

Comment by YM — January 31, 2008 #
I dont know about you guys but THAT is the most catchy song I have ever heard!

Comment by YM — March 3, 2008 #

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Japanese beer for children - Kodomo no nomimono

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