Her name may conjure images of boozy cherry blossom parties, but Hanami Ohashi hardly drinks.
The 25-year-old hairstylist in Daikanyama, a fashionable Tokyo neighborhood of boutiques and restaurants, says she’ll have one alcoholic drink a week at most. “If I’m meeting friends, I might have a beer — just one. More often, we end up at a cafe.”
Ohashi is not unusual in passing on a second round. She belongs to a generation drinking far less than their parents did, swept up in what’s been dubbed the “sober curious” movement. National surveys show that around 60% of people in their 20s consume little to no alcohol, a shift driven by heightened awareness of health risks, anxieties over the future after decades of economic stagnation, and an explosion in cheap, digital entertainment options like gaming, streaming services and social media.
“When I turned 20 (the legal drinking age in Japan), it was right in the middle of the pandemic, so there just weren’t any big parties,” Ohashi says. “There were the occasional drinks at home, but nothing like the large gatherings people used to have. I never really picked up the habit.”
That generational recalibration has not gone unnoticed by the drinks industry. Major brewers now market a growing range of zero- and low-alcohol products, while bars and restaurants experiment with mocktails and alcohol-free pairings. What was once a niche offering has become a fast-expanding category, signaling a shift in Japan’s drinking culture.
After-work drinking sessions with the boss used to be a major part of a Japanese office job. Since the pandemic, such work parties have been decreasing in popularity.
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“I usually have about one can a day, and on days off when I meet friends, I might drink a little more,” says Kyoka Noguchi, Ohashi’s co-worker at the Daikanyama salon. “My parents go out drinking way more often than I do,” adds the 28-year-old, noting that she doesn’t know “anyone my age who goes out drinking specifically to meet new people.”
She shrugs: “People use apps for that now.”
Mis-nominication
For decades, drinking was woven into the fabric of Japanese social life. After long days at the office, colleagues crowded into smoky izakaya pubs, where beer and sake helped smooth over workplace hierarchies and foster a sense of belonging. The practice became so common that it inspired a new word: nominication, a mashup of nomi (drinking) and “communication.” Today, the ritual has lost much of its appeal.
“The decline in alcohol consumption among young people has been underway since the early 2000s,” says Naoko Kuga, a senior researcher at the NLI Research Institute.
With the economy in a prolonged slump since the asset price bubble popped in the early 1990s, men in particular began drinking less, and after-work gatherings among people in their 40s and 50s declined. In 2008, the government introduced a specific health checkup program targeting metabolic syndrome and other lifestyle-related diseases. Kuga says this further heightened health consciousness among working adults.
“Among younger generations, the shift was accelerated not only by the pandemic but also by the rapid spread of smartphones and social media from the 2010s onward,” she adds. As digital entertainment options multiplied, the perceived value of meeting up in person began to fade.
The idea of being sober curious — reassessing one’s relationship with alcohol without necessarily quitting — first appeared in the United States around 2018, she notes. The term began circulating in Japan about five years ago.
Beer Pub Ishii, a craft beer pub in Bunkyo Ward, offers Hitachino Brewing’s 0.3% brew to customers looking for low-alcohol options.
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Small drinking establishments like this one in central Tokyo are ubiquitous throughout Japan, though drinking among men over the age of 40 has been on the decline since the 1990s.
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According to the National Tax Agency’s annual report on Japan’s alcohol industry, domestic sales peaked in 1996 and have been in steady decline ever since. Beer once dominated, accounting for more than 70% of total consumption through the mid-1990s. But tax changes in the early 2000s spurred a rise in happōshu (low-malt beer), and canned, liquor-based drinks have more recently gained ground, reflecting more diverse drinking habits.
When looking at habitual drinking, defined as consuming at least one gō (about 180 ml of sake, or its alcohol equivalent) per day on three or more days a week, Kuga points to data from the National Health and Nutrition Survey that show a clear decline.
Comparing figures from 1999, 2019, 2022 and 2023 (surveys in 2020 and 2021 were suspended during the pandemic), rates have fallen across all male age groups, as well as among women in their 20s and 30s, and those 70 and older. The most notable drop has been among men in their 40s and 50s, traditionally the heaviest drinkers, where habitual drinking rates have fallen by as much as 20 to 30 percentage points.
“Interestingly, we’re seeing a slight rise in habitual drinking among women in their 40s to 60s compared to the late 1990s,” Kuga says. “In fact, women in this age group now drink more regularly than men in their 20s.”
Part of the reason for these changes is that more women are in the workforce and have the same opportunities for work-related meals and gatherings as men, she adds. “And compared to the past, society is now far more accepting of women enjoying alcohol.”
Taichi Takata, who owns two restaurants and a bar in Tokyo’s Kagurazaka neighborhood, says his establishments stock nonalcoholic drinks in bottles, and that they sell reasonably well.
Though their cohort is more comfortable drinking in public, some women in the over-40 demographic are still content with a tea when they’re out at the pub.
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“I’ve noticed more women and couples choosing soft drinks with their meals,” he says. “And among women in their 40s, 50s and 60s, drinking has definitely increased. I think it has to do with how there are fewer full-time housewives and more women making higher incomes. The spread of wine culture may have something to do with it, too. Women are more comfortable with drinking than before. A toast with sparkling wine is seen as stylish, and I think that matches their tastes now.”
At Takata’s restaurants, wine, beer and whiskey highballs still dominate sales. “As for younger people, so many are into anime, gaming or K-pop — that’s where they want to spend their money and time. They don’t really have space for drinking.”
With the diversification in drinking styles, beverage makers are trying out new slogans to entice customers. Asahi Breweries, for example, has rolled out a “Sumadori” (smart drinking) campaign that promotes a more flexible approach where people — whether drinkers or not — select beverages that match their health, mood and social setting.
Drinking smart?
In Shibuya’s narrow yet bustling Center Gai shopping and entertainment street stands the Sumadori Bar. Housed in a marbled rainbow-colored interior, its first floor features a long counter for customers looking for a quick drink, while the second floor offers sofas and table seating.
“We have drinks in three alcohol levels — 0%, 0.5% and 3%,” says Kimihisa Otsuka, the bartender and assistant manager, as he prepares one of the bar’s signature cocktails, the Marbling Rain. The drink comes topped with a pink-and-yellow cotton candy puff that dissolves as soda water is poured over a glass of house-made craft lemonade and nonalcoholic gin.
Sumadori Bar bartender and assistant manager Kimihisa Otsuka shows off his establishment’s Marbling Rain cocktail.
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Opened in June 2022, the idea for the bar grew out of a 2021 Asahi Breweries survey estimating that of Japan’s roughly 90 million adults, more than half — some 50 million people — don’t drink. The research also showed that many people, even the weak drinkers, still longed for aspects of bar and pub culture. With that in mind, Sumadori Bar set its sights on customers in their 20s, 30s and 40s who either abstain or drink very little.
“These days, about 70% of our customers are in their 20s,” says Mai Araki, brand manager at Sumadori, a joint venture between Asahi Breweries and Dentsu Digital. “Many come because our offerings are Instagrammable, and we’ve also intentionally kept prices low. For people who don’t usually drink, paying ¥1,000 for a cocktail can feel like too much of a hurdle, so we’ve made it easier to drop by with a one-coin (¥500) price point instead.”
Asahi’s latest figures show a clear shift in Japan’s drinking habits. While sales of its traditional beer products — including beer, happōshu and the nonmalt “new genre” brews — slipped 2% in the first half of 2025, sales of nonalcoholic beverages, including low-alcohol options, rose 15% year on year, while ready-to-drink products represented by chūhai canned cocktails surged 26% over the same period.
The company’s nonalcoholic beers are also setting records. Shipments of its flagship Dry Zero climbed 10% in 2024 to an all-time high, while sales of Asahi Zero have risen so quickly the company upped its 2025 target by 20% to 2.4 million cases. By the end of August, it had already cleared 1.6 million cases — 80% of its initial goal.
Sumadori Bar’s Kimihisa Otsuka says his bar serves drinks with three alcohol levels: 0%, 0.5% and 3%.
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“For younger generations, labeling something as nonalcoholic doesn’t really resonate, especially with those who don’t drink in the first place,” says Shiori Shimizu, a spokeswoman for Asahi Group Holdings, the parent company of Asahi Breweries. “Just putting ‘nonalcoholic’ on a product doesn’t make it appealing. On Sept. 17, we’re launching new products under our #sober (pronounced ‘tag sober’) brand, but instead of promoting them as nonalcoholic, we’re presenting them as a kind of ‘nighttime soda water.’”
Asahi isn’t alone. All of Japan’s major breweries have been investing in the nonalcoholic or low-alcohol beverage sector. Kirin Brewery, known for its namesake beer as well as its pioneering Hyoketsu brand of sweet, fruity canned cocktails, recently launched a new nonalcoholic chūhai brand called Hyo Zero Sparkling.
“Compared with when nonalcoholic beer first appeared in Japan, the taste has improved significantly,” says Susumu Yamanaka, brand manager at Kirin’s Marketing Division. “People in their 30s and 40s often remember the early versions and felt, ‘this isn’t real beer,’ which left a negative impression. Younger generations don’t carry that same bias.”
By their 40s, many people lean toward traditional drinks like sake or shochu, Yamanaka says. In their 50s, long-time drinkers often settle on the brands and types they prefer, while older consumers begin cutting back, shifting toward low- or nonalcoholic options.
While they’re increasingly opting for nonalcoholic options, young people still enjoy hanging out at bars and “izakaya” taverns, like those near Ueno Station.
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“Today, the 50-to-60 age range represents the largest market for nonalcoholic beverages,” he says. Health concerns and the occasional warnings that result from yearly health checks all play a role. “For younger people, meanwhile, a soft drink — or even staying at home scrolling on a smartphone — can be just as satisfying.”
After spending her summer working in Tokushima Prefecture, Sumire Higa, 23, is heading back to Okinawa. While there, she expects she’ll be invited to join her father for drinks.
“I’m not great with alcohol,” she says. “When I was 20, I thought I should drink since my father does, but I realized I can enjoy myself without it.”
Now when she drinks with dad, she cracks open a can of Suntory’s nonalcoholic All-Free brew. Does the lack of a buzz lessen the experience?
“No,” she says with a laugh, “I don’t miss it at all.”
