Whisky in Japan: Highball Culture
In 2008, Suntory staff approached izakaya around Shinjuku, Tokyo, with a proposition: bring back the whisky highball. In the company's account, the first response was hardly encouraging. Highballs did not sell, the bars said, and they took too much trouble to prepare.[8] From that unpromising start came a carefully planned revival built around whisky, soda and the everyday neighbourhood bar.
A culture built around the serve
Start with the glass, not the distillery. Highballs, mizuwari and the custom of leaving a bottle behind the bar each reveal a different relationship between whisky, water and the places where people drink. Mizuwari means whisky with water; by the 1970s, it had become Japan's standard way of drinking whisky, according to Nippon.com's cultural history.[7]
Famous bottles tell only part of this story. The Spirits Business reports that much highball drinking is generic and brand-free, often supplied from bottles holding two to three litres.[9] Here, the ordinary setting matters as much as the label. Whisky belongs to the occasion without always demanding to be its centrepiece. Other approaches appear in the guide to whisky cultures around the world.
The bars before the revival
The bottle at the heart of the revival already had a long history. Suntory traces its beginnings to Shinjiro Torii's ambition in 1899 to make Western-style liquors suited to Japanese palates.[1] Its account dates Kakubin's creation to 1937. Originally called Suntory Whisky, the blend acquired a nickname meaning “square bottle”, after its tortoise-shell-patterned bottle.[4] That familiar name would later anchor the highball campaign.
The postwar bar mattered just as much. Dentsu-ho dates the first Torys Bar to 1950 and reports that the network reached about 2,000 at its peak.[5] Suntory says its second president, Keizo Saji, wanted whisky to become part of daily life, with the Torys Highball as the bars' signature drink.[6]
Academic research places Torys bars in Tokyo, Osaka and other cities around 1955, when the highball became popular.[3] Whisky and soda already belonged to Japan's bar culture. The 2008 project was therefore a return to an established serve, with a history of its own, rather than the introduction of an unfamiliar drink.
Mizuwari and the bottle kept behind the bar
By the 1970s, whisky with water had taken centre stage. Nippon.com describes mizuwari as bringing whisky at 40% ABV down to about 15% ABV through dilution with water.[7] The important change was in the serve: diluted whisky had become central to Japanese whisky drinking.
Snack bars helped spread both mizuwari and “bottle keep” from the 1970s to the 1990s. Under bottle keep, a bar stores a customer's own bottle for later visits.[7] A bottle behind the bar links one evening to the next. A highball ordered as an individual drink creates a different relationship with the place. The customs share a history, but they are not interchangeable services.
The market grew dramatically. Suntory Old sales rose from about one million cases in 1970 to 12.4 million in 1980, according to Nippon.com.[7] The Spirits Business, citing National Tax Agency data, puts domestic whisky consumption at 42.3 million cases in 1983.[9]
Then the expansion faltered. Academic research describes a shochu boom from 1982 to 1985 that cut into whisky consumption.[3] Suntory says whisky sales volume had fallen to one sixth of the 1983 peak by 2007.[8] Its account should not be treated as a directly comparable continuation of the national consumption figures above.
The planned return of the highball
A drink returns to Shinjuku
Suntory dates its Kaku Highball revival project to 2008, beginning with approaches to izakaya around Shinjuku. The bars' initial objections were practical: highballs did not sell and were troublesome to prepare.[8] The producer describes a coordinated response, bringing together a specified serve, dedicated mugs, serving equipment and television advertising. In 2009, it launched the Kaku Highball can, carrying the campaign beyond the bar serve.[8]
The project's beginnings, the bars' objections, the can launch and the campaign elements are all recorded in Suntory's account.[8] Last checked: 7 November 2026.
Verdict badge
Documented. Suntory records that its 2008 approaches to izakaya around Shinjuku initially met objections that highballs did not sell and were troublesome to prepare. The source is the producer's own account, not an independent evaluation of the campaign. The earliest known source is not established from the sources checked. Source: Suntory, campaign account.[8] Last checked: 7 November 2026.
The rollout was substantial. Suntory reports that about 15,000 outlets served highballs at the end of 2008, rising to 60,000 in 2009.[8] By 2021, domestic whisky consumption stood at 17.8 million cases, more than double the 2008 low. The Spirits Business credits the highball boom in its account of that recovery.[9]
What the house serve tells us
How could bars make the serve work? Suntory's 2008 specification began with an ice-filled mug, chilled soda poured gently, one part whisky to four parts soda, and care over the lemon. Its stated target was a drink at 7 to 8% ABV.[8] These were the details of a house serve, rather than a universal highball recipe.
The mug and server made that specification practical for bars. Suntory says it designed the Kaku mug so that the highball could be drunk like beer, while its Highball Tower server addressed the needs of busy bars.[8] Together, they connected the intended drinking style with the practical task of repeating the serve.
Television advertising gave the drink a recognisable home. Suntory's account describes adverts featuring Koyuki as a bar owner, followed by Miho Kanno from 2011 and Haruka Igawa from February 2014.[8] Recipe, mug, server and advertising all pointed towards the same occasion: whisky in a familiar bar setting, rather than a campaign built around distillery knowledge alone.
A short chronology of changing serves
| Date | Development | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| 1937 | Kakubin created. | Suntory's account.[4] |
| 1950 | First Torys Bar opens. | Dentsu-ho trade history.[5] |
| 1970s | Mizuwari becomes the standard serve. | Nippon.com cultural history.[7] |
| 2008 | Kaku Highball revival begins. | Suntory's account.[8] |
| 2009 | Kaku Highball can launches. | Suntory's account.[8] |
Japanese whisky and a highball in Japan
Where a highball is served does not tell you where its whisky was distilled. The Spirits Business reports that Japanese world blends can contain Scotch, Irish and North American whisky.[9] A highball in Japan and a highball made with whisky meeting the Japanese whisky labelling standard are therefore not necessarily the same thing.
Nikka records the announcement of the Japan Spirits & Liqueurs Makers Association's labelling standard on 16 February 2021, effective from 1 April that year.[10] Japan's National Tax Agency describes it as a voluntary industry standard, with a transition period ending on 31 March 2024.[11] It is not a statutory definition.
In March 2025, the association announced a JW logo and described its work towards geographical indication status.[12] This was an industry initiative; the announcement did not establish that legal protection had taken effect. The distinction is straightforward: the standard concerns whisky production and labelling, not how a highball is served.
Common misunderstandings
The revival happened by itself. Suntory describes a planned launch, resistance from bars, and a coordinated package of serving equipment and advertising.[8]
Mizuwari is a recent fashion. It was central to whisky drinking in the 1970s, decades before the 2008 campaign.[7]
A Japanese setting proves Japanese origin. World blends can include imported whisky; the setting alone does not establish the liquid's origin.[9]
Where to go next
- Whisky Around the World: How Different Countries Drink It: a broader introduction to whisky as a cultural practice.
- Whisky in France: Apéritif Culture and Scotch: another perspective on a familiar spirit in everyday social settings.
- Whisky in Taiwan and South Korea: neighbouring cultural histories to read alongside Japan's changing serves.
Sources
[1] Suntory Holdings. Heritage. Producer's account, web edition, undated. https://www.suntory.com/about-us/heritage.html
[3] Annals of Business Administrative Science, via J-STAGE. The Birth of Japanese Whisky. Volume 19, issue 1; publication year not supplied in the fact sheet. https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/abas/19/1/19_0191111a/_pdf
[4] Suntory. Brands: Kakubin. Producer's account, web edition, undated. https://www.suntory.com/brands/kakubinwhisky/
[5] Dentsu-ho. Torys BAR opens for a limited time. Trade account, web edition, 2016. https://dentsu-ho.com/en/articles/3942
[6] Suntory. The Experience Behind Every Pour. Producer's account, web edition, undated. https://www.suntory.com/stories/the-experience-behind-every-pour.html
[7] Nippon.com. Whisky, a Spirit Imbued with Culture. Cultural history, web edition, undated in the supplied record. https://www.nippon.com/en/articles/-/12547
[8] Suntory. ハイボール復活！ ウイスキー市場革命の舞台裏. Producer's retrospective account, web edition, undated in the supplied record. https://www.suntory.co.jp/recruit/media/articles/000009.html
[9] The Spirits Business. Has Japanese whisky peaked? Trade report, May 2025. https://www.thespiritsbusiness.com/2025/05/has-japanese-whisky-peaked/
[10] Nikka Whisky. Standards for Labeling "Japanese Whisky". Producer's explanation of the 2021 standard, web edition. https://www.nikka.com/en/brands/labelingstandards/
[11] National Tax Agency, Japan. Liquor Administration (2021 report). Official report, 2021. https://www.nta.go.jp/english/Report_pdf/2021e_08.pdf
[12] Japan Spirits & Liqueurs Makers Association, via CNA Business Wire. Japan Spirits & Liqueurs Makers Association (JSLMA) Reinforces Standards for Labeling Japanese Whisky With New Logo. Association statement, March 2025. https://www.cna.com.tw/postwrite/eng/397668
This desk-researched article uses the supplied verified fact sheet, distinguishing producer histories and campaign figures from academic research, trade reporting and the National Tax Agency's account.
Last checked: November 2026.