Kirin Brewery – Factory Tour
Kirin Brewery is known as one of the leading beer makers in Japan. It is one of the subsidiaries of the Kirin Holdings Company which is an integrated beverages company that engages in the manufacture and sales of not only alcoholic but also non-alcoholic beverages as well as pharmaceutical and bio-chemical products. Kirin operates in eight countries and is a member of the Mitsubishi Group.
Corporate Information
- Company: Kirin Brewery Company, Limited
- Foundation: 1907
- Location: Headquartered in Tokyo
- Main Business: Manufacture and sales of alcohol beverages
Kirin Brewery
Kirin Breweries is one of the leading brewery companies in Japan. Its history dates back to 1885 when its foreign-owned forerunner company called Japan Brewery Company was established in Yokohama in 1885. Three years later, the brewery started selling beer named Kirin Beer. In 1907, the Kirin Brewery Company was established as a separate Japanese legal entity with the financial support from Japanese investors including the president of Mitsubishi at that time.
The company now has nine brewery plants across Japan. Kirin has an unwavering commitment to quality and customer satisfaction. They have established a sophisticated system allowing tracing of their products and ingredients throughout the supply chain, including through the entire production process.
The tour includes a guided walk through the production process from barley-mashing to packaging. The tour also features a video presentation about the company, exhibits of different beer ingredients, and for those thirsty at the end of the visit, finishes with a tasting of their signature beer.
Auckland, New Zealand
During the Lean Japan Tour I came to the realization that improving an organization is not through large capital investments alone. We were completely surrounded by examples of minor investments into small improvements that produced significant savings. The clever use of visual management techniques gave a clear understanding of the current situation and Ben who…
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Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
The Shinka Lean Management Tour was a great experience, with group members from across the globe. A combination of classroom, hands-on and site visit learning provided good insight into lean principles. The tour was very well organised, ran smoothly and was a pleasure to be a part of.
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Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
The Shinka lean study mission of Japan offers participants an opportunity to see what is possible in undertaking world class manufacturing. The insights that are possible on tours like this can really challenge what you think are the real key success factors for implementation and enhance the chance of success in your own journey.
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Denver, Colorado, United States
This was my third visit to Japan with Shinka Management and it is difficult for me to find the right words to express my gratitude for such a well-organized tour and my appreciation for the high quality and on-target content. In my previous visits I received very valuable information related to continuous improvement principles and…
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Christchurch, New Zealand
I highly recommend the Lean Japan Tour – it provided a very good insight, was well organised and is led by guys who are clearly very passionate for lean and Japan.
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Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
During my bachelor’s degree I studied TPS and lean extensively but having the theoretical knowledge is very different to actually seeing it and getting the chance to implement it in the practical center. I have enjoyed my time during the tour and learned a lot about how TPS is actually implemented. The tour was very…
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The Shinka Management Lean Japan Tour is a professional development program run several times annually. The program includes a mix of lean and kaizen seminars, hands-on lean training and visits to several benchmark lean companies. For further information and program dates, see the lean tour overview page.
Tour Inquiries
Interested in joining us in Japan? For additional information prior to registration please fill in the form provided or contact us.