Kaigan Brewery

There’s a brewery in Minamiboso where a Frenchman is making beer in the storehouse of an old house built in 1898. Kaigan Brewery.

The owner is Philippe, aka "Mr. Hoptimistic." He originally opened a craft beer specialty shop called "Coaster craftbeer&kitchen" in Shimokitazawa in 2019, and then in 2021 he renovated an old house in Minamiboso and launched the brewery. It’s located just a few hundred meters from the sea, surrounded by rice fields and bamboo groves.

It all started from the passion to "make the beer we want to drink," and the brewery is run by an internationally diverse team. What’s interesting is that all of the beers here are named after Japanese yokai.

BAKEKUJIRA (ghost whale), SHOJO (shōjō), OGAMA (giant toad), UMIBOZU (sea monk)... The labels are also designed with yokai, and the playfulness is incredible. There’s also Hoptimus Prime, a name that really shows Philippe’s overflowing love of hops.

But it’s not just about the look. Here, they seriously practice "brewing beer is community building," and they use local vegetables, blemished blueberries, and even shiitake mushrooms as ingredients. They even make a blueberry gose using out-of-spec local blueberries.

What’s more, the spent grain from brewing is provided as feed for local cattle. They’re completing a sustainable cycle right here in Minamiboso. A Frenchman brewing yokai beer in Japan’s satoyama while coexisting with the local community - there really isn’t another story like it.