Cheers with Highball!

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Mornings and nights have finally started to get cooler, and this is really enjoyable. But now is also the time when the lingering summer makes its presence felt. The one thing indispensable in this weather is, of course, beer! Especially since Japan is a very humid country, a glass of beer after sweating it out is out of this world! When people enter an izakaya (Japanese-style pub), the first thing they say is “Beer, for now!” This phrase has almost become a trademark quote of the vernacular used by people who go to frequent izakayas. Now, however, there is one drink that seems to be capable of overtaking the king of drinks, the almighty beer. That drink is the “highball.” The real meaning of highball is a mixture of alcohol with non-alcoholic drinks such as soda or juice, but in Japan, it mostly implies whiskey with soda.

But why is the highball suddenly entering a booming phase? The first thing to be considered could be its price. The price of a beer is around 500 yen per glass, while the price of a highball is slightly cheaper at around 380 yen. Also, highball drinks are good matches for a variety of Japanese food. Actually, this is the third boom period for the highball, and some people actually order a highball because they are nostalgic about the first and the second boom periods.

However, the main reason that can be attributed to this boom is the power of advertisement. Manufacturers have succeeded in being creative about the commercials promoting these products. For example, they changed a part of the lyrics of the commercial for each of Japan’s 47 prefectures and used a top music group for the title song, etc. People talk about it whenever a new prefecturally adjusted commercial is
released.

But, a point to ponder on is why is it so easy for such booms to catch up in Japan? Is it because the Japanese in general tend to be good followers and hence it is easy to have people moving and acting in one direction? Is it because people fall prey to the antics of advertisers, while knowing that the advertisers are taking them for a ride? Whatever may be the case, the “cheers with highball” trend seems to have been a thriving one for a while now and is still going strong.