Only four bottles of Asahi Super Dry beer remain on the shelves of Ben Thai, a small restaurant in Tokyo’s quiet Sengawacho suburb. Its owner, Sakaolath Sugizaki, says her supplier is struggling to restock, prioritizing deliveries to larger clients instead.
The shortage follows a major cyber attack that forced Asahi Group Holdings, Japan’s largest beer producer, to halt production at most of its 30 domestic factories late last month. Though all six of Asahi’s alcohol factories nationwide and some of its soft drinks and food plants have now resumed operations, it remains unclear when production and shipment will return to full service.
The disruption has drastically slowed deliveries and caused supply shortages across Japan, with the company forced to process orders manually using pen, paper, and fax machines.
Asahi controls a significant portion of Japan’s beer market, so the production halt has rippled through bars, restaurants, and retailers. Convenience stores reported shortages of the popular beer and other Asahi products, while smaller outlets struggle to keep up with customer demand.
Liquor store owner Hisako Arisawa says she now receives only a few bottles of Super Dry at a time and fears the shortages could last another month. The supply crunch extends beyond beer to Asahi’s soft drinks, including soda water and ginger beer.
Several major shops in Japan including 7-Eleven and FamilyMart had warned last week that they were running low on stocks of the beer after the hack affected operations. FamilyMart said its bottled teas made by Asahi would be in short supply or out of stock, while 7-Eleven suspended shipments of Asahi products altogether. Lawson also expects continued shortages.
Wholesalers say shipments have resumed at only 10 to 20 percent of normal levels, with all orders now written by hand and processed via fax, a sharp contrast to Japan’s reputation for technological efficiency.
A cohort of Russian-speaking hackers known as Qilin has claimed responsibility for a ransomware attack that hobbled the company’s operations for more than a week. The hackers claim the theft of 27 gigabytes of data, including contracts, employee information, and financial documents.
Information suspected to have been leaked through the hack has been found on the internet, Asahi said in a statement on Wednesday, though the company did not name Qilin. The scope of the leak remains under investigation.
While Asahi’s European brands, including Peroni, Pilsner Urquell and Grolsch remain unaffected, the incident highlights rising concerns about cybersecurity weaknesses among Japanese corporations.
Japan has faced a string of cyber attacks in recent years. A ransomware incident in 2024 crippled operations at the Nagoya container terminal for three days, and Japan Airlines suffered flight delays and cancellations after being hacked last December.
Experts warn that Japan’s vulnerabilities stem from a lack of skilled tech workers and low digital literacy rates among sections of its rapidly aging population. A 2023 study by US based internet security organization ISC2 found the supply and demand gap of cybersecurity talents rapidly widening.
“Japan was slower to the game than the rest of the world,” said Cartan McLaughlin, CEO of Tokyo based cybersecurity firm Nihon Cyber Defense. “You can buy all the cyber technology in the world. But if it’s not implemented and managed properly, then there’s no point in buying it.”
According to the National Police Agency, there were 116 reported ransomware cases in the first half of 2025, though McLaughlin told CNN the real number is likely “ten times” higher, given that many organizations may be less inclined to report the incidents.
In response to growing concerns, Japan passed a sweeping new cybersecurity law in May, granting the government more power to defend the country and its businesses against cyber threats. In July, the National Cybersecurity Office was established to oversee the country’s cyber defense strategy.
The government has launched an investigation into the Asahi breach. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said the government will work to strengthen cybersecurity measures across Japan in response to Asahi’s attack, warning that “system failures caused by cyberattacks could jeopardize national and public safety.”
For small business owners like Sakaolath, however, new laws offer little comfort. “I just hope I can get more Super Dry soon,” she said. “My customers keep asking for it, but right now there’s not much I can do.”
Tokyo housewife Shoko Watanabe, 58, expressed concern: “Asahi Super Dry is a top selling beer in Japan, so it would be sad if it disappeared from stores. I just hope people don’t start hoarding it. I never imagined a major Japanese corporation could be so easily and severely impacted by this kind of cyberattack.”
Asahi has apologized for the disruption but has not provided a timeline for full recovery, leaving Japan’s favorite beer in short supply and its brewers facing the costly fallout of a digital breakdown.
Source: newsghana.com.gh
