| December 4 1934 |
Showa Brewery established in Tokyo |
| April 1935 |
Alcohol production begins at newly completed Kawasaki plant |
| September 1937 |
Begins production of Sanraku synthetic sake |
 |
 |
Chuji Suzuki.
Company founder. |
Poster of Sanraku synthetic
sake in 1937. |
| March 1946 |
Shochu production begins at Yatsushiro plant; launch of Sanraku shochu |
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| View of Yatsushiro plant in 1949 |
Mercian wine in 1940's |
| March 1957 |
Begins production of feedstuffs |
| May 1961 |
Showa Brewery acquires Nisshin Brewery and adopts the Mercian brand |
| July 1962 |
Showa Brewery acquires Ocean Co. and the Ocean brand and changes name to Sanraku Ocean |
| January 1966 |
Begins production of the agricultural antibiotic Kasugamycin |
| September 1969 |
Begins production of the medical antibiotic Josamycin |
| March 1970 |
Château Mercian launched |
| November 1972 |
Completes an import and distribution agreement for Tio Pepe brand sherry with Gonzalez Byass S.A. of Spain |
| May 1973 |
Receives dealership in Japan from Gustav Adolf Schmitt'sche Weinlellerei in Germany |
| September 1973 |
Japan's oldest surviving wooden brewery, at Katsunuma in Yamanashi, is refurbished and reopened as the Wine Museum |
| October 1973 |
Receives dealership of Hungarian Tokaj Wine in Japan |
| October 1974 |
Bigins "Harvest Festival" at Château Mercian |
| May 1976 |
Begins sales of Mercian Blanc de Blanc Katsunuma |
| July 1976 |
Begins sales of the first single malts whisky Ocean Karuizawa |
| February 1978 |
Importing and retail agreement with Spanish winemaker Codorniu for Codorniu sparkling wine |
| October 1979 |
Begins sales of Château Mercian Koshu Toriibira |
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| Château Mercian Wine Museum |
| December 1981 |
Begins marketing of the anti-cancer agent Aclacinon inj. |
| February 1982 |
Acquires distributorship for Japan of the wines produced by Maison Albert Bichot, S.A. of France |
| April 1985 |
Sanraku Ocean changes name to Sanraku |
| June 1985 |
Begins sales of Mercian Koshu Sur Lie |
| October 1987 |
Sanraku acquires Markham Vineyards winery in United States |
| June 1988 |
Begins sales of the anti-cancer agent Pinorubin inj. |
| July 1988 |
Completes an agreement for the import and distribution of the French champagnes produced by Champagne Pommery |
| September 1988 |
Sanraku acquires Château Reysson winery in the Bordeaux region of France |
| June 1989 |
Launch of Château Mercian Shinshu Kikyogahara Merlot |
| November 1989 |
Begins sales of veterinary antibiotic Aivlosin |
| December 1989 |
Contract of import and distribution with seven Italian wineries |
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| Château Mercian |
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| July 1990 |
Begins sales of Chinese Shaoxing wine Gu Yue Long Shan
Establishes a joint venture company, Shenzhen Main Luck Pharmaceuticals Inc., with Shenzen Pharmaceutical Factory and Main Life Corp., to produce and market anti-cancer drugs for the Chinese market |
| September 1990 |
Sanraku changes name to Mercian |
| October 1991 |
Begins sales of Shochu Hakusui |
| February 1993 |
Mercian begins importing and retailing of Concha y Toro wines from Chile |
| June 1994 |
Launch of “Mercian Bon Marche”, the first domestically produced full-bottle ¥500 winee |
| October 1994 |
Begins sales of Château Mercian Jyonohira Cabernet Sauvignon |
| July 1995 |
Mercian Karuizawa Museum of Art opens |
| October 1995 |
Launch of “Mercian Bistro” |
| October 1996 |
Launch of Mercian “Bon Rouge“ |
| November 1996 |
Begins import and distribution of wines produced by Trapiche of Argentine
Château Mercian obtains ISO9002 certification |
| December 1996 |
Opens Mercian Web Site |
| May 1997 |
Begins sales of Shochu Hakusui, series of brand-name rice |
| June 1997 |
Château Mercian Jyonohira Cabernet Sauvignon '90 wins the gold prize at International Wine Challenge in Bordeaux, France |
| September 1998 |
Mercian begins importing and retailing of Robert Mondavi wines from the United States |
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| Mercian Karuizawa Museum of Art |
|
| January 2001 |
Begins import and distribution of several Piat d'Or wines from Piat Pere et Fils of France |
| April 2001 |
Begins sales of imported Dourthe Wines from major Bordeaux negotiant (wine merchant) Compagnie des Vins de Bordeaux et de la Gironde (CVBG) |
| March 2003 |
Launch of “Oishii-sankaboshizai-mutenka wine”, a delicious and additive-free wine high in antioxidants |
| June 2003 |
Mercian commences growing grapes in-house at Mariko Vineyard |
| October 2003 |
Begins sales of Château Mercian Koshu Girs de Gris |
| February 2005 |
Acquires capital in Nippon Liquor Ltd., |
| March 2005 |
Launch of Château Mercian Koshu Kiiroka |
| August 2005 |
Revamps Eaglehawk Australian wines, introducing a screw cap |
| February 2006 |
Begins sales of natural cosmetics Vinage Natural |
| March 2006 |
Mercian acquires 51% of Nippon Liquor |
| August 2006 |
Completes construction of Nikko plant, which becomes a production base for the processing liquors business |
| September 2006 |
Completes Yatsushiro Shiranuigura facilities for the production of otsuru shochu at the Yatsushiro plant |
| November 2006 |
Mercian signs business tie-up agreement with Kirin Brewery for alcoholic beverage operations |
| February 2007 |
Revamps Sunrise Chilean wine, introducing a screw cap |
| May 2007 |
Begins sales of Nihon no Awa |
| July 2007 |
Mercian becomes an operating company under Kirin Holdings |
| March 2008 |
Mercian Fujisawa plant commences bottling of Californian wine “Franzia” |
| September 2009 |
ISO 9001 acquired company-wide |
| December 2010 |
Mercian becomes a fully-owned subsidiary of Kirin Holdings |
| March 2011 |
Launch of “St Hallett Tatiara”, jointly developed with Lion |
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