| December 4 1934 |
Showa Brewery established in Tokyo |
| April 1935 |
Alcohol production begins at newly completed Kawasaki plant |
| March 1946 |
Shochu production begins at Yatsushiro plant; launch of Sanraku shochu |
| October 1950 |
Sale of base alcohol begins |
| 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 |
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Poster of Sanraku synthetic sake in 1937. |
View of Yatsushiro plant in 1949 |
| March 1970 |
Château Mercian launched |
| September 1974 |
Japan's oldest surviving wooden brewery, at Katsunuma in Yamanashi,
is refurbished and reopened as the Wine Museum |
| February 1978 |
Importing and retail agreement with Spanish winemaker Codorniu for Codorniu sparkling wine |
| April 1985 |
Sanraku Ocean changes name to Sanraku |
| October 1987 |
Sanraku acquires Markham Vineyards winery in United States |
| September 1988 |
Sanraku acquires Château Reysson winery in the Bordeaux region of France |
| June 1989 |
Launch of “Château Mercian Shinshu Kikyogahara Merlot” |
|
Mercian wine at time of launch |
Château Mercian |
| September 1990 |
Sanraku changes name to Mercian |
| October 1991 |
Sales of Hakusui shochu commenced |
| 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 wine |
| October 1995 |
Launch of “Mercian Bistro” and Plum Liquor packs |
| October 1996 |
Launch of “Mercian Bon Rouge” |
| May 1997 |
Launch of Hakusui premium rice shochu series |
| December 1997 |
ISO 9002 accreditation obtained at all plants |
| September 1998 |
Mercian begins importing and retailing of Robert Mondavi wines from the United States |
| July 1999 |
Launch of Raku shochu distilled with bincho charcoal |
| March 2003 |
Launch of “Oishii-sankaboshizai-mutenka wine”,a delicious and additive-free wine high in antioxidants |
| April 2003 |
Launch of Pokara sweet potato shochu |
| June 2003 |
Mercian commences growing grapes in-house at Mariko Vineyard |
| March 2005 |
Launch of “Château Mercian Koshu Kiiroka” |
| August 2005 |
Launch of Sanraku Hinomugi shochu |
| March 2006 |
Launch of Kurogoho black sesame shochu, Nippon Liquor Ltd. becomes a consolidated subsidiary |
| September 2006 |
Completion of Yatsushiro Shiranuigura otsurui manufacturing facility |
| November 2006 |
Mercian signs business tie-up agreement with Kirin Brewery for alcoholic beverage operations |
| 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 |
|
Mariko Vineyard |
| July 2010 |
Daiichi Alcohol Co., Ltd. established |
| December 2010 |
Mercian becomes a fully-owned subsidiary of Kirin Holdings |
| June 2011 |
Launch of “Château Mercian Ensemble Aiakane (red), Moegi (white)” |
| March 2011 |
Launch of “St Hallett Tatiara”, jointly developed with Lion |
| March 2012 |
Launch of “Mercian every” |
| January 2013 |
Mercian becomes a subsidiary of a domestic integrated beverage company called “Kirin Company, Limited.” |
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