On 21 May 2024, Bohemia Hop, a.s. took part in a promotional event of Czech hops in Fokuoka, Kyushu, Japan, organized by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic and the Honorary Consulate of the Czech Republic with the support of Sapporo Brewery, EAT, Ohnishi Shoji and Godspeed Brewery, the aim of which was to present Czech hops to Japanese microbreweries.

This seminar followed similar events for Japanese craft breweries in 2019 (Tokyo), 2022 (Sakai) and 2023 (Sapporo). The purpose of this seminar is to introduce Japanese brewers to the Czech Republic, the Czech hop-growing industry and especially Czech hop varieties and their practical use in brewing beer.

The opening speech was given by Mr. Hidenobu Inamine, Honorary Consul in Naha, who welcomed all participants. The next in the line of speakers was Ms. Veronika Vanišová, an agricultural diplomat from the embassy in Tokyo, who introduced the Czech Republic, especially its agriculture and agrarian exports. She was followed by a lecture by Mr. Keitaro Sakurai from Sapporo Brewery with an attractive topic "On the attractiveness of Czech hops from the brewer's point of view." Mr. Sakurai mentioned the reasons why Sapporo Brewery has been using Czech hops in brewing its premium beers for many years. After a short break, the participants watched a video "Hop growing in the Czech Republic", after which the chairman of the cooperative Zdeněk Rosa took the floor and focused on the whole Czech hop growing industry. The following presentation by Mr. Luc Lafontaine (Godspeed Brewery) was very interesting for the audience, as he dealt with Czech hop varieties, their specificities and their proper use in the hop brewery.

The icing on the cake was the final tasting of Czech beers, moderated by Mr Rosa and interpreted by Mr Vladimír Hejduk, whose purpose was to show how the correct use of Czech hop varieties is reflected in the taste of the beer. Czech breweries in this tasting were represented by the Pilsner Urquell brewery, Pioneer brewery, Černá Hora brewery, Máša brewery, Sibeeria brewery and last but not least brewery Godspeed, Toronto with its delicious strong lager.

The final word by Ms. Eri Murato ended a pleasant afternoon, which was watched by about 50 representatives of Japanese breweries directly in the hall and several dozen more online at their monitors.