A billboard for Asahi Super Dry beer in Tokyo, on October 3, 2025. Soichiro Koriyama/Bloomberg/Getty Images Hong Kong/Tokyo —
Japan’s favorite beer brand is reeling from a cyberattack that paralyzed its production last week. Its factories have started brewing again, and some truckloads of beer are leaving its warehouses, but the attack has spotlighted the poor cybersecurity readiness among top-tier companies in the world’s fifth-largest economy.
Beer and beverage giant Asahi – which makes Asahi Super Dry Beer, Nikka Whisky and owns foreign brands like Peroni, Pilsner Urquell and Grolsch – said the attack last week halted order placement and shipping operations and forced it to shut down production at most of its 30 factories nationwide. That led to shortages of the popular beer