By Ben Brown -- How Japanese tax law affects brewers’ barley ratios -- Examine the cooler shelves in the liquor section of any grocery or convenience store and you’ll see what appears, at first glance, to be a vast selection of different beers. A closer look narrows these down mostly to offerings from Japan’s major brewers (Suntory, Kirin, Sapporo, and Asahi), with lip-service given to imports (Guinness, Heineken, etc.) on the end of the row in most supermarkets. The apparent variety can be overwhelming, so take a look at the next thing to catch consumers’ eyes once they’ve looked past the colorful packaging— the price tags.