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It was Day 2 of the Great Japan Beer Festival. I was there with a team from Montreal’s Mondial de la biere Festival, whose mission it was to recruit Japanese beer and brewers for next year’s fest.

Held at Osanbashi Hall in Yokohama’s International shipping terminal (a nice venue on the water if a little cramped), the event is one of three legs of the GJBF — the others are held in Tokyo in early May and in Osaka in early June. It featured 73 breweries pouring 216 beers, for a $40 entry fee. About 25 percent of the beers were poured by volunteers with the Japan Craft Brewing Association; the remainder were staffed by the breweries themselves.

The fests (and the Association) are the brainchild of Ryouji Oda, who launched them 10 years ago with the Great American Beer Fest as his model, including a judging event. Unlike GABF, however, Mr. Oda’s event are not non-profit.

In 1998, Japanese craft brewing was at its zenith with over 300 microbreweries having opened since deregulation in 1994. However, the initial corporate fervor of diversification into microbrewing wore off and many of the German and American brewers who had come to help launch craft brewing returned home. Today, the number of micro/craft breweries in operation has dwindled closer to 200, but now it seems a second wave of brewer enthusiasts have taken the reins, more in line with the American craft brewing model, and with styles to match.

Overall, we had been satisfied with the results of the first day, although some long lines and lack of English signage had led to some pretty random sampling. The procurement of an English translation to the beer line-up – thanks to American-in-residence Glenn Scoggins – proved a great help and I was preparing for a more organized attack on Day 2.

The longest lines seemed to belong to local favorite, Fujizakura Heights. Brewer Hiromichi Miyashita was hard pressed to keep up with demand for his quality German-style beers, particularly the Rauch/Hefeweizen he had brewed for the fest. We had visited Hiromichi-San a couple of days previously at his brewery/brewpub nestled at the base of Mt. Fuji, which unfortunately remained obscured by clouds. One of Japan’s first-wave of microbreweries, Fujizakura invested in German equipment and German brewing knowhow. We tasted Rauch beer worthy of Bamberg and specialties such as weizen bock, chocolate weizen and dopplebock. Consistent award-winners, his superb hefeweizen took silver at this year’s World Beer Cup.

Next to Fuji was another new friend, Eigo Sato of Chiga-Kogen Highland Ales. We had visited him at his family owned brewery in Chiga-Kogen at the base of the "Japanese Alps" (where monkeys frequent the outdoor hot springs), near Nogano, home of the 1998 Winter Olympics Four years ago, after 20 years in the world of investment banking, he returned to the family sake business (he represents the eighth generation) to add a beer brewery. Production is small, on a 10-bbl. Canadian Specific system purchased from a belly-up Japanese concern – but the beers are solid and American influenced. Pale ale, IPA, golden ale brewed with sake yeast, porter, a worthy double IPA — even a one-off imperial stout brewed for a 60-year-old employee who has worked with the family for half his life. But, at the fest Sato-San poured a fresh hop IPA, with Centennial hops picked from hop vines he planted last year. Also located in Nogano prefecture, is Yo-Ho Brewing. Spearheaded by Ishii Toshi, Yo-Ho would be termed a regional craft brewery in the US with production of 130,000 barrels annually, along the lines of a Harpoon or a Stone. Indeed Ishii did brew at Stone for a while. Ishii is a big proponent of Real Ale. He sent his cask-conditioned beers to the Great British Beer Festival in London this year and has a number of hand-pump dispensed accounts in Tokyo. His Real Ale, most notably Tokyo Black, a rich, roasty porter, and Yona Yona, a hoppy pale ale, are conditioned at the brewery.

We were joined today by Akio Terasaki and Shinsuke Yoshida, whose Tokyo bar, Usha Tora (Tiger and Ox, named after the owners’ birth years) is emblematic of the current beer scene – 20 taps pouring West Coast American alongside Japanese craft, including three hand pumps.

Other highlights included (to name just a few) Sankt Gallen, one of Japan’s new-wave breweries, with youthful ownership and styles that would be at home on the U.S. craft beer scene, featuring an aromatically hoppy and full-bodied XPA, three different stouts including Imperial Chocolate as well as a classy barleywine, El Diablo; Minoh, with beers brewed by Kaori Ohshita, one of Japan’s few women brewers – Double IPA, Coffee Stout and a tart strawberry beer named Ichigo Ichia (translated roughly as Be Here Now); Baird’s Brewing (porter and wheat beer) founded by American Bryan Baird brewed by Molly Browning, who return stateside is imminent after a 3-year stint in Japan); and the spectacularly delicious 7% ginger ale from Hitachino Nest, Japan’s best known craft export.

Halfway through the session brewing awards were handed out. Everyone was beaming. Craft beer was doing its job. I ran into a couple more ex-pats, Brian Harrell who writes a beer column for a food magazine (www.bento.com/brews.html) and is working on an English language guide to Japanese breweries; Scott Brimmer, brewer at Gotenba Kohgen, formerly of Sierra Nevada; and Andrew Balmuth, who’s company, Nagano Trading, imports of Stone and Green Flash and wants to export more Japanese craft beer to the states. He was talking about repairing to Crash Zone, a new bar in Yokohama, but I was fearful of a late return to Tokyo.

We took our leave as the sun was setting and students waved farewell from the decks of the Peace Boat as it prepared to set forth on its 3-month ambassadorial mission.