Japan's leading breweries are racing to increase beer production, in anticipation of a rise in demand this summer. Domestic beers are selling well, especially at restaurants and bars. Sapporo Breweries plans to boost its year-on-year production for July by about 10 percent, at factories in Chiba and other regions. Suntory Holdings will also increase its production volume next month by 15 percent. 

Japanese drinks giant Asahi has decided to put its thousands of vending machines to better use by turning them into Wi-Fi hotspots, a move which should prove popular in a country where such hotspots are few and far between. In a country where vending machines can be found not only on every street corner, but in between every street corner, across from every street corner and beside every street corner, the idea of turning them into Wi-Fi hotspots is a stroke of genius.