Original 1970 advertisement for Suntory Whiskey - "Only One of the World's Largest Distillers Could Afford to Make their Aging Barrells of Imported American White Oak"
Suntory Holdings Limited (サントリーホールディングス株式会社, Santorī Hōrudingusu Kabushiki-gaisha) (commonly referred to as simply Suntory) is a Japanese multinational brewing and distilling company group. Established in 1899, it is one of the oldest companies in the distribution of alcoholic beverages in Japan, and a famed maker of Japanese whiskey.
In 1963, Kotobukiya changed its name to "Suntory," taken from the name of the whisky it produces, which itself was derived from the English "Sun" (referencing "akadama") + Tory, the anglicized version of Torii's name. In the same year, Musashino Beer Factory began its production of Suntory Beer.
Headquartered in Osaka, Japan, Suntory’s business has expanded to other fields, and the company now makes soft drinks and operates sandwich chains in addition to alcohol. With its 2014 acquisition of Beam, Inc – yes, that Jim Beam - Suntory has diversified internationally and become the third largest maker of distilled beverages in the world.
Suntory was one of the first East Asian companies to specifically employ American celebrities to market their product. One of the most notable being Sammy Davis, Jr, who appeared in a series of Suntory commercials in the early 1970s.
In the late 1970s, Akira Kurosawa directed a series of commercials featuring American celebrities on the set of his film Kagemusha - one of these featured Francis Ford Coppola (an executive producer of the film), which later inspired his daughter Sofia in her writing of “Lost in Translation” (2003), a film which focuses on an American actor (played by Bill Murray) filming a Suntory commercial in Tokyo for the Hibiki whisky with the tagline, “For relaxing times, make it Suntory time."
One long-time fan of Suntory, aside from the Coppola family? John Wick himself, per Rolling Stone magazine:
"This spring, the House of Suntory celebrates its 100th anniversary with the release of two ultra rare Japanese whiskies: Yamazaki 18 Year Old Mizunara and Hakushu 18 Year Old Peated Malt. The former is set to retail at $1500 a bottle, the latter for $1200."
"But given the astronomical popularity of these particular distilleries in recent years, you’d be fortunate to find them on shelves for double those suggested costs. It’s quite the contrast from where the liquid was at in, say, the early 1990s. That’s when newly-minted superstar Keanu Reeves—fresh off the international success of Point Break - first started doing ads for the brand. You can be forgiven if you missed them since they primarily aired in Japan. Around that same time, Suntory couldn’t even give its liquid away back here in the States."
"Reeves, for his part, was a true believer. And now he’s being rewarded for his early adopter status. In advance of its centennial, Suntory tapped the John Wick star, inviting him to Japan to visit the Yamazaki and Hakushu distilleries. There he was met by chief blender Shinji Fukuyo, who took hum under his wing, exposing him to precious stocks of liquid and walking him through one hundred years of history - one bottle at at time."
"Some of this journey will soon be revealed in an upcoming docu-series directed by Roman Coppola. In the meantime, Reeves is already the lead in a short film paying tribute to the brand that birthed the Japanese whisky category 100 years ago. It’s directed by Coppola’s Academy Award-winning sister, Sofia."
Dimensions: 10.25 inches wide by 13 inches high