Former Station Staff Run Craft Beer Brewery in Tokyo, Hoping to Revitalize Communities Along Chuo Line

By Kazuaki Ishii and Yoshinobu Goto / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers

14:30 JST, October 19, 2025

Aiming to revitalize local communities along the Chuo Line, an East Japan Railway (JR East) group firm-operated brewery is offering craft beer under the railway’s elevated tracks in Koganei, Tokyo.

The firm, JR Chuo Line Community Design Co., plans to sell beers made with hops grown in spots such as station premises and on the rooftop of a commercial facility, at the brewery, Chuo Line Beer Works.

No prior experience

Based in Koganei, the firm participated in the Chuo Line Beer Festival held beside Musashi-Sakai Station in 2018. Through such efforts, the firm has attempted to revitalize areas along the train line and encourage community interaction through beers.

Starting in fiscal 2023, the firm began planning to open a craft beer brewing business, a first for the JR East group. Seeking brewers from among the employees, two people stepped up to the challenge: Miyuri Kimura, 29, and Tomoki Hirano, 27. The two used to be station staff at Musashi-Sakai Station on the Chuo Line and Inaginaganuma Station on the Nambu Line, respectively.

They had no experience in brewing beer but began learning the basics in September last year. From October last year, they started studying proper techniques in earnest for three months at a craft beer brewery in Nobeoka, Miyazaki Prefecture.

“It was tough for me to understand everything from malt blending, adjusting the bitterness and alcohol content because they all involve mathematical formulas and science,” Hirano recalled.

After that, they separately visited a small brewery in Saitama Prefecture and a brewery run by a woman in Tokyo two to three times a week.

Through training at the distinctive breweries, they broadened their skills and knowledge and repeatedly refined their own beer recipes.

Praised at festival

In late July this year, the pair brewed their first batch and made three original beers.

Among them, the Golden Ale beer is characterized by a rich malt aroma and a refreshing taste.

“The beer’s name comes from the Chinese character meaning gold in Koganei, where our brewery is located,” Kimura said. “It expresses our hope that the beer can be a source of pride among the city residents,” she added.

Starting in late August, the firm began selling their beers at Chuo Line Beer Works. On Sept. 6 and 7, the firm oversaw a stall at the Koganei Beer Festival near Musashi-Sakai Station and sold about 2,200 cups of the beers.

“Though I was initially anxious, many people told me the beers were tasty,” Hirano said. “I want to continue producing beers that the residents love.”

Growing hops at stations

Since 2021, the firm has used Musashi-Sakai Station to grow the hops used to brew their beer. Currently, other station clerks grow hops at 15 locations including several stations on the Chuo and Nambu lines and the rooftop of a commercial facility. Last year, a total of 4.6 kilograms of hops were harvested.

Until recently, the harvested hops had been entrusted to another brewery that produced beer under the brand “Poppoya Ale.”

The firm aims to inherit the recipe and brew its own beer brand at Chuo Line Beer Works.

In Higashi-Koganei Station, seven station attendants take care of the hops planted along a boardwalk daily by watering them and removing weeds.

“Sometimes residents have come to chat with us, saying, ‘Oh, they’ve really grown,’” said station employee Ayumi Uehara, 22. “I hope to be a part of fostering local culture through the beers.”