100 years into the future, a gift of excitement and smiles. "Serious Research" challenged by Asahi Beverages researchers.

The aspiration of Asahi Breweries' "100 YEARS GIFT" is alive in the words and actions of each employee, spreading throughout the daily research sites as a bright and open company culture. The initiative to pass on these values to the next generation is the "Science Castle Research Grant Asahi Breweries Award." In fiscal year 2026, the program will once again champion the themes of "Health," "Environment," and "Regional Co-creation," genuinely supporting middle and high school students' challenges.

100 YEARS GIFT creates its unique corporate culture and research environment.

Mitsuya Cider, Wilkinson, Calpis®. Asahi Beverage is the only beverage company in Japan with three well-known beverage brands that have been around for 100 years. The company, which has preserved valuable assets over a long period, delivers gifts for the future with the promise to society, "100 years of excitement and smiles," because they understand the beauty of doing so. This is symbolized by the phrase "100 YEARS GIFT." This was established with the desire not only to deliver the present but also to deliver the gift of excitement and smiles to people living 100 years in the future. When you visit Asahi Beverage's headquarters, you are greeted by smiling employees. An initiative that extends this company culture is the "Science Castle Research Grant - Asahi Beverage Award," which has been ongoing since 2019 in collaboration with Leave a Nest Co., Ltd. The passion for research, including that related to beverages, that emanates from all employees being conscious of these words is evident in every aspect of the mentoring for the Asahi Beverage Award. Each employee continues to ask themselves, "What are excitement and smiles for me?" and their passion for aiming for the same goal across departments becomes the driving force behind this research grant.

Researchers go to school. On-site, accompanied, research progresses.

The research themes for fiscal year 2026 will continue to be "research and development that creates future excitement and smiles, related to any of 'Health,' 'Environment,' or 'Community Co-creation.'" A significant feature of the Asahi Soft Drinks Award is not simply providing research funding, but actively supporting researchers in their endeavors. In addition to monthly online mentoring, advisors actually visit the selected schools, allowing them to collaborate on research design, condition setting, and data interpretation in the context of experimental environments and local fields. When students reflect on a month's worth of research and voice their worries or challenges, the researchers first acknowledge their efforts, then pose questions such as, "Why did you choose those conditions?" or "Can you think of alternative methods?" Sometimes, based on their own experiences, researchers will offer specific perspectives, such as, "If it were me, I would do it this way." This system is in place to allow junior and senior high school students to advance their research step-by-step in the field, while also experiencing the thinking processes of researchers.

Connections that spread both horizontally and vertically create the next challenge.

In its seventh year, the "Science Castle Research Grant Asahi Shuzo Award" has seen many junior and senior high school students take their first steps as researchers. Through the research grant, not only has a horizontal connection formed among the recipients of the same year, but a vertical connection has also begun to form between recipients across different years, leading to a senior-junior relationship. Fostering relationships that last beyond a single year, and passing on the ability to engage with society through research to the next generation. This is also one form of "100 YEARS GIFT" that Asahi Shuzo envisions. Asahi Shuzo views junior and senior high school students not as "people to be supported," butPartners who will build the future togetherWelcoming them, and driven by excitement and smiles, we will continue to generate challenges that lead to the next 100 years again this year. (Ayano Yoshikawa)