May 14, 2026
A whisky saga with extra drama
The Founding Story Behind the House of Suntory
From tiny wine shop to whisky empire—and fans are obsessed with the scandalous ad era
TLDR: Shinjiro Torii built what became Suntory by remaking Western-style drinks to suit Japanese taste, turning early failures into the foundation of Japanese whisky. Online, readers are fixated on the wild 1922 nude wine ad, praising Torii’s bold marketing while joking he invented going viral before the internet.
The internet did what the internet always does: it turned a classy liquor history lesson into a full-on comment-section brawl over taste, marketing, and absolute audacity. At the center of it all is Shinjiro Torii, the Osaka shopkeeper who looked at imported booze in 1899 and basically said, “Nice, but make it work for Japan.” Commenters are calling him everything from a genius cultural translator to the original “localization king,” because instead of copying Western drinks, he softened flavors for Japanese customers and accidentally helped build a national drinks giant.
But let’s be honest: the biggest gasp in the room was the 1922 Akadama wine poster featuring actress Emiko Matsushima topless with a red glass in hand. Community reactions were split between “this was bold, clever advertising” and “wait, Japan’s first nude poster was for WINE?” A lot of people joked that Suntory basically invented shock marketing before social media existed, while others argued the ad was proof controversy has always sold. One running gag: that Torii was doing “viral marketing” decades before anyone had Wi‑Fi.
The whisky side sparked its own drama. Some commenters loved the story of early failure—especially 1929’s Shirofuda flop—because it showed Suntory learned that Japanese drinkers wanted something lighter, not a harsh Scotch copy. Others were stunned that the now-famous Yamazaki Distillery began as such a gamble. And yes, people were very amused by Uncle Torys, the smiling salaryman mascot, with several calling him the “original corporate meme guy.”
Key Points
- •Shinjiro Torii began the business in Osaka in 1899 and focused on adapting Western alcoholic drinks to Japanese tastes.
- •Akadama Port Wine, released in 1907, became an early flagship product and was promoted through a notable 1922 advertisement featuring Emiko Matsushima.
- •Torii founded Kotobukiya Limited in 1921 and established the Yamazaki Distillery in 1923 as Japan’s first and oldest whisky distillery.
- •Shirofuda, launched in 1929 as Japan’s first commercial whisky, failed commercially and led to a shift toward lighter flavor profiles for Japanese consumers.
- •Suntory’s later growth was driven by products such as Kakubin and Torys Whisky, plus extensive postwar marketing including more than 1,500 Torys Bars and the Uncle Torys mascot.