Tribute to Dr. Osvald on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary

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Nobuhisa Yamagishi, Managing Director of the Production and Technologz Department, Sapporo Breweries, Ltd.

We would like to send our kind congratulations to the memorial day on the occasion of the 100 th anniversary of dr. Osvalďs birthday, which is an extraordinarily important occasion for us too.

Dr. Osvald reached the quality stabilisation of the Czech hop by selective cultivating. Because of him, the hop of the Žatec region is nowadays regarded as the best aromatic hop all over the world. He gained recognition not only for Czech hop growing but also for the worlďs brewing industry.

Our company Sapporo Breweries appreciates the hop of the Žatec region as the most important ingredient for high quality beer production. The company is its traditional importer and thorough and ordinary processor. We produce two special kinds of beer, "Edelpils" and "Classic", by 100 percent usage of the hop of the Žatec region. Our customers like these kinds very much.

Two samurajs drinking beer, beginning of 20th century, Japan

However, it is not easy to maintain the high quality standards of the hop deliveries. In the 80's, there was a big problem because the hop of the Žatec region was attacked by viruses.

In 1998, Sapporo was officially asked by the then management of the co-operation Chmelařství to help with curing the hop of this problem. On March 15th 1998 an agreement about technological assistance was signed and since that time we have been pleased to provide this help in curing the hop. We are glad and proud to be allowed to take part in such an important project as this one for the hop of the Žatec region and to have already reached good results in this field.

It's generally known that the hop of the Žatec region is healed by liquidation of various viruses. Nevertheless, it is necessary to make a big effort to let it happen as much as possible and to keep the healthy state of the hop.

Our company Sapporo Breweries in co-operation with the Czech partners will provide maximal effort to keep the well-known name of the hop of the Žatec region, grown by dr. Osvald. We are expecting your support and understanding in this respect.

We kindly wish our co-operation to contribute to the development of the relationships between the Czech Republic and Japan.