| Suntory SS tab top variations |
| While my primary focus is on California straight steel tab tops, I have always enjoyed the Suntory scene cans and decided to start a side collection. Since I also am interested in minor variations, the following are the factors I consider in Suntory variations. |
| Mark Benbow has additional bird details and pictures on his website http://www.rustycans.com/COM/month1010.htm. His site is a great read and my main reference when I started collecting Suntory cans. Mark has also published this information in the recent ABA magazine (March/April 2016). |
| #1 | Fresh or Not? | |
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| Some cans come with cursive "Fresh" and some do not have this statement. Theory is the cans with "Fresh" were intended for distribution in Japan (where beer would be the freshest closer to the brewery) and cans without were intended for exportation. Some designs come in both styles, with the "Fresh" variations usually tougher to aquire. | ||||
| #2 | Canning Code |  |
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| First thought was small canning code of "F" would indicate "Fresh" versus not, but the cans definitely don't follow that pattern. I have both "F" and "L" canning codes for most of the 12oz bird cans, and have seen the difference in the 16oz bird cans as well. I haven't seen enough of the train and other scene cans to verify those come in both variations as well. | ||||
| #3 | Seam Text |  |
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| The above two images are of the same bird design, #464, and have the same "L" canning code. However, to the right of the seam on can #1 there is much shorter text as compared to can #2. See the following section on translations of the Japanese characters. | ||||
| Translations to English |
| Well, I don't speak or read Japanese, but fortunately have some friends who do! While I received two minor differences in the translation (likely because there is no exact literal English translation of some characters) I think the following a fairly accurate translation. Commas are used to separate the translation of different sets of characters. |
 NET CONTENTS 350ml, Large, 464, BEER, SUNTORY LTD, 2chome Hama-dori, Dojima, Kitaku, Osaka-city |
 Put empty can to trash. Please do not throw from car window. |
 Please cooperate. Please put empty can to can trash or trash bin. |
 Have "Bird conservation" in human mind Good environment to foster bird love |
| From Mark Benbow's website he lists the following, and I believe this
to be the more intended translation of the campaign slogan: Keep a sanctuary for birds in your heart Create a good environment where our beloved birds spirit can grow |
| Additionally, the bird cans will have text for the type of bird, with the below image just a single example. Translation of all the bird names is listed with the following pictorials/details. |
 Redshank |
| Bird Conservation |
| As the above image with the blue/white tree and accompanying slogan indicates, Suntory is active in bird conservation. Their "Save the Birds!" campaign began May 1973, and Suntory is still active today. Some details of their campaign may be viewed from the Suntory brewery web site at: http://www.suntory.com/csr/environment/eco/birds/ |
| The Pictorials |
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Given the above variation criteria, the following are the examples I have
been able to document and have hosted at www.mbcinfo.com.
At present I have 46 cans in my Suntory collection, a full bird set in 12oz and
missing just one in the 16oz. I am working on the other 12oz scenes but these
are infrequently available and often at fairly crazy prices! For some of these
non-bird cans I have used EBay placeholder pictures until able to acquire and
photograph my own.
Please click on a given grouping image to view detailed information and all four sides of a given can. If you have an example not found on the below pictorial composite, please drop me an email with details, ideally photographs, and even better if the can is available for buy/trade. Thank you. |
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