is the 5th largest beer brewery

Brewery

A brewery is a dedicated building for the making of beer, though beer can be made at home, and has been for much of beer's history. A company which makes beer is called either a brewery or a brewing company....

 in Japan, headquartered in Urasoe

Urasoe, Okinawa

is a city located in Okinawa, Japan. The neighboring municipalities are Naha to the south, Ginowan to the north, and Nishihara to the east.Urasoe was the original capital of the Okinawan kingdom of Chūzan for several centuries until it was supplanted by Shuri in the late 14th or early 15th century...

, Okinawa Prefecture

Okinawa Prefecture

is one of Japan's southern prefectures. It consists of hundreds of the Ryukyu Islands in a chain over long, which extends southwest from Kyūshū to Taiwan. Okinawa's capital, Naha, is located in the southern part of Okinawa Island...

. The company commands approximately 1% of the Japanese beer market. However, it controls over 50% of the beer market on Okinawa.

Founded in 1957 in Nago, Okinawa

Nago, Okinawa

is a city located in the northern part of Okinawa Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 60,598 and the density of 288 persons per km². The total area is 210.30 km². The city was founded on August 1, 1970, and hosted the G-8 Summit in 2000.-...

 during the American occupation of Okinawa, Orion began making beer in 1959. Orion struggled to compete with the other major Japanese breweries, but after changing from a German-style beer to an American-style beer, it gained the top share in the Okinawan market. Since 2002, Orion has worked together with Asahi Breweries

Asahi Breweries

Asahi Breweries, Ltd. is a leading brewery and soft drink company based in Tokyo, Japan. The company has a 40% share of the Japanese beer market....

 to manufacture Asahi beers in Okinawa, in return for Asahi's assistance in selling Orion beer outside of Okinawa.

Orion Beer emphasises recycling all its waste, producing "zero elimination". For example, most bottles are tried to be recycled and plastic crates delivering bottles are melted down and re-cast as new crates.

Orion Beer has been featured in professional wrestling, as Okinawan wrestler Menso-re Oyaji

Menso-re oyaji

Menso-re Oyaji is a Japanese professional wrestler, currently performing for several Japanese independent promotions, most notably Okinawa Pro Wrestling, a promotion spun off of Osaka Pro Wrestling.-Professional wrestling career:...

regularly carries an Orion Beer can with him to the ring during his matches.