I'm guilty of manipulation.Let's go back. Waaaaaaaaay back. Years and years ago.No, lets go back even further, back to my childhood.My mother (bless her heart) worked part-time when we were children at a local A&W restaurant. This meant working evenings, going from car to car, bringing food to the cars and picking up trays after people had left. If you don't know, in the day, A&W served root beer in frosted GLASS mugs. Carrying a tray of food with those mugs required some pretty decent muscles and skill.One of the benefits (I'm guessing) for my mother working there was that she could take home a quart/litre of root beer each night, plus often a sandwich or two. Thus, I grew up drinking root beer from a very early age. Aaaaah, those were the days. Mother's milk it was, in a different sense.While growing up in Canada, I never gave root beer much thought, as it was always available. Sometimes I would drink it, sometimes not.When I came to Japan, I found that root beer is not only usually not available, but it is disliked by most people here in Japan. Why? How? What???Finding root beer in Japan, is like finding some specialty ethnic food in your home country. It can usually be found, but it is difficult to get, and often it's pricey. Over the years I've been able to find sources that sell root beer regularly. Also, I must also admit that the price has come down in recent years, thankfully.Why don't people like root beer over here? It has to do with visits to the local doctor over here. At some doctors, when you suffer from some non-serious maladies, you may be offered the choice of medicines of a more herbal nature, rather than something chemically produced. These might be translated as 'Chinese medicines', perhaps because the ingredients sourced to make the medicine come from China and are herbal based.These medicines are sometimes to be mixed with hot water and then drank. The taste often has a slight root beer flavor to it, and this is perhaps the source for many people here of the root beer taste. Yes, it is not the same, but it is similar (coincidentally, I find the taste of that medicine to be pretty good, though it is always consumed warm, and it lacks sweetness and bubbles).Baby steps. Yes, baby steps. This is what I've taken for many years now, slowly building the joy of the root beer taste for my children. I started with small sips, then more, and now I have them hooked. Today, when we opened the can (yes, only 1 can; A&W, if you're reading this, I would be happy, nay, overjoyed if you would send us free root beer) at lunch and shared it. I let my daughter drink most of it. Evil, I know, but as a root beer user myself, I am trying to build other followers. One person at a time.Today, my children. Tomorrow, my grandchildren. And so on. It will take me many years, yes, but I will persuade others. Look ahead to Japan 2050, when the number one soft drink in Japan will be root beer. And people will ask how did this happen? You'll know.