travelled to the Mongolian region of northern China (Inner Mongolia) in 1902, encountering a traditional cultured milk product known as airag (called kumis throughout most of Central Asia). The active ingredient in airag, responsible for its unique flavour, is lactic acid produced by lactobacilli bacteria. Mishima was inspired to develop his own version after the airag helped return his digestion to normal. His first attempt was Daigomi, launched in 1916. It was made by culturing cream with lactic acid bacteria. However, Daigomi was discontinued because of two major flaws: the amount of cream extracted from milk was inadequate for mass production, and there was a surplus of skim milk created as a by-product. Afterwards, Mishima created Daigoso by culturing skimmed milk with lactic acid bacteria. However, the product was also discontinued because of poor sales. His last unsuccessful attempt was Lacto Caramel, a product that contained live lactic acid bacteria. It was discontinued because the product melted during the summer. Mishima went back to further developing Daigoso and created Calpis by chance. One day, he decided to add sugar to Daigoso and left it overnight. After being satisfied with the taste, Calpis was officially released on July 7, 1919, at the price of ¥1.60 per bottle. Diluting Calpis with water proved to be economical, quickly garnering popularity with the people, along with the catchphrase "the taste of first love". For some time, Calpis had the image of being a special drink. Until the 1950s, it was often served to guests on special occasions or used as a gift. It was only around 1965 that it began to be treated as a normal beverage in ordinary households. Apart from the original flavour, orange-flavoured Calpis was released in 1958. Two years later, pineapple-flavoured and grape-flavoured Calpis were released. A carbonated version called Calpis Soda was also released in 1974. In 1973, sales plummeted after the price was raised. However, the prediluted version released in 1991 became a huge success. Within the first year of its release, 20.5 million cases of Calpis Water had been sold. It was also around this time that the company moved towards the use of paper and plastic containers. In 2009, marketers aimed to change the image of Calpis once more. They billed it as a healthy beverage in an attempt to shy away from the idea that Calpis was only for children. Following that change, Calpis shipments