[citation needed] The founder of Calpis, Kaiun Mishima [ja], travelled to Inner Mongolia in 1902, encountering a traditional cultured milk product known as airag (called kumis throughout most of Central Asia).

[3] Diluting Calpis with water proved to be economical, quickly garnering popularity with customers, along with the catchphrase "the taste of first love".

[6] The first two iterations of what would become Calpis, Daigomi and Daigoso, were named after daigo (醍醐), the Japanese word for sarpir-maṇḍa, regarded as the greatest of all flavours in Buddhism.

Mishima wanted to do the same for Calpis and initially named it Calpir, a portmanteau of cal from calcium and pir from sarpir-maṇḍa.

However, after consulting musician Kōsaku Yamada and Buddhist priest Kaigyoku Watanabe, Mishima chose pis from the Sanskrit sarpiṣ instead.

[6] Primarily in North America, the name Calpico is used in place of Calpis to avoid associations with "piss", an English slang word for urine (though the "カルピス" in katakana remains on the packaging).

The contest was held to provide aid to struggling European painters due to inflation caused by World War I.