Young people turning away from alcohol is generally welcomed as a positive trend. But it’s bad news both for booze companies, and governments that are watching lucrative alcohol tax revenues dry up along with the populace.
Japan’s National Tax Agency is clearly concerned: It’s taking an unorthodox approach to try to get young Japanese adults to drink more, in an online contest dubbed Sake Viva!
The project asks young people to submit business plans to lure a new generation into going on the sauce, saying Japan’s sake, beer and liquor makers are facing challenges that the pandemic has made even worse.
Contest runs against Japan’s non-drinking trend
Japan’s alcohol consumption has been in a downward arc since the 1990s, according to the country’s health ministry. In the past decade, the government adopted a sweeping plan to counter societal and health problems linked to alcohol, with a focus on reaching the relatively small portion of the population who were found to account for nearly 70% of Japan’s total alcohol consumption.
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