The Japanese government has finalized plans to promote alcoholic beverages, including the country’s traditional sake, as part of a comprehensive economic stimulus package.
It’s scheduled to be announced in mid-November, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Amid a global boom in Japanese cuisine, overseas demand for sake is rising. But at the same time, soaring prices for sake rice — a key ingredient — are putting pressure on regional breweries.
The upcoming measure seeks to stabilize operations and support the growth of the entire sake industry. Above all, however, the economic package is intended to help curb overall inflation.
Supporting Breweries and Regional Growth
To help breweries cope with rising sake rice prices, the government will support their cash flow, enabling them to pass on part of the higher costs without disrupting operations.
The plan also aims to harness the growth potential of regional areas. To achieve this, the government will work to ensure a stable supply of sake rice, preventing widespread procurement concerns across regions.
Atsushi Kitaoka, Chairman of the Nara Prefecture Sake Brewers Association (center), and others celebrate the registration of traditional sake brewing as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage at the Heijo Palace Museum.
Because sake rice has low yields and requires intensive cultivation, the plan calls for closer collaboration between breweries and local farmers through brewers’ associations.
Additionally, it will support the development of new, high-value products that emphasize Japan as the birthplace of sake rice.
Boosting Food Security and Global Promotion
These initiatives likewise strive to strengthen Japan’s food security. They will help mitigate the impact of high tariffs imposed by the Trump administration, while seeking to drive demand for the country’s national liquor.
This will be done by developing new overseas markets, expanding distribution channels, and promoting sake internationally.
Meanwhile, the latest package also seeks to strengthen the National Research Institute of Brewing, Japan’s only national institution specializing in alcoholic beverages, in Hiroshima Prefecture.
Among its various goals, the measure aims to address rising sake rice prices driven by climate-related heatwaves.
The institution originally operated under the Ministry of Finance, with its predecessor, the Brewing Research Institute, established in Tokyo in 1904. After World War II, oversight transferred to the National Tax Agency, and the institute moved to its current location in 1995.
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Author: Tomohiro Murakami, The Sankei Shimbun
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