Current:Home > StocksJapan launches a contest to urge young people to drink more alcohol -WealthMap Solutions
Japan launches a contest to urge young people to drink more alcohol
View
Date:2025-04-17 02:50:20
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.
Coronavirus restrictions have kept many people from visiting Japan's izakaya (pub) businesses, and people simply aren't drinking enough at home, the tax agency said.
"The domestic alcoholic beverage market is shrinking due to demographic changes such as the declining birthrate and aging population," as well as lifestyle shifts away from drinking, according to a website specially created for the contest.
New products that reflect the changing times; sales that use virtual "AI and Metaverse" concepts; promotions that leverage products' place of origin — those are just a few of the ideas the site lists as ways to get Japan's young adults to embrace alcohol.
Backlash hits the plan to boost alcohol businesses
The contest is aimed at "revitalizing the liquor industry and solving problems." But it has hit a sour note with many people online, prompting pointed questions about why a government that has previously encouraged people to drink responsibly or abstain is now asking for help in getting young people to drink more.
Writer and journalist Karyn Nishi highlighted the controversy, saying Japan was going in the opposite direction most modern governments are pursuing and stressing that alcohol is inherently dangerous. As discussions erupted about the contest on Twitter, one popular comment praised young people who aren't drinking, saying they believe the social costs imposed by alcohol aren't outweighed by tax revenues.
Critics also questioned the initiative's cost to taxpayers. The contest and website are being operated by Pasona Noentai, an agriculture and food-related arm of a massive Japanese corporation called Pasona Group.
The pro-drinking contest will run for months, ending this fall
The Sake Viva! contest is open to people from 20 to 39 years old, with submissions due on Sept. 9. An email to contest organizers seeking comment and details about the number of entries was not answered before this story published.
Pro-drinking contest submissions that make it to the final round will be judged in person in Tokyo on Nov. 10.
The date underlines the dichotomy many now see in the government's alcohol policies: When Japan enacted the Basic Act on Measures against Alcohol-related Harm, it established a week devoted to raising alcohol abuse awareness, with a start date of Nov. 10.
veryGood! (838)
Related
- Where will Elmo go? HBO moves away from 'Sesame Street'
- ESPYS 2023: See the Complete List of Nominees
- With a Warming Climate, Coastal Fog Around the World Is Declining
- 7.2-magnitude earthquake recorded in Alaska, triggering brief tsunami warning
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- Inside Clean Energy: A Steel Giant Joins a Growing List of Companies Aiming for Net-Zero by 2050
- Governor Roy Cooper Led North Carolina to Act on Climate Change. Will That Help Him Win a 2nd Term?
- California’s Relentless Droughts Strain Farming Towns
- Woman dies after Singapore family of 3 gets into accident in Taiwan
- Inside Clean Energy: In South Carolina, a Happy Compromise on Net Metering
Ranking
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- The U.S. needs more affordable housing — where to put it is a bigger battle
- DeSantis' campaign is brutally honest about trailing Trump in presidential race, donors say
- And Just Like That, the Secret to Sarah Jessica Parker's Glowy Skin Revealed
- North Carolina justices rule for restaurants in COVID
- How Kim Kardashian Really Feels About Hater Kourtney Kardashian Amid Feud
- Northwestern fires baseball coach amid misconduct allegations days after football coach dismissed over hazing scandal
- To Flee, or to Stay Until the End and Be Swallowed by the Sea
Recommendation
'Squid Game' without subtitles? Duolingo, Netflix encourage fans to learn Korean
Small Nuclear Reactors Would Provide Carbon-Free Energy, but Would They Be Safe?
Wisconsin boy killed in sawmill accident will help save his mother's life with organ donation, family says
Donald Trump’s Parting Gift to the People of St. Croix: The Reopening of One of America’s Largest Oil Refineries
Meet the volunteers risking their lives to deliver Christmas gifts to children in Haiti
The maker of Enfamil recalls 145,000 cans of infant formula over bacteria risks
The 'wackadoodle' foundation of Fox News' election-fraud claims
Inside Clean Energy: Illinois Faces (Another) Nuclear Power Standoff