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Drink More Alcohol, Japan Tells Young People


Not a single Japanese alcohol producer has signed on to the initiative. But the bar owners praised it.

In Ginza, one of Tokyo’s popular nightlife districts, pubs are still dimly lit and mostly quiet on Thursday nights. “I hope this brings Ginza back to life,” said Kenta Kobayashi, 34, a bartender who has seen sales plummet since the pandemic began.

On average, people in Japan drink about 20 gallons of alcohol in 2020, down from 26 gallons in 1995, according to government data. The drop has hit a lucrative tax revenue stream: Alcoholics accounted for 1.7% of Japan’s tax revenue (about $8 billion) in 2020, down from 3% in 2011 and 5% in 1980. .

In the United States, state and local governments collected $7.7 billion in alcohol taxes, or 0.2 percent of overall sales, in 2019, according to Urban Institute.

According to the Japanese tax agency’s contest, entrants can suggest new products and designs aimed at young people, even sales techniques related to artificial intelligence or reverse. As long as the entries are written in Japanese, they can come from anywhere. The winning entry will be commercialized.

Contest organizers say excessive drinking is not the goal, adding that people should only drink “appropriate amounts” and take “conventional” measures to combat the spread of the virus. “We have no way of promoting excessive drinking among young people,” said Ryo Tsukamoto, a spokesman for the agency’s alcohol tax division.

But critics worry about unintended consequences. Hidetomi Tanaka, an economist, called the effort an “irresponsible and unorthodox drinking campaign”. According to research by the Japanese Ministry of Health, about one million Japanese people suffer from alcoholism, while another 9.8 million are likely to be addicted.



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