Japan's bid to get young drink more alcohol meets online backlash
The brewers have struggled to avoid the decline in alcohol sales due to more health-conscious consumers. A decline in alcohol sales at restaurants and bars during COVID-19 pandemic has seen producers resort to promoting even lower-alcohol products.
FollowA campaign by Japan's tax agency to prop up alcohol revenue by encouraging young people to drink up has received severe backlash on social media, with users criticising the taxman for dictating people's lifestyle choices.Â
The National Tax Agency's "Sake Viva!" idea competition is seeking business plans from young people to help "revitalise" the nation's liquor industry, was launched in July and gained traction on Twitter this week after local and overseas media outlets reported the move.
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The brewers have struggled to avoid the decline in alcohol sales due to more health-conscious consumers. A decline in alcohol sales at restaurants and bars during COVID-19 pandemic has seen producers resort to promoting even lower-alcohol products.
The "Sake Viva" hashtag on Twitter was filled with negative responses. One Twitter user called the campaign "ridiculous," saying young people avoiding alcohol should be perceived as a good thing. This sentiment was followed by others, some users noting the campaign appeared to be at odds with health ministry guidance that encourages moderate drinking.
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According to tax agency data, Japan collected about 1.1 trillion yen ($8 billion) in tax from liquor sales in 2020, down 13% from 2016. The volume of alcohol taxed has steadily shrunk to 7.7 billion litres as of 2020, down nearly 10% from a decade ago.
Already saddled with the largest debt burden in the industrialised world, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government has been struggling to rein in spending while tending to the rising demands of an ageing population. Earlier this year, the government loosened its commitment to balance its budget by the end of fiscal 2025.
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The competition, which will take applications from anywhere in the world as long as they are in Japanese, closes on September 9. Finals are scheduled for November 10 in Tokyo. Participants are encouraged to suggest promotional methods targeting the young or tapping artificial intelligence and the metaverse to boost sales.
In a response to queries from Bloomberg, the National Tax Agency said that the campaign aims to promote the alcohol industry at a time when issues ranging from Covid to a shrinking population mean fewer young people are drinking. It's a business promotion to encourage growth and "in no way is it encouraging people to drink excessively," the agency said.
