The Japanese government launched the campaign Sake viva! This is a contest to collect the best business ideas aimed at promoting alcohol consumption among young people.
The idea, according to the EFE agency, is “to revitalize the alcoholic beverage industry and solve its problems.” Among the main obstacles to alcohol consumption is the low birth rate in the country, poor knowledge of the population about drinks and the COVID-19 pandemic.
But although the World Health Organization could celebrate low alcohol consumption among the population of any country, the truth is that the reason for encouraging it in Japan is purely economic.
The Tax Agency of the Japanese country, the equivalent of the SAT in Mexico, seeks with this campaign that there are more consumers, especially in bars and restaurants. This would encourage the restaurant industry and encourage greater tax collection in this way.
Criticism, however, was made, but the agency replied that it is not looking for “excessive consumption of alcohol”, but is also working to “educate young people for moderate consumption”.
Alcohol tax collection in Japan fell in fiscal year 2020 by 110 billion yen (799 million euros) to 1.13 trillion yen (8,216 million euros), which represents the largest drop in 31 years, according to data from the Tax Agency, points out EFE.
In 2020, the average expenditure on alcohol consumption in Japan, in bars and restaurants, was around 9,000 yen or 1,320 pesos a year, less than half of what was recorded in 2019.
In contrast, the average expenditure of each Japanese household on alcoholic beverages rose from 41,000 yen (6,054 pesos) in 2019 to 46,000 yen (6,785 pesos) in 2020.
The Tax Agency’s campaign invites people to submit ideas to promote new services and methods to stimulate alcohol consumption among young people, propose products based on new lifestyles and establish innovative distribution methods based on artificial intelligence or the metaverse, EFE indicated.
With information from EFE.
