Japan Launches Nationwide Campaign To Get Young People To Drink More Alcohol (Yes, You Read It Right)

After a slide in tax revenues, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida-led Japanese government has kicked off a nationwide competition calling for ideas to encourage young people to drink more alcohol.

What Happened: The campaign, Sake Viva!, being run by Japan’s National Tax Agency (NTA), is asking 20- to 39-year-old residents to come up with suggestions to revitalize the popularity of alcoholic drinks, The Guardian reported.

The competition is open till Sept. 9 and calls for residents to come up with “new products and designs” along with ways to boost home drinking using the metaverse.

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A local website JiJi.com citing data from the National Tax Agency, said the alcoholic beverage consumption per adult was 100 liters in 1995 and dropped to 75 liters in 2020. That number further declined in recent years as the number of non-drinking people increased after parties and dining out took a hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report noted that the taxes on alcohol accounted for 1.7% of Japan's tax revenue in 2020 — a massive decline from 3% in 2011 and 5% in 1980.

This decrease in alcohol sales has hit Japan’s budget, which is already running a deficit of more than ¥48 trillion ($354 billion).

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“As working from home made strides to a certain extent during the Covid 19 crisis, many people may have come to question whether they need to continue the habit of drinking with colleagues to deepen communication,” an official at the agency told The Japan Times.

 “If the ‘new normal’ takes root, that will be an additional headwind for tax revenue,” he added.

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