Kobe sake brewers banking on foreign visitors
KOBE, Japan: The Nadagogo area, one of the most renowned sake production areas of Japan, is beefing up its promotion of sake to foreign visitors.
While the sales volume of sake in Japan has been on the decline, a boom in popularity for washoku Japanese cuisine has encouraged interest in the liquor around the world. More and more foreigners visit tourist facilities on the grounds of sake breweries, and sake brewers are making efforts to expand their sales with the government’s support.
“I have long been interested in the traditional Japanese product of sake,” said a 44-year-old South Korean company president when he visited the Hakutsuru Sake Brewery Museum.
Smiling while holding a bottle of the liquor, he added, “It’s really nice that we can understand its manufacturing method in detail and also enjoy tasting sake.”
At this museum, brewing processes are displayed using models and videos. A translation system has also been introduced so that when visitors use their smartphones or other devices to read QR codes, which are all around the museum, they can read explanations in 15 different languages.
In fiscal 2017, 40,000 foreign tourists visited the museum, about 30 per cent of a total of 140,000 visitors, and there is not a day when foreigners do not come, according to the museum.
An official at Hakutsuru Sake Brewing Co. said, “I want as many foreigners as possible to become our fans, and I want to increase our sales.”
At the Kobe Shu-Shin-Kan Brewery in Higashinada Ward, there are staff members who can speak English and French. A free internet connection is available to make it easy for visitors to immediately post about their experiences on social media.
It’s really nice that we can understand its manufacturing method in detail and also enjoy tasting sake. – Visiting South Korean company president
The Kiku-Masamune Sake Brewery Museum in the same ward said that tasting freshly pressed, undiluted sake attracts foreign customers. It has a pamphlet in nine languages.
Sake breweries are promoting sake to foreign visitors because there continues to be a trend away from sake among Japanese people. According to the National Tax Agency and other entities, domestic sales of sake in fiscal 2017 were 520,000 kilolitres, less than one third of what they were 30 years ago.
On the other hand, sake is easily accepted overseas as “rice wine” and is becoming more popular around the world. Exports of sake exceeded the 10 billion yen level in 2013 for the first time and reached to 18.6 billion yen (US$170 million) in 2017.
According to a 2017 survey by Tokyo-based NTTCom Online Marketing Solutions Corp. and other entities on visitors from the United States and Europe, about half of the respondents chose washoku as a category of Japanese culture in which they were interested.
Sake ranked third behind sushi and ramen as the most impressive item of Japanese cuisine. Over 80 percent of them had drunk sake during their stay.
The government supports sake breweries’ efforts, introducing the liquor tax exemption system to target foreign visitors in October 2017. A total of eight breweries including Hakutsuru had been licensed to operate as tax-free shops in Hyogo Prefecture as of October 2018.
However, some of the procedures are complicated, such as brewery workers having to line up the purchase record with a visitor’s passport before stamping the two sheets of paper. A Hakutsuru spokesperson said, “Tourists have strict schedules and limited time for their visits and we cannot deal with all of them in time.”
“Foreign visitors’ interests have shifted from goods to experiences, so sake breweries are drawing their attention,” Akira Saito, an associate professor of tourist marketing at Jissen Women’s University, said. “If the appeal of sake as a tourism resource grows, it will lead to an increase in the number of visitors in local sake-producing areas. (The government) should make it easier for visitors to take sake out of Japan, to protect sake culture.” — Yomiuri Shimbun