Alcohol boosters confront habits changed by virus

TOKYO — Among the casualties of the pandemic is one that many young people in Japan say they do not miss: the drinking culture.

Sobriety, they have decided after two years of less socializing and nightcrawling, has its advantages. And that’s why a new message from the Japanese government — drink up! — seems to be putting few in the spirit.

To bolster its ailing alcohol industry, Japan’s National Tax Agency has kicked off a contest inviting those ages 20 to 39 to submit ideas for encouraging people to consume more alcohol. It named the project after the national beverage: “Sake Viva!”

The agency says it hopes to “revitalize the industry” with the contest, whose winner is to be selected in a tournament later this year. But its entreaty is clashing with more than two years of actions by the government, which discouraged alcohol sales at restaurants and bars and put up signs forbidding drinking in parks and in the streets.

With Japan reaching new highs in virus infections, including more than 255,000 new cases Thursday, many young people are wondering why the government is now saying it’s OK to go out and drink.

“The media is announcing record COVID cases, while restaurants are like, don’t talk while eating, wear a mask,” said Chika Kato, 27, a consultant in Tokyo. “But the government is at the same time asking us to go all out and drink.”

“It’s an awkward situation,” she added. “Who do I listen to?”

None of the Japanese distillers have signed on to the initiative. But bar owners praised it. In Ginza, one of Tokyo’s popular nightlife districts, the pubs remained dimly lit and mostly quiet Thursday night.

“I hope this helps Ginza come alive again,” said Kenta Kobayashi, 34, a bartender who has seen a drastic drop in sales since the pandemic began.

On average, people in Japan drank about 20 gallons of alcohol in 2020, down from 26 gallons in 1995, according to government data. The decline has hurt lucrative tax revenues: Levies on alcohol 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% of general revenue, in 2019, according to the Urban Institute.