The Japanese government has launched a nationwide competition calling for ideas to encourage people to drink more alcohol after a change in attitudes among the young resulted in a slide in tax revenues.
为了鼓励人们多饮酒，日本政府发起了一项全国范围的创意征集比赛。由于年轻人对饮酒的态度转变，导致日本酒水税收减少。
The Sake Viva! campaign, which is being run by the National Tax Agency (NTA), asks 20- to 39-year-olds to come up with proposals to help revitalise the popularity of alcoholic drinks, which have fallen out of favour because of lifestyle changes during the coronavirus pandemic and among young people.
由日本国税厅举办的这项名为“清酒复兴”的活动邀请20岁至39岁的年轻人提出有助于复兴酒精饮料的建议。因为年轻人生活方式的改变以及新冠疫情的影响，酒精饮料已不再受欢迎。
The competition, which runs until 9 September, calls for “new products and designs” as well as ways to promote home drinking. Entrants are also encouraged to explore sales methods using the metaverse, according to local website JiJi.com.
据当地网站JiJi.com介绍，这项持续到9月9日的比赛征集“新产品和新设计”以及推广在家饮酒的办法，还鼓励参赛者运用元宇宙来探索销售方法。
The NTA said alcohol consumption in Japan had fallen from an average of 100 litres a person a year in 1995 to 75 litres in 2020. The decrease in alcohol sales has hit Japan’s budget, which is already running a deficit of more than ￥48tn.
日本国税厅表示，日本的酒水消费量从1995年的人均每年100升降到了2020年的75升。酒水销量的减少影响到了日本政府的预算，眼下日本赤字已超过48万亿日元(约合人民币2.4万亿元)。
Taxes on alcohol accounted for 1.7% of Japan’s tax revenue in 2020, down from 3% in 2011 and 5% in 1980. Total revenue from tax on alcohol in the 2020 financial year fell by more than ￥110bn to ￥1.1tn, compared with the previous year, the NTA said earlier this month. It was the biggest fall in alcohol tax income in 31 years, according to the Japan Times.
日本国税厅本月早些时候发布的数据显示，酒水税收占2020年日本税收的1.7%，相比2011年的3%和1980年的5%均有所下降。2020财年的酒水税收总收入降至1.1万亿日元，同比减少超1100亿日元。据英文报纸《日本时报》报道，这创下了31年来酒水税收收入的最大降幅。
"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 English-language newspaper at the time. “If the ‘new normal’ takes root, that will be an additional headwind for tax revenue.”
日本国税厅的一名官员告诉《日本时报》：“新冠危机期间，居家办公有所增加，许多人可能会思索是否需要延续与同事喝酒来增强交流的习惯。如果这一‘新常态’被确立，对于税收收入又将是一个打击。”
There was a particularly steep decline in beer consumption, with sales volume down 20% to less than 1.8bn litres.
啤酒消费量的降幅尤其显著，销量剧减20%至不到18亿升。
Kirin brewery, which makes Kirin lager and Ichiban Shibori, said per capita beer consumption in Japan totalled about 55 bottles in 2020, a 9.1% decline on the previous year.
生产拉格啤酒和一番榨啤酒的麒麟啤酒株式会社称，2020年日本人均啤酒消费量约为55瓶，同比减少9.1%。
Japan’s health ministry said it hoped the campaign would also remind people to remember to drink only the “appropriate amount of alcohol”.
日本厚生劳动省表示，希望这项活动也能够提醒人们“适量饮酒”。
Finalists in the competition will be invited to gala awards ceremony in Tokyo on 10 November, and the tax office said it would support the commercialisation of the ideas from the winner.
入围决赛的人将受邀参加11月10日在东京举行的颁奖庆典。日本国税厅表示，将会支持获胜者创意的商业化。
