June 2, 2025
TOKYO – The government is considering allowing the issuance of new licenses to operate domestic sake breweries, which is currently not allowed in principle.
With sake becoming popular overseas, the government aims to expand the base for companies and human resources that produce sake, which is part of Japan’s traditional culture.
New licenses to produce sake inside Japan are only issued in special cases, such as when sake brewing facilities are relocated.
The government has kept this restriction on the books under the Liquor Tax Law to maintain the balance between supply and demand.
A government working group for special national strategic zones will start discussing the issue and conduct hearings with related ministries, agencies and businesses.
It will also begin considering steps to realize deregulation and the nature of the new framework.
When the law was revised in 2020, the government allowed the issuance of new licenses to brew sake only for export.
The door to newcomers is closed partly because sake brewing companies are reluctant to accept new entrants in the field, as the firms want to maintain their brand value and the quality of sake.
The sales volume of Japanese sake has been steadily on the decline. In fiscal 2022, the volume fell to about 400,000 kiloliters, less than a quarter of that in fiscal 1975.
The number of sake breweries has dropped to about 1,500, less than half the peak level.
UNESCO designated the traditional knowledge and skills of making sake with koji mold in Japan as an intangible cultural heritage in December last year, giving a boost to potential newcomers.
“For the development of the industry, it may be appropriate to allow [the new issuance of licenses] in a range that will not negatively impact the management of existing sake breweries,” said a senior official of the Japan Toji Guild Association, which comprises master brewers of Japanese sake.
Some government officials aim to create a special zone for sake production as one of the key goals of the revitalization of regional areas, on which Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba places importance.
For beer, a revision of the law in 1994 lifted a ban on small-scale brewing. As a result, craft beer became popular nationwide.
For wine and doburoku, which is a whitish, unfiltered sake, newly entering the production business became easier in a limited range of areas under a government project to create special districts for structural reform. This project began under the administration of then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.