日本振興經濟清酒上陣----中壢英文補習班 @ 金學堂英語的部落格

【聯合報／By DONALD OSBORNE／馮克芸譯】

By ERIC PFANNER and ZHIYI YANG

NIHONMATSU, Japan — As Japan confronts troubling economic data , the country’s government has been offering a little something to take the edge off: a bottle or two of sake.

Around the country at international airports, the government has been helping to fund tasting booths where travelers can sample sake, an alcoholic brew made from fermented rice. On a recent morning, an attendant at a booth at Narita Airport near Tokyo explained that most high-quality sake is intended to be drunk slightly chilled — not heated, as lower-grade sake is sometimes offered at restaurants outside Japan.

The program was part of a broader push by the government to bring the country’s cultural products to the world — and in doing so, hopefully, give a little lift to Japan’s export economy. A government-financed program called Cool Japan looks to champion the country’s softer goods, like anime, music, fashion, food and drink. In December, Japan secured “intangible cultural heritage” status for its traditional cuisine, known as “washoku,” from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Japan has been taking a broad approach to reviving its moribund economy. In the face of persistent deflation, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has introduced his “three arrows”: fiscal stimulus, monetary easing and structural reform.

Sake is not going to fill the gap left by an erosion in industries like electronics, but the government seems to think it will help. The government hopes to increase sake exports fivefold by 2020, to a value of 60 billion yen, or $590 million.

“Until the current government, hardly anything was done to promote sake,” said Hideharu Ohta, chief executive of Daishichi Sake Brewery here in Nihonmatsu . “The government concentrated on electronics and cars, and lowering tariffs for those things.”

Sake plays an important role in the culinary traditions of Japan, where it takes center stage in holiday toasts and is consumed by enthusiasts at small bars called izakayas.

Yet Sake consumption in Japan has fallen sharply over the last decades, as many drinkers have switched to wine, beer, whiskey or shochu. As a result, makers of alcoholic drinks have joined a rush of Japanese companies looking to do more business abroad.

In 2012, exports of Japanese sake totaled 8.9 billion yen, or about $87 million , according to the National Tax Agency. That was up from 7.5 billion yen a decade earlier.

The government faces a battle as it tries to appeal to palates outside Japan. One reason is price. With transport costs and import duties, sake can cost two to three times more overseas. Another problem is confusion. Many sake labels are indecipherable to those who do not read Japanese. And much of the “sake” served in Japanese restaurants abroad is little more than cheap distilled alcohol, not the real thing.

Mr. Abe is doing his part, giving bottles of sake to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for his 61st birthday last year, and to President François Hollande of France during a recent visit to Tokyo.

Mr. Ohta knows selling abroad is not easy. He says producers should take a long-term view . “We don’t want to make concessions or to make a sake that would be easier for people abroad to drink,” he said. “We want to make the products we are proud of in Japan.”

中譯

經濟數據不佳的此時，日本政府端出了一樣東西解憂：一兩瓶清酒。

日本政府已出資在全國各國際機場設攤，讓旅客試喝由米發酵釀成的清酒。最近某天早上，東京附近成田機場的試喝攤上，服務人員解釋說，多數優質清酒是打算讓人稍微冰一下才喝的，而不是像在國外一些日本餐館提供的普級清酒那樣，溫過再喝。

日本政府想把文化產品推向世界，並希望藉此稍稍拉抬出口經濟，設清酒攤是這大計畫的一部分。這項由日本政府出資的「酷日本」大計畫，企圖把動漫、音樂、時裝、食品及飲料等日本軟性商品推向國際。去年12月，聯合國教科文組織已將日本傳統菜餚「和食」，列為「非物質文化遺產」。

日本正大張旗鼓振興經濟，首相安倍晉三在面對長期通貨緊縮上，推出他的「三支箭」：財政刺激方案、貨幣寬鬆政策及結構改革。

清酒無法填補電子業之類產業崩壞在日本經濟中形成的空缺，但日本政府似乎認為不無小補。他們希望在2020年之前，將清酒出口量擴增為目前的5倍，達到600億日圓，約合5億9000萬美元。

二本松市大七酒造株式會社執行長太田英晴說：「在安倍政府之前，在促銷清酒方面政府幾乎毫無作為來。日本政府過去一直專注於電子業及汽車業，而且只為這兩種產品降低關稅。」

清酒在日本烹飪傳統中扮演重要角色，它是節慶乾杯時的主角，許多頗好此道者也在居酒屋飲用。

但過去數十年來，許多日本人轉喝葡萄酒、啤酒、威士忌或燒酒，日本國內的清酒銷量大幅下滑。因此，酒品製造公司跟日本許多公司一樣，期待把更多產品外銷。

日本國稅廳統計，2012年日本外銷清酒總額達89億日圓，約合8700萬美元，而10年前僅有75億日圓。

在吸引外國人喝清酒上，日本政府有硬仗要打。原因之一是價格。清酒到了國外，加上運輸費用及關稅，價格可能是日本國內的兩到三倍。另一個問題是讓人混淆。對於不會日文的人來說，許多清酒標識讓人看不懂。還有，在國外日本餐館供應的「清酒」，許多不過是廉價蒸餾酒，而非真正米釀的清酒。

去年俄國總統普亭61歲生日，最近法國總統歐蘭德訪問東京，安倍都很盡責地送上幾瓶清酒。