由于年輕人生活方式的改變和疫情的影響，近年來日本人的酒水消費量劇減，導致政府稅收大幅減少。為了鼓勵民眾尤其是年輕人飲酒，日本面向全國年輕人發起了一項創意征集比賽，希望能找到提高酒水消費量的方法。

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.

為了鼓勵人們多飲酒，日本政府發起了一項全國范圍的創意征集比賽。由于年輕人對飲酒的態度轉變，導致日本酒水稅收減少。

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.

由日本國稅廳舉辦的這項名為“清酒復興”的活動邀請20歲至39歲的年輕人提出有助于復興酒精飲料的建議。因為年輕人生活方式的改變以及新冠疫情的影響，酒精飲料已不再受歡迎。

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.

據當地網站JiJi.com介紹，這項持續到9月9日的比賽征集“新產品和新設計”以及推廣在家飲酒的辦法，還鼓勵參賽者運用元宇宙來探索銷售方法。

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.

日本國稅廳表示，日本的酒水消費量從1995年的人均每年100升降到了2020年的75升。酒水銷量的減少影響到了日本政府的預算，眼下日本赤字已超過48萬億日元（約合人民幣2.4萬億元）。

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.

日本國稅廳本月早些時候發布的數據顯示，酒水稅收占2020年日本稅收的1.7%，相比2011年的3%和1980年的5%均有所下降。2020財年的酒水稅收總收入降至1.1萬億日元，同比減少超1100億日元。據英文報紙《日本時報》報道，這創下了31年來酒水稅收收入的最大降幅。

"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.”

日本國稅廳的一名官員告訴《日本時報》：“新冠危機期間，居家辦公有所增加，許多人可能會思索是否需要延續與同事喝酒來增強交流的習慣。如果這一‘新常態’被確立，對于稅收收入又將是一個打擊。”

There was a particularly steep decline in beer consumption, with sales volume down 20% to less than 1.8bn litres.

啤酒消費量的降幅尤其顯著，銷量劇減20%至不到18億升。

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.

生產拉格啤酒和一番榨啤酒的麒麟啤酒株式會社稱，2020年日本人均啤酒消費量約為55瓶，同比減少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”.

日本厚生勞動省表示，希望這項活動也能夠提醒人們“適量飲酒”。

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.

入圍決賽的人將受邀參加11月10日在東京舉行的頒獎慶典。日本國稅廳表示，將會支持獲勝者創意的商業化。

英文來源：衛報

翻譯&編輯：丹妮