The Kagoshima Prefectural Assembly unanimously passed the Shochu Hospitality Ordinance in an effort to invigorate the local shochu industry and raise the profile of the distilled liquor. Set to go into effect next month, the law is the first prefectural ordinance in the country designed to publicize shochu. The law not only encourages people to use local shochu to make toasts, it also includes stipulations on expanding and stabilizing sales channels, securing raw materials, improving production technologies and cultivating human resources for the industry. The head of the Kagoshima Prefecture Shochu Distillers Association, the group that lobbied the Assembly to consider the bill, said he would like people to “welcome visitors from other prefectures and other countries with shochu.” Source: Nishinippon Shimbun 12/19
