{"id":172696,"date":"2025-08-15T17:32:39","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T08:32:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=172696&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2025-08-15T17:32:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T08:32:39","slug":"shochu-sales-fall-as-crop-disease-hits-kirishima","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/news\/shochu-sales-fall-as-crop-disease-hits-kirishima\/","title":{"rendered":"Shochu Sales Fall As Crop Disease Hits Kirishima"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Japan\u2019s top 50 shochu producers saw a 1.6% year-on-year decline in total sales in 2024, falling to \u00a5222.7 billion, according to Teikoku Databank. This marks the first drop in two years. Kirishima Shuzo, the largest maker based in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki Prefecture, posted an 11.8% revenue decline due to crop damage from a sweet potato disease. Despite retaining the top rank for the 13th year, the company struggled with raw material shortages. Sanwa Shurui (makers of \u201ciichiko\u201d) and Nikaido Shuzo (makers of \u201cNikaido\u201d) held the second and third spots, respectively. The overall decline also reflects waning alcohol consumption among younger generations. Red ink affected 25% of firms surveyed, up from 20% last year, as rising material and labor costs squeezed profits. Leadership transitions at major firms signal efforts to reach new markets, with Kirishima Shuzo focusing on aromatic shochu to attract younger consumers. <\/span><b>Source:<\/b> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yomiuri.co.jp\/local\/kyushu\/news\/20250815-OYTNT50006\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Yomiuri<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-156408\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/fnn_shochu-factory_2015_WEB.jpg?resize=1400%2C932&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Shochu\" width=\"1400\" height=\"932\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/fnn_shochu-factory_2015_WEB.jpg?w=1400&amp;ssl=1 1400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/fnn_shochu-factory_2015_WEB.jpg?resize=300%2C200&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/fnn_shochu-factory_2015_WEB.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/fnn_shochu-factory_2015_WEB.jpg?resize=768%2C511&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stay informed with the latest Fukuoka &amp; Kyushu news and events in English. Sign up for our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">free weekly newsletter <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">today and never miss a beat. Opt out anytime, your privacy is our priority. Get the inside scoop with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Now<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Summaries based on public content, errors may occur during translation. Images credited independently. Send feedback using <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/contact\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this <\/span><b>form<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Japan\u2019s top 50 shochu producers saw a 1.6% year-on-year decline in total sales in 2024, falling to \u00a5222.7 billion, according to Teikoku Databank&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29305,"featured_media":156408,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-172696","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-kyushu","news-category-business","en-US"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/172696","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172696"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/156408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172696"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172696"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}