JAPAN PROMOTES ‘SAKE’ IN HOME PROVINCE OF CHINA’S ‘MAOTAI’ LIQUOR

Japan has recently been promoting sake produced in seven prefectures to local buyers in southwestern China's Guizhou Province, the home of fiery, throat-tingling "Maotai" liquor, amid a sharp decline in Chinese visitors to Japan due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kyodo News reported.

At a promotional event held in late May in Guiyang, the capital of the province, representatives of the seven areas -- Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Ishikawa, Fukui, Shiga, Saga and Oita -- explained the flavors of their sake products to about 80 participants in a tasting. A Chinese certified sake sommelier also gave a lecture on the production process and how to find a favorite sake, Japan's traditional rice wine.

Nobuyuki Watanabe, Japan's consul general in Chongqing, southwestern China, pointed out in his speech that Guizhou is the largest liquor brewing center in China and is promoting international exchanges through liquor.

"I hope that exchanges between Guizhou and Japan will become even more active," he said at the event co-hosted by the Consulate General of Japan in Chongqing, the Japan External Trade Organization and the province's Foreign Affairs Office.

"Maotai" -- a kind of "baijiu" Chinese distilled spirit -- is made from a grain called sorghum and is characterized by its high alcohol content and unique flavor. It is China's signature liquor and is served at Chinese state banquets.

At the event, officials from some of the Japanese prefectures used baijiu as an example in explaining that sake also has a variety of flavors. Lu Guodong, 52, who owns a baijiu factory, said he usually drinks only Chinese distilled spirits and realized that the taste of Japanese sake is completely different. "If the price comes down, it will be more accepted in China," he said.

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