Tourism companies and Japanese local governments are hoping to capitalize on anime box office hits such as "The First Slam Dunk" and "Suzume" by attracting domestic and foreign travelers, including from China and South Korea, to real-life locations associated with the movies. Trip.com Group Ltd, a major Chinese online travel…
Tourism companies and Japanese local governments are hoping to capitalize on anime box office hits such as The First Slam Dunk and Suzume by attracting domestic and foreign travelers, including from. | May 17, 2023
Mii no Kotobuki brewery’s label for its sake for export is labeled Hojo Biden, meaning “pastoral beauty” in Japanese. (Takuya Miyano)
TACHIARAI, Fukuoka Prefecture When demand suddenly started pouring in for a sake mostly popular with connoisseurs, Tadatsugu Inoue at the Mii no Kotobuki brewery here was baffled.
But the chief sake brewer soon realized why: the alcoholic beverage is called “Hojo Biden.”
“We have always had good fortune,” Inoue said of the coincidental, but timely association with President-elect Joe Biden.
The second time is the charm for the century-old sake brewer, which has struggled to buck a downturn in sales last year following the coronavirus pandemic.