Abe makes sales pitch for Fukushima sake at Davos

January 24, 2019

Davos, Switzerland--Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday made a sales pitch for sake produced in Fukushima Prefecture on the sidelines of the ongoing World Economic Forum annual meeting.

In the Japan Night event in Davos, Abe advertised "Yamato no Kokoro," produced in Fukushima's Aizuwakamatsu from rice that his wife, Akie, grew in Yamaguchi Prefecture, where his electoral home district is located.

In the past, it was unthinkable for a sake brewer in the Aizu region to use rice from Choshu, now Yamaguchi, Abe said in a speech, noting that Aizu and Choshu fought against each other in a civil war in the 1868 Meiji Restoration.

Yamato no Kokoro is a symbol of peace, he said, drawing laughs from the audience.

"I hope you'll enjoy Japanese food and sake, the strongest of the country's soft powers, and visit Japan to enjoy the real stuff," Abe said. Jiji Press