Japanese Whisky law: The National Tax Agency is working on it

Just minutes ago, on the floor of the National Diet’s House of the Councillors Budget Committee meeting, Councillor Masahiro Ishida raised the issue of the lack of a law to protect Japanese whisky.

We are all aware by now that the JSLMA introduced standards for Japanese whisky back in 2021. That went into full force in 2024. In 2025, the JSLMA came out and said that not only do they want to seek GI for Japanese whisky, they are going to push the National Tax Agency to introduce some actual legal requirements for the category. The latter would provide legal protection of the term “Japanese whisky,” at least in Japan. The National Tax Agency did something similar for Japanese wine back in 2018.

So what has happened since that announcement back in 2025? A few of you have asked me directly. Unfortunately, since I am not a member of the JSLMA, I have no idea, and they produce zero public records of any discussions that may have taken place.

But I am a Trustee of the Japanese Whisky Promotion Committee, and we received a heads-up that the question would be raised on the floor of the Diet today. So I watched the live broadcast this morning.

One interesting point that Ishida-sensei raised is that the existing legal definitions for liquor favor tax revenue at the expense of brand, industry, and cultural protection. The current National Tax Agency definition of “whisky” requires only 10% actual whisky (as the rest of the world knows whisk(e)y–i.e. grain that’s fermented and distilled) in the final product. If you’re a distiller in Japan, that essentially means you need only make or import 100L of actual whisky, which you can then mix with 900L of other stuff to end up with 1000L of “whisky.” The tax man is thus able to take the tax revenue from 1000L instead of just 100L.

The National Tax Agency’s response was about as you would expect of Japanese politics (or most politics anywhere in the world). They recognize that labeling standards lead to improved brand perception, and they pointed to the aforementioned example of what they did for Japanese wine.

The National Tax Agency also thinks the same for whisky. As a result, they are currently working with industry groups (like the JSLMA, but it was not mentioned by name) to establish legal definition.

And that’s where the conversation ended. If you were hoping for a specific timeline, I’m sorry to disappoint you. Japanese politics works at a glacial pace. Short of an incident a G7 Summit that embarrasses Prime Minister Takaichi herself, we’re still likely a few years away.