A unit of Japanese beer brewer Kirin Co. said Wednesday it has provided ¥20 million to an association of young fishermen in Miyagi Prefecture to help expand a sales network for seafood from a region devastated by a massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Kirin Beer Marketing Co. gave the funds to the Fisherman Japan association, based in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, composed of local fishermen aged around 30.
By utilizing the subsidies, the association aims to sell seafood under a unified brand online or by cultivating a new sales network and realize ¥60 million in sales in the current fiscal year ending next March.
"We want to create a system which enables our friends who quit fishing due to poor income after the earthquake disaster to come back," 28-year-old Shota Abe, a co-leader of the association, said at a press conference.
The group also plans to utilize the aid to nurture new fishermen by implementing fishing lessons at sea.
Hiroaki Konishi, head of the Miyagi office of Kirin Beer Marketing, said: "We want to activate the economy of Miyagi by helping to create an environment where people enjoy dining through (the power of) the fishing and beverage industries."