The government said Wednesday it will expand the scope of the system to protect producing-area names of liquors as intellectual properties to enhance their brand power amid growing global demand for Japanese sake and shochu distilled spirits, sources said.
Japanese beer and liqueur, including umeshu, or traditional plum liqueur, will be newly covered by the "geographical indication" system that shows the product concerned originates in the indicated location and serves as a certification of its quality.
Under the expanded GI system for liquors, Japan will also receive objections from overseas, the sources said.
Currently, six names — Yamanashi for wine, Iki, Kuma, Ryukyu and Satsuma for shochu, as well as Hakusan for sake — have been designated as geographical indications.