Is excessive alcohol consumption a social problem in Japan?
The Diet has introduced a new bill to try and curb excessive drinking in Japan, which politicians have suggested is increasingly becoming a social problem.
This has sparked debate amongst netizens, with views on the issue of excessive drinking and the effectiveness of this new bill varying widely.
What do you think? Is excess drinking a problem in Japanese society?
From Yahoo! Japan News:
Excessive Drinking Is A Social Problem — Bill To Counter Alcohol Consumption To Be Submitted?
“Drink alcohol in moderation”. The LDP, New Komeito, DPJ — politicians from every party in the Diet — have come together to form the “Politicans’ Alliance On Alcohol Issues” (Head of the Alliance – Nakata Nigen, Deputy Secretary General of the LDP). The Alliance is urging citizens to drink a reasonable quantity. The “Alcohol Related Health Problems Prevention Bill” has been introduced by a Diet member and is currently in Parliament to establish this policy.
This will help fix societal problems caused by excessive drinking such as drink driving, violence and abuse. The government opposes this and has created this basic plan to decrease the number of alcoholics. Alcohol makers and distributors are asking for warning ads and labels on alcoholic products to be used.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, they know of an estimated 810 000 alcoholics across the whole country. Patient organisations and medical personnel were asking for laws and regulations against drinking excessively, and support these measures being put in place.
Comments from Twitter:
池田美智雄:
I understand the attitude, but how will they supervise this?
くまえもん:
They should ban commercials that show people enjoying drinking beer. When I see those ads I want to drink in the middle of work.
Antonio:
810 000 people were surprised.
kiisan:
Until this law is comes in, I will drink up! (笑)
kiico*32:
If this kind of law is made, I will definitely get the cold shoulder from others…(￣∇￣;)
のだもとかず/Motokazu Noda:
There are 810 000 alcoholics in the whole country? Really?
ピヨひこ:
When I meet strangers who are drunk, people I know would say “Well, this person is drunk so you should forgive them”. This is the most irritating thing to say (・д・). The one who is drunk is the other person, not me!
Yudai:
Alcohol is the number one drug! ヽ( *´ ∀ `* )ﾉ
黄いっし～（麦酒ときどきカレーの提督）:
This is not a problem for me because I don’t drink excessively!
飯田 正就:
You’re not thinking about counter measures against dependence on cults, are you? (笑)
まりこ（メンテナンス中）:
What is this?
三四郎:
Who cares? Let’s drink!
ひろくま:
Yet another crime……
koichi fujikawa:
Yes, yes, we know. (´･_･`)
内田 まさき:
Having this law is a warning but.., Al Capone’ll be back!
慧英:
Japan might have a society wide problem with alcohol, but this surely hasn’t become something we need to make a law for?
ふるるＰ:
I think knowing what is an appropriate amount to stop at is a challenge. It’s important to have a discussion about what the social disadvantages of alcohol are.
月よりの使者:
This is looking after us too much.
H.Saikawara:
This is excellent. More than drinking alcohol, managing it is the problem. There are no examples of someone killing another person due to smoking. There are the worst kind of people who get drunk and break things that hit people, and then kill them, and then finish off by saying “I don’t remember”.
いけしま:
Isn’t this a problem of individuals’ morality? If you have that much time and energy, then aren’t there other things you should be doing with that time and energy?
