Good evening, everyone. I’m Yuta Kato, a member of the Chiba Prefectural Assembly, elected from Katori City, Kozaki Town, and Tako Town.
On March 23, 2025, the Fermentation Town Kozaki Sake Brewery Festival 2025 was held.
This is a major event that usually draws around 60,000 people to Kozaki Town, which has a population of about 5,600. This year, we were blessed with great weather, and there were places along the walkways where it was hard to move because of the crowd—so I believe even more people attended than in previous years.
It was also the first Kozaki Sake Brewery Festival since “Traditional Japanese Sake Brewing” was inscribed on UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which may have contributed to the increased turnout.
While walking around the venue and shopping, many people came up to me saying things like, “Congratulations on your election!” and “I voted for you, Mr. Kato.”
Thank you so much 😊
Back when I was a Katori City Council member, I wanted to support local producers and further revitalize the local economy. So I personally drafted the ordinance for “Promoting Toasts with Local Products in Katori City,” and it became the city’s first policy ordinance proposed by a council member.
However, even before that, Kozaki Town had already established a toast ordinance and had been engaged in various initiatives. I think it’s truly wonderful that they’ve been organizing such attractive events like the sake brewery festival.
I sincerely hope events like these that contribute to regional revitalization will continue, and I was reminded once again of the importance of supporting them properly.
I also got to see a performance by Omizile 😊