Beer consumption ranking 2013 - Which Japanese prefectures consume the most beer?

Came across this interesting article which ranks the prefectures in Japan according to the beer consumption volume per person and attempts to explain why the results are as such. Here are the top 5 and "worst" 5 (figures in brackets represent the amount in litres consumed per person in that prefecture)

Top 5
1) Tokyo (45.2)
2) Osaka (32.4)
3) Kyoto (30.0)
4) Kochi (29.6)
5) Niigata (29.3)

Worst 5
47) Nara (17.8)
46) Kagoshima (18.2)
45) Saitama (18.8)
44) Tochigi (19.1)
43) Shiga (19.3)

According to the article, Tokyo and Osaka hogging the top spots are not surprising since they are big cities. Conversely, Nara, Kagoshima and Saitama all have their reasons for their lack in enthusiasm for beer. Nara is said to be a place where its residents tend to follow the latest trends thus they have more interest in "fashionable" drinks like fruit cocktails or super cooling wine rather than the old-fashioned beer. Kagoshima boasts of the title of No.1 consumption of shochu in Japan so apparently beer is not as popular as shochu there. As for Saitama, they actually have one of the lowest ratios of restaurants per person (No.45 among the 47 prefectures) so even if someone wants to have a drink at a restaurant, chances are they may not be able to find out easily. Moreover, the people in Saitama have the reputation of spending the most on education, learning new things and No.2 in terms of travelling expenses and people actively involved in sports thus they may prefer to spend their money on things other than beer.

No doubt it's still Japan we are looking at, each prefecture has its own unique lifestyle and preferences so such rankings provide a good sneak peak into the characteristics of each area.

Source: Straight Press