Japanese whisky boom drives rice farmers to drink

Japan’s burgeoning whisky business is driving rice farmer Hiroshi Tsubouchi to hit the booze. 

With domestic rice consumption sliding, Mr Tsubouchi, 36, says he’s getting on the whisky bandwagon — or, at least, switching to the barley used to make it.

With Japanese whiskies ranking among the best — and most expensive — in the world, the profits of the local distillery industry are beginning to flow to the country’s farmers.