OME, Japan — Deep in a dark warehouse, the sake sleeps — stored in rows of giant tanks, each holding more than 2,640 gallons of the Japanese rice wine that is the product of brewing techniques dating back more than 1,000 years.

Junichiro Ozawa, the 18th-generation head of Ozawa Brewery, founded in 1702, hopes sake brewing will win recognition as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, when the decision is made next month.

“We always think about the people who’re enjoying our sake when we make it. I’m now so excited, imagining the faces of all the people around the world,” he told reporters recently during a tour of his brewery on the pastoral outskirts of Tokyo.

Sake has been widening its appeal, boosted by the growing international popularity of Japanese cuisine.

Sake exports from Japan total more than $265 million a year, with the biggest destinations being the U.S. and China, according to the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association.

That’s up from about $142 million in 2018. But exports still make up a tiny fraction of overall sake production in Japan. Brazil, Mexico and Southeast Asia, as well as France and the rest of Europe, all places where Japanese restaurants are gaining popularity, are starting to take a liking to sake.

What’s key to sake-making — which takes about two months, including fermentation and pressing — are the rice and the water.

For a product to qualify as Japanese sake, the rice must be Japanese. The relatively soft quality of water in Japan, like that provided by the two wells at Ozawa Brewery, is also critical.

“Sake is not just an alcoholic beverage. It is Japanese culture itself,” said Hitoshi Utsunomiya, director of the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association.

The UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage designation is given to not just historical monuments but also practices passed down generations, such as oral traditions, performing arts, rituals and festivals.

It’s not meant to be used for commercial purposes. But sake officials make no secret of their hope that it will boost global sales, helping the tradition stay alive amid competition from beer, wine and other modern beverages.

Among previous Intangible Cultural Heritage inclusions are Kabuki theater from Japan, the Chinese zither called guqin and Cremonese violin craftsmanship from Italy.