LUQUE, Paraguay — Sake is perhaps more Japanese than the world-famous sushi. It’s brewed in centuries-old mountaintop warehouses, savored in the country’s publike “izakayas,” poured during weddings and served slightly chilled for special toasts.

The smooth rice wine that plays a crucial role in Japan’s culinary traditions was enshrined last week by UNESCO on its list of the “intangible cultural heritage of humanity.”

At a meeting Wednesday in Luque, Paraguay, members of UNESCO’s committee for safeguarding humanity’s cultural heritage voted to recognize 45 cultural practices and products around the world, including Brazilian white cheese, Caribbean cassava bread and Palestinian olive oil soap.

Unlike UNESCO’s World Heritage List, which includes sites considered important to humanity — such as the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt — the Intangible Cultural Heritage designation names products and practices that are deserving of recognition.

A Japanese delegation welcomed the announcement.

“Sake is considered a divine gift and is essential for social and cultural events in Japan,” said Takehiro Kano, the Japanese ambassador to UNESCO.

The basic ingredients of sake are few: rice, water, yeast and koji, a rice mold, which breaks down the starches into fermentable sugars — like malting does in beer production. The whole two-month process of steaming, stirring, fermenting and pressing can be grueling.

The rice, which wields tremendous marketing power as part of Japan’s broader cultural identity, is key to the alcoholic brew.

For a product to be categorized Japanese sake, the rice must be Japanese.

The UNESCO recognition, the delegation said, captured more than the craft knowledge of making high-quality sake. It also honored a tradition dating back 1,000 years — sake makes a cameo in Japan’s famous 11th-century novel “The Tale of Genji” as the drink of choice in the refined Heian court.

Now, officials hope to restore sake’s image as Japan’s premier alcoholic drink even as the younger drinkers in the country switch to imported wine or domestic beer and whiskey.

“It means a lot to Japan and to the Japanese,” Kano said. The UNESCO designation “will help to renew interest in traditional sake elaboration.”

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, in a statement, said he was “delighted” by the inscription of traditional sake-making, the traditional technic that Japan is proud of. Ishiba congratulated those who are dedicated to preserving and promoting the tradition.

Also, Japanese breweries have expressed hope that the listing could give a little lift to the country’s export economy as the popularity of sake booms around the world and in the United States amid heightened interest in Japanese cuisine.

Sake exports, mostly to the U.S. and China, now rake in over $265 million a year, according to the association.