The Lakes Distillery is sponsoring a trade mission to Japan in an effort to boost tourism.

Members of the Lake District Japan Forum will travel to Osaka next month to showcase everything the area has to offer.

They will be spreading the word about the 150th anniversary celebrations for Beatrix Potter, whose characters are popular in Japan.

Their trip will also take in Nagoya and Tokyo over a period of 10 days, which will see them attend more than 30 meetings.

The distillery, near Bassenthwaite, is sponsoring the trip alongside Grasmere Gingerbread and the Royal Mint.

Colin Fox of English Lakes Hotels, who is chairman of the forum, said: “Japan is one of our primary markets for visitors coming from overseas. Previous missions have helped us increase Japanese visitors, sometimes by more than 25 per cent.

“Japanese tourists are popular visitors for many Cumbrian businesses.”

This will be the group’s 10th visit to the country.