Sho-Chu Time / Raising Profile of Shochu Overseas Through Events; Use as Cocktail Base Promoted by Kagoshima Government

By Minami Kobayashi / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

7:00 JST, January 13, 2025

As one of the nation’s major production areas of shochu, Kagoshima Prefecture boasts of attracting many fond drinkers with its diverse flavors and aromas. This is the first in a series introducing the charm of the distilled spirit and the people involved in its creation.

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KAGOSHIMA — In early December, Kirishimacho Joryusho, a shochu distillery in Kirishima, Kagoshima Prefecture, welcomed 16 foreign guests working as assistant language teachers at local schools or studying in the prefecture. They were greeted by the gentle aroma of alcohol and sweet potatoes.

The guests experienced kaiire, a traditional shochu-making process where moromi fermenting mash is stirred with a long bamboo paddle. The moromi was contained in a vat about 1.5 meters deep.

“Stir as if pulling [the moromi] up from the bottom,” a worker said as the guests tried their hand at the process.

They also tasted the distillery’s leading brand, “Akarui Noson” (Bright farm village). A 26-year-old ALT from Canada said she found drinking shochu mixed with hot water to be unique, adding that it went down smoothly.

Akiko Furuya, president of the distillery, said the guests must have felt they had become more familiar with shochu by experiencing the unique aroma given off by fermented sweet potatoes. “We hope they will spread [our shochu’s] charm from the perspective of non-Japanese through social media and other means,” she said.

Liquor made in Japan has increasingly gained a positive reputation overseas. According to trade statistics from the Finance Ministry, exports of alcoholic beverages totaled ¥134.4 billion in 2023, 4.5 times the 2014 figure. However, there are huge differences in the value of exports by type, with whisky and sake accounting for 67% of the total. Shochu, meanwhile, accounts for just over 1%, at ¥1.6 billion.

“Shochu’s lack of recognition has become conspicuous,” said an official in charge of the sales channel expansion and export promotion division of the Kagoshima prefectural government.

To raise the profile of shochu overseas, where there are vibrant bar cultures, the prefectural government is trying to promote the drink as a base for cocktails.

The prefecture began a joint project with Kumamoto, Oita and Miyazaki prefectures in 2021 to expand exports of shochu to the United States.

In a bid to increase opportunities for foreign visitors to taste shochu in Japan, the prefectures held a seminar with highly respected U.S. bartenders at a hotel in Kagoshima in November.

Lined up at the seminar were colorful cocktails combining shochu — such as those made from sweet potato, barley and rice — with liqueurs, wine, fruit peel and other ingredients.

Don Lee, a bartender working in New York, came up with the idea of using sweet potato shochu mixed with amazake — a sweet drink made from fermented rice or sake lees — as a cocktail base.

“Despite the strong sweetness of the purple sweet potato, the aroma of shochu also opens up,” said Kana Wakayama, who runs a restaurant in Kagoshima City. “It has changed my image of shochu.”

Lee said shochu can be easily used in highballs and a variety of cocktails. The important thing is to be creative with how it is served, he added.

The Kagoshima prefectural government and other organizations carried out a campaign to promote cocktails using Kagoshima-made shochu in Hong Kong in November. Next month, the prefecture plans to hold its first seminar in London tailored to bartenders there, featuring an expert in distilled spirits.

Japan’s traditional knowledge and skills for making sake and shochu distilled spirits were added to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in December.

“The registration has further raised the profile of shochu,” said Teiji Makimoto, head of the Kagoshima prefectural government’s division promoting exports. “I hope we will be able to support the efforts to increase shochu consumption while getting inspiration from people overseas.”

You can read this article in Japanese here.