Amakusa's only shochu distillery makes sweet potato shochu from its own fields

The only shochu distillery on the islands

The Amakusa Islands are a chain of some 120 islands, large and small, stretching from Kumamoto Prefecture to Kagoshima Prefecture in south-western Kyushu. On a hill overlooking the sea on Shimoshima, one of them, stands Amakusa Shuzo, the only sake brewery in the Amakusa Islands. Founded in 1899, it makes not sake but honkaku shochu. Honkaku shochu is a traditional Japanese spirit made by fermenting rice, barley, sweet potatoes or other ingredients with koji and distilling them just once; most bottles are sold at around 25% alcohol by volume. The fourth-generation owner, Yutaka Hirashita (born 1977), joined the family business straight after studying brewing at Tokyo University of Agriculture. Today the distillery rests on two brands: Amakusa, a rice and barley shochu, and Ike no Tsuyu, a sweet potato shochu.

A sweet potato shochu revived after 26 years, and a move to the fields

Ike no Tsuyu is a sweet potato shochu that was made from the distillery’s founding until 1980. As tastes shifted towards clean, light rice and barley shochu, production had stopped. Hirashita thought, “We have no future if we do the same as other distilleries,” and in 2006, aged 29, he revived the brand after 26 years. It was featured in a magazine and gained a following, but four to five years later sales began to fall. What he noticed then was the island itself, its population shrinking and losing its vitality. Having chased after koji-making and distilling techniques, Hirashita changed his mind: “It is good potatoes that decide the taste of sweet potato shochu.” He rented abandoned farmland around the distillery and began growing potatoes without pesticides. This year about 40% of the potatoes used in brewing are expected to be grown by the distillery itself, and together with those from contract farmers on the island, around 60% come from Amakusa. Hirashita says that one day he wants all the potatoes to come from Amakusa.

Clay pots and bamboo: slow, old-style distillation

The equipment is chosen with care too. For koji-making, they use breathable wooden boxes with bamboo-woven bases. The moromi (fermenting mash) ferments in 27 buried clay pots of differing sizes. There are two kinds of still. Standard Ike no Tsuyu is made in a stainless-steel still. The other is an old-style “kabuto-gama still” surrounded by bamboo, which distils slowly, taking about twice as long as usual, to draw out the aroma and umami of the moromi. Hirashita’s vision for the future is a distillery where “farmers make shochu”.

If you are looking in Europe, check specialist sake and shochu shops or online retailers for the names “Ike no Tsuyu” and “Amakusa”. Hirashita’s recommended local way to enjoy it is aged barley shochu on the rocks, sipped slowly alongside seafood or dishes rich in dashi. Paired with grilled white fish or a seafood soup, it should bring the flavours of the island to a European table too.

Sources

• Serai.jp, “Amakusa Shuzo (Amakusa, Kumamoto) | Unique shochu from crops grown in its own fields”