THE EYES water as your correspondent enters Sakimoto Distillery. Massive vats of rice bubble over open flames, filling the air with boozy fumes. The answer might be distilled into awamori, a liquor native to the islands of Okinawa, essentially the most southern and western of Japan’s prefectures. Sakimoto Toshio, the distillery’s boss, pours out a pattern of the stuff, which with an alcohol content material of 60% is about half as sturdy once more as a typical spirit. Your correspondent’s throat burns because it goes down.
Awamori was invented in Okinawa within the fifteenth century. It makes use of long-grain rice and, to stimulate fermentation, black koji mould, distinguishing it from shochu, a better-known Japanese spirit invented in close by Kyushu, which makes use of white koji and short-grain rice or different starches. The punch it packs displays native situations: its power helped protect the drink on the new, humid islands within the days earlier than refrigeration. The throat-burning 60% variant emerged on Yonaguni, Japan’s westernmost island, the place Sakimoto relies. Often known as hanasake, it's mentioned to have began life as a disinfectant for medical use on ships, and later got here to play a task in rituals corresponding to funerals. When locals really drink it, they often minimize it with ice and water and have it with roast pork.
Awamori has these days fallen on arduous instances. Two-thirds of the 45 members of Okinawa Awamori Distillers Affiliation have been within the crimson in 2020. Manufacturing volumes that 12 months dipped by practically 20%, the fourth straight 12 months of decline. Youthful Japanese are ingesting much less booze, and so they want softer stuff or blended drinks.
That has compelled the business to experiment. Japan’s exterior commerce organisation has sought to market shochuand awamorias premium drinks for discerning overseas tipplers, however few are biting (or sipping). Distillers have launched flavoured awamori drinks, organised awamori festivals and enlisted influencers to attraction to youthful shoppers—with blended outcomes. Nakamura Shunki, a researcher at Okinawa’s manufacturing promotion workplace, reckons it helps if the drink seems to be Instagrammable.
Mr Sakimoto has obtained the concept. He launched a collaboration with Rebun, Japan’s northernmost island, which provides mineral water to make a “restricted version” awamori. The “PR impact” of bringing collectively Japan’s excessive north and west has helped gross sales, he says. Correctly, he additionally watered it down: its alcohol content material is a extra palatable 43%.
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