TAIKOKU SHUZO

Okinawa, Japan

Thanks to Taikoku Shuzo, there is one brewery in each of Japan’s 47 prefectures. Being located so far south in Japan, sake produced in Okinawa must use a special strain of koji, black koji, for the conversion of starch into fermentable, soluble sugars suitable for sake fermentation. This is koji is commonly used for production of Okinawa’s spirit: Awamori. Although the techniques for sake making were adopted from work on Japan’s main islands, this earthy and rich sake is definitely unique to Okinawa.