Awamori

Distillation reached the Ryukyus from Siam between the late 14th and 15th centuries, along with stills and storage jars, and the rice is still mostly Thai indica. Under the geographical indication 'Ryukyu', the koji must come only from rice grown with the black koji mould Aspergillus luchuensis and the water must be drawn in Okinawa. Fermenting, distilling, storing and bottling all have to happen in the prefecture too. Japan recognised the Ryukyu GI in June 1995, and 'Ryukyu Awamori' labelling followed in 2004.

The oldest record of the name is a 1671 list of gifts from King Sho Tei to the fourth shogun, Tokugawa Ietsuna; earlier shipments were written down as shochu. Nobody agrees where the word comes from. The association collects several theories, and the writer Hagio Toshiaki favours the foam theory: distillers tested a spirit by pouring it from a height and judging how long the foam (awa) lasted. Under the kingdom, licences were limited to three districts of Shuri. The war wiped out the black koji, and Sakimoto Shuzo revived it from mats that survived.

The industry is shrinking. Shipments peaked at 27,688 kL in 2004 and had fallen to 17,709 kL by 2017, the 13th year of decline. Mizuwari is the everyday drink. Neat, it traditionally goes into a small cup poured from a kara-kara jug of Tsuboya ware. Yonaguni makes hanazake at about 60%, strong enough that the law classed it as raw alcohol until a 2020 change allowed the awamori name.