Through infusing botanicals endemic to Okinawa into its signature awamori sake, Masahiro Shuzo Co. Ltd. makes history by producing the first-ever craft gin from the island
Although it is the smallest and least populated of Japan’s five main islands, Okinawa is famous for its rich marine biodiversity, evident in its beautiful and thriving coral reefs. Disconnected from other main islands of Japan by the East China Sea, Okinawa has its own distinctive dialect and culture.
An example of this is Okinawa’s own take on the revered Japanese alcoholic beverage sake. Known locally as awamori, it is made from long grain indica rice and is distilled instead of being brewed. This technique can be traced back to Okinawa’s trading history with Thailand, where the peculiar black rice has been imported from ever since. Okinawans refined the Thai distillation process of rice and incorporated their local black koji mold.
Known for preserving the ancient techniques in producing awamori is Masahiro Shuzo Co. Ltd., which originally opened in 1883 as Higa brewery. Born in Shuri, the area known as the awamori village during the Ryukyu era (15th to 19th century), the distillery gained international recognition for producing this unique distilled rice spirit for imperial authorities in Tokyo and China. Although many distilleries were closed after World War II, the distillery did not shut down but moved out of Shuri for several decades. In 1991, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the distillery, it moved to its current site in Nishizaki Itoman.