GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION
Thirty-four names of place.
From Iki, Kuma, Ryukyu and Satsuma to Kyoto, Tottori and Fukuoka in 2025 — the liquor GIs designated by Japan's National Tax Agency.
Shochu | Honkaku Shochu Ingredients, Distilleries & Regions
11SHOCHU — HONKAKU SHOCHU
Honkaku shochu (single-distilled shochu) is made by fermenting its ingredients with koji and distilling the mash once in a pot still. Much of the ingredient's aroma and flavour carries through — its defining trait.
Sweet potato in Kagoshima and Miyazaki, barley in Oita and Iki, rice in Kumamoto's Kuma basin, brown sugar in Amami. Centred on Kyushu, the bond of ingredient, koji and place draws the map of shochu.
KOJI
White koji
Said to be a mutant strain of black koji; widely used for honkaku shochu in southern Kyushu.
Black koji
The koji of awamori. It produces citric acid, which holds back unwanted bacteria.
Yellow koji
The koji used for sake.
PRODUCERS ON RECORD
Shochu — View all →A
Producers
B
Drinks
ABV, polishing ratio, vintage, age and similar details appear only when confirmed by an official source.
G
Gallery
Rows of storage vessels holding imo shochu maturing in a former gold mine tunnel
Photo: メルビル / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kushikino, Kagoshima
A line-up of Amami brown-sugar (kokuto) shochu bottles in a shop
A glass of shochu on the rocks in front of shochu bottles
Photo: https://publicdomainq.net/shochu-japanese-liquor-0014762/ / Public domain
Kuroki Honten's Hyakunen no Kodoku barley shochu with its box
A drink in a glass printed with the iichiko logo
Head office of Iwagawa Jozo, a shochu distillery in Soo, Kagoshima
Photo: Yauchi / Public domain · Soo, Kagoshima
An izakaya wall of menu tags listing shochu by base ingredient: imo, rice, barley, brown sugar
Tiled roofs of Satsuma Shuzo's Kedogawa shochu factory overlooking Makurazaki
Photo: Sakaori (talk) / CC BY 3.0 · Makurazaki, Kagoshima
Shochu jars (kame) set into the floor at Satsuma Kinzangura
Photo: メルビル / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ichikikushikino, Kagoshima
Entrance of KIRISHIMA GREENSHIP icoia, a Kirishima Shuzo visitor facility
Photo: ja:User:Sanjo / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Miyakonojo, Miyazaki
Kirishima Shuzo's expanded head-office factory beyond a fountain
Photo: A-sonoda / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Miyakonojo, Miyazaki
Kirishima Shuzo's main office and factory with its row of chimneys
Photo: ja:User:Sanjo / CC BY-SA 3.0 · Miyakonojo, Miyazaki
Greenhouses of Kirishima Shuzo's sweet potato seedling production center
Photo: あじさか / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Shibita, Miyakonojo, Miyazaki
A 900 ml bottle of Kuro Kirishima imo shochu
A black ceramic kurojoka, the vessel used to warm and pour shochu
Shochu jars in the courtyard of Satsuma Shuzo's Meijigura distillery and museum
Photo: Sakaori (talk) / CC BY 3.0 · Makurazaki, Kagoshima
A bottle of Mori Izo kame-pot imo shochu
Nikaido Shuzo's Kicchomu barley shochu in a ceramic jug with its box
Nikaido Shuzo's distillery buildings in Hiji, Oita
Photo: Razgrad / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hiji, Oita
Head office of Sanwa Shurui, maker of iichiko, in Usa, Oita
Photo: Watofamily / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Usa, Oita
Satsuma Shuzo shochu bottles including Shiranami, displayed with jars
Sengetsu Shuzo, a Kuma shochu distillery in Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto
Photo: ja:User:Sanjo / CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hitoyoshi, Kumamoto
A shochu still in the production room at Tango Kura
Photo: 漱石の猫 / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kyotango, Kyoto
Tokoname-ware ceramic shochu jugs built into a slope
Photo: Asturio Cantabrio / CC BY-SA 4.0 · Tokoname, Aichi
C
Stories
SOURCES
- 1酒税法における酒類の分類及び定義（酒のしおり 2025）国税庁 National Tax Agency · Government · accessed 2026-09-26
- 2酒類の地理的表示一覧国税庁 National Tax Agency · Government · accessed 2026-09-26
- 3日本の酒・本格焼酎と泡盛日本酒造組合中央会 Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association · Industry body · accessed 2026-09-26
- 4日本酒用語集日本酒造組合中央会 Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association · Industry body · accessed 2026-09-26
PHOTO CREDITS
All image credits →- 1Sweet potatoes — Filo gèn' · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 2Sakurajima — The Modern Polymath · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 3Shochu still — 漱石の猫 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 4Shochu maturing in a mine tunnel — メルビル · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 5Buckwheat flowers — Toshihiro Matsui · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 6Amami kokuto shochu — Hhaithait · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 7Shochu on the rocks — https://publicdomainq.net/shochu-japanese-liquor-0014762/ · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- 8Hyakunen no Kodoku barley shochu — R34SkylineGT-R V-SpecⅡNür · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 9An iichiko-branded glass — ayustety · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 10Iwagawa Jozo — Yauchi · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- 11Shochu menu tags in an izakaya — Kiwamu Okabe from Kanagawa, Japan · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 12Satsuma Shuzo Kedogawa factory — Sakaori (talk) · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 13Kame jars at Satsuma Kinzangura — メルビル · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 14KIRISHIMA GREENSHIP icoia — ja:User:Sanjo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 15Kirishima Shuzo head-office factory — A-sonoda · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 16Kirishima Shuzo main office — ja:User:Sanjo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 17Kirishima Shuzo sweet potato seedling center — あじさか · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 18Kuro Kirishima — A-sonoda · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 19Kurojoka shochu vessel — DryPot · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 20Satsuma Shuzo Meijigura — Sakaori (talk) · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 21Mori Izo shochu — Jun Seita · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 22Nikaido Kicchomu barley shochu — user:ish-ka · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- 23Nikaido Shuzo — Razgrad · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 24Sanwa Shurui head office — Watofamily · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 25Satsuma Shuzo shochu — Sakaori (talk) · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 26Sengetsu Shuzo, Kuma shochu — ja:User:Sanjo · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 27Shochu still at Tango Kura — 漱石の猫 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- 28Tokoname-ware shochu jugs — Asturio Cantabrio · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons