Yam SHOCHU

 

Japanese sweet potato is the base ingredient of YAM (sweet potato) SHOCHU (Imo-Jochu). Yams have been a popular crop across Southern Kyushu for over 400 years, and take the place of rice as a source of starch in the local diet. Once only crafted within the borders of southern prefectures Kagoshima and Miyazaki, YAM (sweet potato) SHOCHU is produced throughout Japan today with each region's locally cultivated sweet potato stalks.

 

Like the Iki barley SHOCHU, Kagoshima's Satsuma SHOCHU has been awarded a WTO "Geographical Indication" as being a product distinctly from that region and that region only. See our list of Satsuma Shochu.