Yamakawa Shuzo (山川酒造)
Yamakawa Shuzo is an awamori distillery in Motobu, Okinawa, known for aging awamori as kusu over many years. Its brands include Kaneyama, Sangosho and Sakuraichiban. It was founded in 1946.
What kind of distillery is Yamakawa Shuzo?
Yamakawa Shuzo was founded in 1946 in Motobu by Sodo Yamakawa, soon after the war, with the aim of reviving kusu, the aged awamori that had nearly been lost. The business passed to the second and third generations, and today the fourth-generation president, Munekuni Yamakawa, leads the company. Awamori aged under 15 years is sold as Sangosho, and awamori aged 15 years or more is sold as the limited Kaneyama.
- Water
- The distillery owns its own spring water source, which contains minerals, and uses it for all brewing.
- Ingredients
- The distillery used broken rice before and now uses whole grain rice of good quality.
- Style
- It distills at normal pressure to draw out as many aging components as possible.
- Other
- For aging, it uses room-temperature filtration to keep more components in the spirit.
- Yeast
- Some awamori, such as Sakuraichiban, is brewed with sakura yeast isolated from the flowers of the Yaedake kanhi cherry.
Can you visit Yamakawa Shuzo?
- Tours
Brewery tours are by reservation only, for groups of up to five people, Monday to Friday from 14:00 to 16:00.
- Shop
The shop next door, Shop Yamakawa, offers tastings and is open 10:00 to 17:00, closed on Sundays and at New Year.
Hours and booking rules change, so check before you go. Official website
Other brewery tours in Okinawa
Compiled with AI from public pages, mainly the brewery’s own site (not yet checked by the brewery)Sources: yamakawashuzo.com