Amakusa Shuzo is the only brewery located on the Amakusa archipelago. What started as a potato shochu distillery eventually changed to rice and wheat shochus during the reduced-pressure shochu craze. Yutaka Hirashita became the 4th generation owner after graduating from college and returning home: “I want to bring Amakusa’s unique shochu to the world.” This was the idea behind reissuing Amakusa’s original Ikenotsuyu potato shochu. Seven years of planning finally resulted in building a new dedicated stillhouse. Hirahata’s father had kept the distillery’s original aging pots to use when they finally started making potato shochu again; these pots were installed in the new stillhouse after years of waiting. Making potato shochu again was a dream for both father and son. Amakusa’s potato shochu, made with potatoes and rice grown by the distillery, is a full-bodied, sweet shochu with a deep flavor. Hirashita is proud of making shochu that only small distilleries can make, and is experimenting with a rare kabuto-style still. Amakusa produces a wide range of shochus, from delicately sweet rice shochus, to well-aged koshu shochu.