The Yatsushiro-Shiranuigura Distillery, originally founded as the Yatsushiro Plant for Sanraku Shuzo, has been making shochu for over 70 years. This distillery was built at an ideal location for shochu-making, with an on-site well supplying subsoil water from the Kuma River, and a port nearby allowing convenient shipments of potatoes from Amakusa just across the water. Head distiller Shuichi Hashimoto states, “We can make a lot of different base spirits thanks to having both a copper still that conducts heat very well, as well stainless-steel stills. With our Hakusui Shochu, using the mineral-rich water direct from the Shirakawa River Fountainhead gives the shochu a prominent aroma and soft, mellow, and clean flavor. We offer a variety of shochus, including some that borrow some of our techniques we use for making wine, such as a shochu we ferment with wine yeast.”