Yanagita Shuzo

Yanagita Shuzo – The Character of Barley

Founded in 1902 in Miyakonojo, Miyazaki, Yanagita Shuzo is the oldest shochu distillery in the city and a small family-run producer with a distinctly individual approach to barley shochu.

The distillery’s signature Aokage is a perfect expression of that philosophy. Made from carefully selected two-row barley, it is intentionally left slightly cloudy, preserving more of the grain’s character and creating a rich, full-bodied spirit with a long, gently sweet finish reminiscent of roasted barley.

Yanagita draws on the exceptional groundwater of the Miyakonojo Basin, naturally filtered through the surrounding mountains. Small-scale production allows the distillery to focus closely on fermentation, distillation and the personality of each raw material.

For Yanagita, preserving tradition does not mean repeating the past. It means building on what came before and continuing to create shochu that reflects its time.

Born from tradition. Driven by curiosity.