We’ve always heard how alcohol and cuisine come as a pair – alcoholic beverages made for the sole purpose to be the other half of a meal. By now, the soul bound relationship between food and booze is as good the natural laws of truth.

Kagoshima is yet again a fascinating example of this tale. Being the southern-most prefecture of mainland Japan, as well as an active volcanic zone, the history of imo shochu (sweet potato shochu) is a story of terroir and evolution.

I tumbled down this rabbit hole without intending to. I was recommended to check out Bar Ishizue, a shochu bar that was well stocked with the local Kagoshima produce. It started out as me doing some last minute homework on Komasa Jyozo, the parent of the Kanosuke Distillery that I was visiting next noon. Much like most of human history, one thing led to another, and a quick tipple on Komasa’s shochus in a specialty shochu bar kickstarted a chain of cause and effect, digging me deeper into the fascinating world of Kagoshima and her sweet potato distillates.

That said, before I start off this deep dive proper, I would want to sincerely thank the bartenders and owners of Bar Ishizue and Bar Roku.  I wouldn’t have discovered this rabbit hole of Kagoshima imo shochus if not for their patient guidance. More on that later!

This will be the first of Keeping up with the Kagoshima-ns:  a deep dive on Kagoshima and satsuma imo shochu, a bar(s) escapade, followed by a three part Shochu review. I sincerely hope that by the time you’re done reading this series, you’ll want to grab some sweet potatoes to eat (or even better, a glass of imo shochu). This was quite an adventure that I’m sure I’ll have difficulty capturing concisely.

How did sweet potato get to Japan?

Sweet potato seemed to always have that intuitive connection with Asian cuisine: yet, sweet potatoes aren’t native to Asia. Instead, they are native to South America, domesticated around 5,000 years ago. The latin name, Ipomoea batatas, got its name from how the natives called it: batatas. There is some debate as to who gets credited for the spread of sweet potatoes around the world: the Spanish and Columbus were initially credited for spreading the tuber from South America to Europe and the rest of the world, but carbon dating has found that Polynesians might have the rightful claim instead, at 1,000 A.D during the Age of Discovery.

A sweet potato. Source: Japopo

More importantly, how did sweet potatoes arrive to Japan? They were introduced in modern-day Okinawa, also known as the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1605. The potato went through Central and South America, Spain, Philippines, China, and finally Ryukyu Kingdom. 100 years later, a sailor returned back from a trip to the Ryukyu Kingdom back to the mainland, which during the time was a separate country that paid tributes to the shogunate in Edo (Tokyo). Then, the southernmost tip, known as Kagoshima today, was known as Satsuma Domain.

Old map of Kagoshima, still being named as Satsuma (Country) 薩摩国. Source: Kagoshima Fumoto

The sailor, named Riemon, is the man who brought what he thought was a bunch of strange looking roots to Satsuma Domain. After trying out the delicious tuber at Ryukyu Kingdom, he decided to bring some back to his home at Satsuma Domain to grow at his backyard, sharing the crop with his neighbours.

Shuri Castle of Ryukyu Kingdom. Source: Japan Guide

Soon, growing the crop began to spread across Kagoshima. Unfortunately, Riemon passed on in a typhoon shortly after bringing the sweet potato to Satsuma Domain. He was given a last name, and as Maeda Riemon, was enshrined at the Tokko Shrine, deified as a kami (god) in Shinto faith. The Tokko Shrine has also been nicknamed the kara imo jinja, or sweet potato shrine.

Tokko Shrine (徳光神社) and Maeda Riemon’s (前田利右衛門) grave. Source: More Than Tokyo

Imagine being enshrined to godhood because of a curious backyard experiment – few of us would ever have that honour.

From Ashes to Potatoes

Kuyushu is an active volcanic region, and within Kyushu itself, Kagoshima is the most active. There are 9 active volcanoes in Kagoshima, with Sakurajima being one of the most active in the world. Residents can often see volcanic ash bellowing from the mountain top.

My own picture of Sakurajima. I was told later in the day that Sakurajima erupted an hour before I took this picture.

The thing about soils rich in volcanic ash however, is that it is well draining – a bit too well. Even though rice has been the staple food of then Satsuma Domain, food security was always a struggle as the soil and climate did not favour rice harvests. However, the sweet potato thrived in Kagoshima’s dry and volcanic ash soil, which prevented the people from starving in 1732.

Sweet potato farms in Kagoshima. Source: Senganen.jp

Since then, the people fondly refer to sweet potato as Satsuma Imo, one of many names that sweet potato has in Japan (although, this one seems to have stuck around quite a fair bit, especially in Kyushu and Kagoshima). Do not confuse satsuma imo with jagaimo however, which refers to the normal, starchy brown potato for fries and mash instead.  

Some souvenirs use the name Satsuma Imo to de-mark the sweet potato さつまいも. Source: Yamafukuseika

In fact, the success of sweet potato combating starvation was such a strong one, that the shogunate in Edo (Tokyo) learned about its success. Aoki Konyo, one of the very few scholars on Western sciences then, was intrigued about this new tuber and wrote a treatise for the shogunate. He was appointed as the “sweet potato commissioner”, spreading the sweet potato across Japan, subsequently defending against future famines.

Aoki Konyo.青木昆陽  Source: Rangaku

Now, the story of distillation arriving to Japan is similar, albeit murky. There are a few prevailing theories of how distillation made its way to Japan: one, along Northern China, down the Korean Peninsula and into Kyushu; two, from China to Kagoshima, or three, via Southern China or Siam (Thailand) to Ryukyu Kingdom and up. Nevertheless, the commonality between these theories is that distillation was introduced to mainland Japan by Kyushu and made its way northwards, one way or another.

Possible theories of distillation arriving to Japan. Source: Kanpai.us

The oldest official record of distillation in Japan came from a Portuguese merchant called Jorge Alvarez, mentioning of a “spirit” made from rice in his report in modern day Kagoshima, called "Report on Japanese Matters".

Source: Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association (JSS)

The earliest known written record of shochu was discovered in 1954, only during the dismantling of the Koriyama Hachiman Shrine that graffiti was found scrawled on the shrine (sometime in 1559), complaining how the priests were stingy for not offering shochu to them. The shrine, as you guessed, was in Kagoshima as well.  

Here's a quick cheatsheet on shochu production techniques by us!

Shochu over ice, or rocks ロックス as they say in Japan. Source: The Japan Store

Distilled spirits made from rice (essentially rice shochu) was already made long before sweet potatoes were introduced to mainland Japan. However, much like sake, alcohol was usually reserved for the wealthy and noble, being that precious food resources were used to make booze. It came as no surprise that when more shochu makers experimented with different grains and produce to make shochu, the abundance of sweet potatoes was an obvious choice to make.

Shochu distillers. Source: Kagoshima Kankou

Now, that covers much of sweet potato and shochu’s early beginnings. Phew – that was a long read, but a necessary backdrop to the coming bar escapades, Bar Ishizue and Bar Roku. Stay tuned!

@vernoncelli