SATSUMA SHUZO

Satsuma Shuzo was founded in 1936 in Makurazaki City, Kagoshima Prefecture. Located in southern Satsuma, a renowned sweet potato-producing region, the company operates three distilleries: Hinokami, Ei, and Kedogawa. Using locally grown sweet potatoes, master distillers from Kurose—an area famous for its shochu craftsmen—devote their skill and spirit to crafting the product. Since its founding, the flagship brand "Satsuma Shiranami" has been cherished around the world as a classic example of authentic imo shochu (sweet potato shochu).

Satsuma and Sweet Potato

The major islands of Japan stretch from Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu in the south. At the southernmost tip of Kyushu sits the region known in modern times as Kagoshima Prefecture, but traditionally known as Satsuma. Historically, Satsuma was the feudal domain name, only replaced late in the nineteenth century by the modern prefecture name of Kagoshima. For many people in Japan, Kagoshima is still Satsuma. Satsuma has come to be so identified with the Japanese sweet potato that the name of the Japanese sweet potato itself is, literally, Satsuma Imo (Satsuma=Kagoshima, Imo=Potato). We are located in Minami Satsuma (Minami= South), the best area for growing Satsuma Imo. Our Honkaku Imo Shochu benefits from all the favorable conditions that make Minami Satsuma the best place for making Imo shochu.