A sugar cane mill on Tokunoshima

Tokunoshima, Kagoshima, Japan

Takaoka Jozo Co., Ltd.

Fermentation and distillation, rooted in Tokunoshima.

© Indiana jo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Founded
1947
Location
Tokunoshima, Kagoshima, Japan
What they make
Rum, kokuto shochu
Selected products handled by WAIN99
Omiki (GOD’s Rum)

Rum from Tokunoshima sugar cane.

Takaoka Jozo is a small distillery on a shopping street in Kametsu, Tokunoshima. Founded in 1947, it makes Japanese rum and kokuto (brown sugar) shochu.

The distillery describes Rurikakesu, a rum it has made since 1979, as “the first domestic rum produced in the postwar period”. Its rum is made only from sugar cane molasses, and the distillery developed a method using natural yeast that it cultivates itself from papaya.

Rurikakesu, which gives the rum its name, is a bird (Lidth’s jay) found only in the Amami islands. WAIN99 carries Omiki (GOD’s Rum).

  • Made only from sugar cane molasses
  • Its own natural yeast, cultivated from papaya
  • Producing Rurikakesu rum since 1979
  • Kokuto shochu stored in oak casks
The Takaoka Jozo building
The Takaoka Jozo buildingPhoto: Takaoka Jozo Co., Ltd.
Tokunoshima from the air
Tokunoshima from the air© Opqr · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Harvested sugar cane
Harvested sugar cane© Indiana jo · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

WAIN99 / SELECTED DRINKS

Products from this maker