Outline of the 47th Honkaku Shochu and Awamori Contest
National Research Institute of Brewing
Japan Sake and Shochu Makers AssociationJune 21, 2024
1. ContestHonkaku Shochu and Awamori are the Japanese spirits distilled in a pot still.
The 47th Honkaku Shochu and Awamori Contest was held under the joint auspices of the National
Research Institute of Brewing (NRIB) and the Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association (JSS) on June 4and 5, 2024. For this contest, a nationwide research of pot distillation Shochu, patticulary Honkaku Shochuand Awamori, were conducted with the aim of clarifying the current manufacturing technology and trends
in liquor quality, as well as contributing to the improvement of pot distillation Shochu (Honkaku Shochuand Awamori) qualities.
2. Special rules for entry(1) Qualification for entry
Manufacturers which hold a license to produce pot distillation Shochu (Honkaku Shochu and Awamori).
(2) Applicable standard for entry
Entries must be products of Honkaku Shochu and Awamori to be sold on the market or during storage ascommercially available. The number of entries per a manufacture is limited within 8 items.
(3) Entry fee
Members of the JSS: 5,500 yen per entry.
Others: 8,250 yen per entry.
3. Overview of entries
A total of 200 entries (88% of entries compared with previous year) were exhibited from 75
manufacturers (93%) in 24 prefectures. The overall number of entries decreased by 28 compared with thatin the previous year (Table 1).
4. Trends among entries(1) Production area
As for the production area, the number of entries from Kyushu (Fukuoka and Kumamoto Regional
Taxation Bureaus; Table 1) (150 entries) and Okinawa (19 entries), which are the main production areasfor Honkaku Shochu and Awamori, are 169 that made up 85% of the total (Table 1).
(2) Varieties of raw materials
The following entries were received, rice Shochu: 31 (decreased by 4 compared with that in the previousyear), barley Shochu: 72 (increased by 6), sweet potato Shochu: 54 (decreased by 28), Awamori: 19(decreased by 4), sake lees Shochu: 12 (increased by 1), buckwheat Shochu: 4 (no change compared withthat in the previous year), brown sugar Shochu: 3 (decreased by 1), and other Shochu: 5 (increased by 2)(Table 2).
(3) Varieties of products techniques
Entries from normal products numbered 146 (86%). Entries from the special products, including longterm aged, cask-aged or earthenware jar-aged Shochu, numbered 54 (92%) (Table 3).

5. Judging panels
The judging panel consisted of 15 members who were appointed by the president of NRIB from Shochu
and Awamori manufacturers recommended by JSS, Shochu and Awamori specialists from prefecturalresearch centers, technical officers of Regional Taxation Bureaus, and the president and staff of NRIB
(Table 4).
The individual judgement process has been conducted since the 43th Honkaku Shochu and Awamori
Contest in 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID-19. After May 2023, COVID-19 was reclassified intoclass 5, and the implementation of infection control measures was left to the judgment of individuals.
However, we decided to continue conducting the individual judgement process for this judgement.
The judges were seated at their assigned seats at regular intervals, and the samples were poured into
plastic cups, closed with caps, and served on trays to the judges individually. Each judge also used theirown vessels to spit out. Additionally, we installed splash-proof partitions in the judging room.
In order to total the judging results, paper-based mark cards had been used since the 11th Honkaku Shochu
and Awamori Contest in 1987. However, tablet computer devices were used in this judgement as substitutes
for mark cards.
The sensory evaluation was conducted by a profile method, whereby 5 characteristics (raw materialcharacteristics, rich/light, sweetness, aftertaste, and the total evaluation) were assessed on a 5-point scale.
In addition, the presence/absence of 17 positive and 24 negative characters was considered in a check-tallall-apply manner (Figure).
6. Chemical analysis
To evaluate the level of manufacturing techniques, the chemical compounds, which are potentialindicators of fermentation management, distillation operations, and storage management, were analyzed.
The results of the sensory evaluation and the chemical analysis will be informed to all the manufacturers
applied for entries.
7. Quality trends(1) Shochu made from rice and barley was mainly fruity and mild tasted, that made from sweet potato wasmainly floral, that made from sake lees was mainly highly fruity, and Awamori was mainly full-bodied.
(2) As for normal products, fruity aromas were highly expressed in vacuum-distilled rice Shochu, vacuumdisdilled barley Shochu, the blend of both distilled barley Shochu, and vacuum-distilled sweet potato
Shochu. Roasting aromas and rich tastes were highly expressed in atmospheric-distilled barley Shochu.
Clear tastes and sweet tastes were highly expressed in vacuum-distilled sweet potato Shochu. Rich tastes
were highly expressed in atmospheric-distilled Awamori. Fruity aromas, sweet tastes and clear tastes werehighly expressed, and the average evaluation value was relatively good in vacuum-distilled sake lees
Shochu.
(3) As for long-term aged products, long-term aged Awamori had matured aromas, rich tastes, sweet tastes.
Long-term aged sweet potato Shochu had floral aromas, sweet tastes, and the average evaluation value wasrelatively good.
(4) As for cask-aged products, the properties derived from cask were highly evaluated in cask-aged barley
Shochu and cask-aged rice Shochu. In addition, smooth tastes were highly expressed in cask-aged riceShochu.
(5) As for earthenware jar-aged products, smooth tastes were highly expressed in earthenware jar-aged sweet
potato Shochu.

Judging room

Seating: Seats were spaced at least 2 meters apart. Splash-proof screens wereinstalled on each desk.

Serving: A plastic cup (140 ml volume) was filled with a sample (30 ml), andeach cup was covered with a cap. They were placed on a tray. The tray wasthen individually served to a judge

Table 1 Number of manufactures and entries per prefecture in the 47th Honkaku Shochu and Awamori Contest
Manufacturer location

Regional
Prefecture
Taxation Bureau
SapporoSendai

Kanto-Shinetsu

TokyoKanazawa

NagoyaOsaka

Hiroshima

Takamatsu

Fukuoka

Kumamoto

Okinawa
Total

Number ofmanufactures

Total number of entries
per Taxation Bureau
OfficeNumber of entries
Varieties of single distilled shochu

47th

46th

47th
Rice

BarleySweet potato

Awamori Sake lees Buckwheat Brown sugar

46th

47th

Comparedwithpreviousyear

46th

Other

(%)

Hokkaido00--------

00

Aomori00--------

00
2

Iwate

1

12-------2

Miyagi11----1---

11

Akita

00--------00

Yamagata

112-------

22

Fukushima

11-2------22

Ibaraki

11----2---

2

3

Tochigi

01--------

02

Gunma

00--------

00

Saitama00--------00

Niigata

541-

-

-

41-

-

68

Nagano00--------00

Chiba

00--------00Tokyo

11-1------

11

Kanagawa

11----1---

12

Yamanashi

112-------22

Toyama00--------00

Ishikawa

00--------00

Fukui

00--------00

Gifu

00--------

00

Shizuoka

112-------

22

Aichi

2

1

11-

-

1---

320

Mie

00--------0

Shiga00--------00

Kyoto

00--------00

Osaka00--------00

Hyogo

121-------

120

Nara00--------0

Wakayama00--------00

Tottori

11--1-----

1

1

Shimane00--------00

Okayama

2211-----

1

34

Hiroshima00--------

00

Yamaguchi

11----

1---

11

Tokushima00--------00

Kagawa00--------00Ehime

01--------

02

Kochi

111-------

1

1

Fukuoka

78416--

21-

427

30

00-

77100

81362

4

580

00-

54125

1250

5683

13

33

46

47

98

104

118

88

Saga

1

1-

5--

---

-

55

Nagasaki

67-

113-

----

14

12

Kumamoto

55102------

1211Oita

53118-

-----

19

14

Miyazaki

552714--

2--

25

23

Kagoshima

1518

1836---

3-4870Okinawa

911---

19----

1923

19

23

83

75

81

3172

54

19

1243

5200

228

20022888

Table 2 Change in number of entries according to the varieties of single distilled shochu
Rawmaterial

Rice

BarleyComparedwith previous
awardsAwards

Sweet potato

Comparedwith previous
awardsAwamoriComparedwith previous
awardsSake leesComparedwith previous
awardsBuckwheat

Comparedwith previous
awardsBrown sugar

Comparedwith previous
awards

Other

Comparedwith previous
awards

Total

Comparedwith previous
awardsComparedwith previous
awardsNumber of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of Number of
entries
entries
entries
entries
entries
entries
entries
entries
entries
entries
entries
entries
entries
entries
entries
entries
entries
entries

1st38

-

16-

78-

24-

24-

5-

4-

15-

204-

6th

59

21

47

31

48

▲ 30

24026

2

29

24

62

33

18272

68

9th

69

10100

53

26

▲ 22

24060

34

31

27178

45395

123

10th

86

17110

1037

1137

1338

▲ 22

310103780427

3211th96

10105▲5481123▲ 1425▲ 1326▲58▲253▲ 25384▲ 4316th55▲ 4176

▲ 2924▲ 2419▲417▲821▲511327▲ 26250 ▲ 134

21st63870▲622▲217▲2271019▲24▲723▲4245▲526th67

471

1371510▲720▲716▲384241253

828th76

994

2369

32

155211226113273335

82

31st57▲ 1990▲4103

34281322121▲17▲426▲1354

1936th23▲ 3454▲ 3668

▲ 3520▲814▲80▲ 213▲48▲ 18190 ▲ 16437th31857353▲ 1513▲713▲122637▲1182▲838th21▲ 1050▲766

131636▲7202▲44▲3167▲ 1539th25467

1774815▲114831421172134640th32

7670881422713▲130407▲4236

2341st26▲677

1098

1018▲413041735▲2248

1242nd24▲295

1885▲ 1317▲18▲53▲12▲54▲1238▲ 1043rd

22▲271▲ 2473▲ 1217080301▲12▲2197▲ 4144th

24271068▲513▲41132▲12120193▲445th2407326911741212042422051246th

351166▲7821323611▲142403▲1228

2347th31▲472654▲ 28

19▲4121403▲152200▲ 28

Note 1: "Compared with previous awards" for 36th, 31st, 28th, 26th, 21st, 16th, 9th and 6th refers to comparisons to
the 31st, 28th, 26th, 21st, 16th, 11th, 6th and 1st Awards, respectively.
Note 2: Underlined numbers are the highest numbers of entries in the past.

Table 3 Details of products in the 47th Honkaku Shochu and Awamori Contest
Normal products

Varieties of single distilled shochu

Special products
Total

Vacuumdistillation

Atmosphericdistillation

Blend

SubtotalLong-term
aging

Cask aging

Earthenware
jar aging

Subtotal

Number ofentries

Number ofentries

Number ofentries

Number ofentries

Number ofentries

Number ofentries

Number ofentries

Number ofentries

Number of
entries

47th

46th

47th

46th

47th

46th

47th

46th

47th

46th

47th

46th

47th

46th

47th

46th

47th

46th

Rice192421--

21

25

53461

1101031

35

Barley32

3189141054

50

32

1414

1-

18167266

Sweet potato

4838512344623624

510102054

82

Awamori

-

21214

1

1

13

17

56-

-

1-

6619

23

Sake lees

66-

-

-

-

664

322-

-

651211

Buckwheat

23-

-

1

13

41-

-

-

-

-

1-

4

4

Brown sugar

-

1

11-

-

1

2

121--

-

2

2

34Other

43---

-

43-

-

1---

1-

53Gyokuro1-----

1---------

1-

Kudzu vine

1

1---

-

1

1--------

1

1

Chestnut-

1-----

1---------

1

Sesame

1

1-

--

-

1

1--------

1

1

Japanese barnyard millet

1----

-

1---------

1-

Yam

-

---------

1---

1-

1-

67

78

6176

1815146169

22222426

81154

59

200228

DetailTotal

Table 4 List of Judging panels for the 47th Honkaku Shochu and Awamori Contest

Organization and PositionName

1SUDO, Shigetoshi

Japan Sake and Shochu Makers
Association

Technical Advisor

2TANAKA, Kentarou

EBISU SHUZO CO., LTD.

Representative Director

3

YOKOYAMA, Yuzo

Omoya Brewery Co., Ltd.

Representative Director

4

NAGASAWA, Yoshikazu SANWA SHURUI Co., Ltd.

Deputy General Manager,
Supply Chain Management Division

KOMASA JYOZO CO., LTD.

Distillery Manager and Master Blender,
Production Division

SAWADA, Kazutaka

Industrial Technology Center of SagaResearcher, Division of food andcosmetics

7TANAKA, Ryoichi

Kumamoto Industrial ResearchInstituteChief Researcher, Food Science andTechnology

8OCHI, Hiroshi

9TAMAMURA, Takako

10KURAMITSU, Junichi Fukuoka Regional Taxation Bureau

5BIRO, Makoto

6Miyazaki Prefectural Food Research Chief Researcher, Applied Microorganismand Development Center
Department
Okinawa Industrial Technology
CenterSupervisory Researcher
Director, Office of Analysis and Brewing
TechnologyKumamoto Regional Taxation
BureauChief Technical Officer, Office of Analysis
and Brewing Technology

Okinawa Regional Taxation Office

Technical Officer, Indirect Tax Division

FUKUDA, Hisashi

National Research Institute ofBrewing

President

14

MUKAI, Nobuhiko

National Research Institute ofBrewing

Director, Brewing Technology Division

15

MASAKI, Kazuo

National Research Institute ofBrewing

Duputy Director, Brewing Microbiology
Division

11

SHINODA, Noriko12

IEHARA, Maki13

FigureTablet Judging Screen for the 47 th Honkaku Shochu and Awamori Contest(Image)

5-point scale evaluation
Overall evaluation
Raw material characteristics
Body
Sweet taste
Aftertaste
Optional checks(aroma, flavor wheel)
FruityFloralSweet
Roast, Smoky
Sulfury
Volatile acids, Milk product
Herbal, Solvent
Oily, Mushroom

Optional checks(aroma, material and process)Raw material characteristic
Distillation-derived
Cask-aged, earthenware jar-aged
Lingering scent

Optional checks (taste)
Full body
Light body
Sweetness
Clean
SmoothOptional checks (balance)
Total balanceComment/Advice