FUKUOKA/KUMAMOTO, Japan -- Traditionally known for its shochu, a clear liquor made from grains, potatoes, sugar cane and more, Japan's southwestern region of Kyushu has become home to a budding whisky industry as craft distillers chase a larger, more global audience.
Surrounded by vegetable fields and rice paddies, Shindo Distillery began producing whisky in the Fukuoka Prefecture city of Asakura in summer 2021. The facility belongs to Shinozaki, a storied barley shochu maker founded in 1922.
