Back in 2019, just a few months before the Covid pandemic, I went on a tourism copywriting adventure.
My mission, if I chose to accept it, was to travel to Okinawa, Japan’s southernmost prefecture, and research then write 22 short texts on an alcohol called “awamori”.
If you haven’t heard of awamori, it’s an Okinawan distilled spirit made from Thai rice and black koji mold. It is a little like shochu, but has a richer earthier flavour. At around 35% ABV – versus 15% for sake or 25% for shochu – it’s the strongest of Japan’s traditional alcohols.
Together with an editor for the company that hired me, I spend four days visiting museums and distilleries, interviewing awamori experts, and even learning about karate (another famous Okinawan export.)
The trip was part of the Japan Tourism Agency’s massive, ongoing project to improve English signage in Japan. I wrote about that impressive project here.
The whole of Okinawa in a cup of awamori?
The reason I’ve described the project as “tourism copywriting” rather than just writing about alcohol is that, essentially, it was about introducing Okinawa itself through the medium of awamori.
The texts were very short, mostly about 250-250 words each. Here are some examples of topics the research and copywriting covered.
- – What’s the connection between awamori and the Ryukyu Islands (what are the Ryukyus?)
- – Okinawa’s awamori-drinking culture
- – Ancestor worship in Okinawa
- – Why is awamori made with Thai rice?
- – Okinawan “Yachimun” pottery
Like a lot of the tourism copywriting work I do, it was all about putting myself in the shoes of someone who perhaps doesn’t know much about Japan, or Okinawa, and explaining things as simply as possibile.
In this case, it was quite easy the trip was my first to Okinawa! (I’ve traveled all over Japan for magazine and other copywriting work, but somehow Okinawa had eluded me!)
Sake, shochu, Japanese whisky and now… awamori?
Actually, awamori came up in another job recently. Not tourism copywriting, but a series of articles I wrote for the JFOODO website. (JFOODO is the The Japan Food Product Overseas Promotion Center, an organization set up by the Japanese government to promote Japanese food and drink).
The article was about Sake Collective, a great little sake shop in London. Here’s what the shop manager Satoshi Hirasaki said about Awamori.
An interesting possibility for the future, says Hirasaki, is a drink virtually unknown in the UK so far. Awamori, which comes from the southernmost Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, is made in a similar way to shochu, but has a higher alcohol content and smoother taste. Hirasaki says that aged awamori often has a smoky flavor that could appeal to drinkers of Mexican spirits tequila and mezcal, both very popular in the UK right now.
So could awamori be the next big thing in the UK?
Awamori – Did you know?
- – Awamori is Japan’s oldest distilled drink, dating back the 15th century. It is older than the better known shochu.
- – Awamori is made using black koji mold, a unique variety suited to Okinawa’s hot and humid climate.
- – Traditionally, awamori had a number of medicinal purposes, including disinfecting wounds.
- – When awamori has been aged for three years or more it is known as “kusu”. This aged awamori is richer, more mellow and more expensive!
- – In some ancient documents, the finest awamori was described as having the fragrance of “aged goat”.
- – Awamori is traditionally served in a small ceramic cup called a “chibugwa”.
