tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64400331825324608682024-03-14T02:28:44.725-07:00Nonjatta - shōchūUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6440033182532460868.post-52139031703781381742006-07-27T18:09:00.000-07:002007-11-12T19:42:13.067-08:00Basic course: Introduction<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVuP1X5CHSwePhLTGwbKSaGcDteeWMapd2c4DdQGdRTKz0aaRN5HpM6EkdVuC56LIMLuzC1_XcnvKyXvyfKxDw9iGageQmVRn9mNCuzuIUgNUKMfooT6Hb_PuV3BJAA5RijFPuPGI8KLo/s1600-h/blackshochu.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVuP1X5CHSwePhLTGwbKSaGcDteeWMapd2c4DdQGdRTKz0aaRN5HpM6EkdVuC56LIMLuzC1_XcnvKyXvyfKxDw9iGageQmVRn9mNCuzuIUgNUKMfooT6Hb_PuV3BJAA5RijFPuPGI8KLo/s400/blackshochu.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092054499187052530" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Shōchū</span> is Japan's indigenous distilled spirit. It is quite different from its more widely known sibling sake and has its own tradition in the Southern part of Japan dating back at least to the 1500s.<br /><br />It has had a resurgence in popularity in Japan in recent years, with a huge variety of quality spirits now on the market and smart new <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">shōchū</span> bars lined with all shapes and sizes of the drink very much the cool places to hang out. However, it is still under explored by non-Japanese. In my opinion, this partly because it is often quite difficult to understand the labeling of <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">shōchū</span> bottles. That is the hurdle this four lesson course is aimed at vaulting.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1k5B8RtzgaCO0dUiu7RegNWq7LrxgMaOa0lI8nMnkXvCHrcxvFvwo0yxvqmaXG7hCXfcHUCVh9tUiuJnhcPUI9vEC0vuTH2TWnsAJfrG2dTBALzktVQf1oqiBfwdaZj21jbiW9LbpoA/s1600-h/shochubar2.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd1k5B8RtzgaCO0dUiu7RegNWq7LrxgMaOa0lI8nMnkXvCHrcxvFvwo0yxvqmaXG7hCXfcHUCVh9tUiuJnhcPUI9vEC0vuTH2TWnsAJfrG2dTBALzktVQf1oqiBfwdaZj21jbiW9LbpoA/s400/shochubar2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5092079779364556834" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">In a <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">shōchū</span> bar</span></span><br /><br />This course is aimed at the consumer. I am not going to go into the technical details of production unless it helps people better understand the differences between the bottles in front of them. Neither am I offering a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">connoisseurs</span>' course here: no insights into taste, history etc. Before you can become a connoisseur you have to be able to buy the drink. We will do the other stuff some other time. Finally, this is not Japanese language course. We are only going to be looking at 10 or 11 words that will help us get vital info off the back of a bottle.<br /><br />I believe that with a cool head and these four lessons anybody can start to navigate their way around the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">shōchū</span> shelves, even without any understanding of the language. The course ends with a <a href="http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg58wrc4_156gpsjrh">vocab crib sheet</a> to take along with you if you ever get a chance to go <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">shōchū</span> hunting.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/basic-course-introduction.html">Intro</a></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">--</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/05/basic-introduction-to-shch.html">Lesson 1</a> -- <a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/various-shch-ingredients.html">Lesson 2</a></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> -- </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/lesson-3-what-is-kji.html">Lesson 3</a></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> -- </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/lesson-4-reading-bottle.html">Lesson 4</a></span></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">--</span> <a href="http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg58wrc4_156gpsjrh"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Vocab</span></a><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">The photographs come courtesy of </span><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nagarazoku/254767491/">Titanium 22</a><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"> and <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/typester/6903834/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Typester</span></a> respectively. Both come with share alike conditions.</span></span><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6440033182532460868.post-69281920879715991922006-07-19T17:43:00.000-07:002007-11-12T19:42:42.506-08:00Lesson 1: The two basic categories of shōchū<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=500497973&size=o"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjuj7WARhhyphenhyphenRy1EuxJe_IduMrm1mZxkbL3qbkK2pU23fMGYZCsSMgfn7uPrc8-4hklMZeNf0Tvdm78I5Y-s49lvZi2c8W3JEUfmHo6Fs1Tv_hnGvK98Z-IZ68YPxMLd9uruvhC_yrzDGE/s400/shochu+selection.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089139562243846354" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Shōchū</span> (焼酎) means "burning sake". It is a distilled spirit (unlike sake, which is a brewed rice wine) and typically has a much higher alcohol content than sake, ranging between 20 and 45 per cent.<br /><br />These are the characters for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">shōchū</span>:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZA39osoXPgpfZ9zDlN4xikfWSL9qAqYB5U5ieFhfwejhSeKSaKd6FUrffIUTF3FNG_ItN8eHwXaIAtaXDDn2TAcgPEnu4VW8R3n0MTG79yGwPT7SrRYjgFabjmS7lQfMUxNI61mgm2Ro/s1600-h/shochu.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZA39osoXPgpfZ9zDlN4xikfWSL9qAqYB5U5ieFhfwejhSeKSaKd6FUrffIUTF3FNG_ItN8eHwXaIAtaXDDn2TAcgPEnu4VW8R3n0MTG79yGwPT7SrRYjgFabjmS7lQfMUxNI61mgm2Ro/s400/shochu.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070164174645752482" border="0" /></a><br /><br />You should find them somewhere on the bottle, in some kind of stylised form.<br /><br /><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Shōchū</span> is made from all kinds of things: potato, rice, barley, buckwheat etc. etc. etc.. However, all of these spirits fit into two major and very different classifications:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Korui</span> (甲類) <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">shōchū</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIgis8RY14YUclQJxD8Q16eMjKStvstlFbeBK6gOYlQjm15cuWfmk_3gqXoX8zRXBSfpJ4UlyURTI4TCZNIm_g-xFg8HriDkTgHZ0LiJ8__olSdgyOVQbWAgnlGA3gQxEmlLfGM3v9hUc/s1600-h/korui.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIgis8RY14YUclQJxD8Q16eMjKStvstlFbeBK6gOYlQjm15cuWfmk_3gqXoX8zRXBSfpJ4UlyURTI4TCZNIm_g-xFg8HriDkTgHZ0LiJ8__olSdgyOVQbWAgnlGA3gQxEmlLfGM3v9hUc/s400/korui.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070166223345152690" border="0" /></a><br /><br />This is sometimes abbreviated to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">kōshu</span> (甲酎<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7kAid2dDoIHmbo0p5NBcX2bV689yPpA5iUTBw46q-ic2ppam3Rex0zP_EGODMYm6eLG4fngUCb8JSMDikxHO7-xRAALcaJuLh9XBwGJySBMQeb3bL0O71EK8nDgb2OtMIJtdVhJg_-w/s1600-h/koshu.jpg"></a>).<br /><br />This is a multiply distilled spirit and is best compared to vodka. In general, fairly characterless and odourless. To confuse things, the "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">Kō</span>" in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">kōrui</span> actually means "first rank", but this is the colourless liquid that they sell dirt cheap in huge plastic containers in Japanese supermarkets. There are posher brands but lets move along the supermarket aisle to the really interesting stuff:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_14">Honkaku</span> (本格) </span>or <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_15">Otsurui</span> (乙類) </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_16">shōchū</span></span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAa5PQ5DS6R_t8MzWe0Cmg0fS6sUX3XnrKoLRtTQJ-ooouA-tfOFyrphVrX7lw3k4NEwISqA51VFi23VAJAwiLvGHXv2mwJUJSsksQR_CkPDPY9KVS6DIx3P9BwE0VeagoxDLBpFsBEZQ/s1600-h/honkaku.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAa5PQ5DS6R_t8MzWe0Cmg0fS6sUX3XnrKoLRtTQJ-ooouA-tfOFyrphVrX7lw3k4NEwISqA51VFi23VAJAwiLvGHXv2mwJUJSsksQR_CkPDPY9KVS6DIx3P9BwE0VeagoxDLBpFsBEZQ/s400/honkaku.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070167043683906258" border="0" /></a><br />or<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWB5YhlVNdB5kAWDiU0OnSPnuIY0RT2x8w2UcMGSlxnhOQLvx4zfS_GSH0NTiPfq6VAQv6SYZNa3um2oXB9PtkXYl2fSrUgQXbvNbxf2CNdn3dO_kZdfh36i7drQe7K7Rka7oxSbg-ibM/s1600-h/otsurui.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWB5YhlVNdB5kAWDiU0OnSPnuIY0RT2x8w2UcMGSlxnhOQLvx4zfS_GSH0NTiPfq6VAQv6SYZNa3um2oXB9PtkXYl2fSrUgQXbvNbxf2CNdn3dO_kZdfh36i7drQe7K7Rka7oxSbg-ibM/s400/otsurui.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5070167529015210722" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span>This is the stuff I am fascinated by. It used to be called <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_17">otsurui</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_18">shōchū</span>, which means "second rank", but, because this legal classification was misleading people into thinking it was second rate, its makers have been allowed to call it <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_19">Honkaku</span>, which means authentic or "classical method" <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_20">shōchū</span>. It is singly distilled and often retains more of the character of the original ingredients than <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_21">kōrui</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_22">shōchū</span>.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/basic-course-introduction.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/basic-course-introduction.html">Intro</a></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">--</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/05/basic-introduction-to-shch.html">Lesson 1</a> -- <a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/various-shch-ingredients.html">Lesson 2</a></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> -- </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/lesson-3-what-is-kji.html">Lesson 3</a></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> -- </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/lesson-4-reading-bottle.html">Lesson 4</a></span></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">--</span> <a href="http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg58wrc4_156gpsjrh"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Vocab</span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/lesson-4-reading-bottle.html"></a></span></span></div><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></span><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">See <a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/05/not-seeing-japanese-characters.html">this entry</a> if your browser can't read the Japanese characters in brackets.<br />The photograph is taken from <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohira5/"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_23">islodelba</span></a>. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_24">Islodelba</span> is sharing it on these <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">creative commons conditions</a><span style="color: rgb(192, 192, 192);">.</span><br /></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6440033182532460868.post-56221314828866995122006-07-19T17:30:00.000-07:002007-11-12T19:43:13.310-08:00Lesson 2: The many ingredients of shōchū<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=245133299&size=l"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghgH3_rc65mEgoZnSBm-DRXrSR-DgKCqw4iDBYnuFKZAdThPXHCMz3_0ZvFuT7vmsFUPh6HSJWCndZ4raKK038cPOLBq02cbZwIJQ2iq10cx7xG2c-B41fB_cVbiV-8EcrWcUobqvUdPw/s400/ricecultivation.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089137144177258690" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Shōchū (焼酎) can be made of all sorts of things. There are a few standard types but I have seen a variety of weird and wonderful base ingredients: <a href="http://www.matsumotoya-sake.com/makiba.html">milk</a>, pumpkin, green pepper, <a href="http://www.tsuzumiya.com/goods.php?no=13">chestnut</a>, carrot, shiso leaf, sesame<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sh%C5%8Dch%C5%AB#_note-ingredients"></a>. Some of these shōchūs are one-off gimmicks, so I will concentrate for now on four classic shōchū bases:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Barley etc. shōchū<br /><br /></span>The Japanese word "mugi" (<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="t_nihongo_kanji" lang="ja">麦</span></span>) has quite a broad meaning. It can refer to a wide variety of cereal grains such as wheat, barley, rye, and even oats. Mugij<span>ōchū</span> (<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="t_nihongo_kanji" lang="ja">麦焼酎</span></span>), meaning "mugi" sh<span>ōchū, is therefore not a tightly defined term. These are the characters for </span>mugi<span>:<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfUyn0obyUV8Gyh4cKJEaNcL3wxDrQdgMB4e4b-pYA-7tiW4UK2FAfciUwO8w4nTrLyJtRPO4Tm9khVuqKK9y-J0HwArLrqOaG_9QmLW3X7QfKNh82G-T88qi4klA0W1KlYNmaNPANSWk/s1600-h/mugi.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfUyn0obyUV8Gyh4cKJEaNcL3wxDrQdgMB4e4b-pYA-7tiW4UK2FAfciUwO8w4nTrLyJtRPO4Tm9khVuqKK9y-J0HwArLrqOaG_9QmLW3X7QfKNh82G-T88qi4klA0W1KlYNmaNPANSWk/s400/mugi.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089086051246305314" border="0" /></a><br /><span><br />Or you may see the same word spelt out in the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana">hiragana syllabary</a>, in which case the same word would look like this:<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfIpKQOkpUv55NLzd06_ObXfxLlcvcLZ2t95L92jcfQnuR6SoloFsy-rXNr5Ur2pgFTeVKTBwMnwErsbM_AFgc57y1-I5jmk-Xh7lDkA7dHWCXke9aU_eb2J9SAYzurKq4wMOo_bUnVF8/s1600-h/Mugihiragana.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfIpKQOkpUv55NLzd06_ObXfxLlcvcLZ2t95L92jcfQnuR6SoloFsy-rXNr5Ur2pgFTeVKTBwMnwErsbM_AFgc57y1-I5jmk-Xh7lDkA7dHWCXke9aU_eb2J9SAYzurKq4wMOo_bUnVF8/s400/Mugihiragana.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091885367669903170" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span>Just to give an idea of how this might be combined with characters we looked at in the last lesson, </span>mugij<span>ōchū would look like this:<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQeDG2PkPGK7QR7K1J2PwubgfHPDOdS7i3uSlB_NLeQHYZR_cLsWHC2-6dmq1n1RYbxeZyPIErk3unFJCYg9pO4i9m6F3mto11YqmIaAP4Xh7hKTF4obg_8puiXYqk2swFYw7ugnJd2dY/s1600-h/mugijochu.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQeDG2PkPGK7QR7K1J2PwubgfHPDOdS7i3uSlB_NLeQHYZR_cLsWHC2-6dmq1n1RYbxeZyPIErk3unFJCYg9pO4i9m6F3mto11YqmIaAP4Xh7hKTF4obg_8puiXYqk2swFYw7ugnJd2dY/s400/mugijochu.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089086145735585842" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Rice shōchū</span><br /><br />The Japanese word for uncooked rice is "kome" and rice shōchū <span style="font-weight: normal;">is called komej</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">ōchū </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">(<span class="t_nihongo_kanji" lang="ja">米焼酎). This is the character for "kome":<br /><br /></span></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPiSS42l_KK6O-n7xIo9yCEYd0VbUlAHsxt2iBvBlceJ-oo25jSyvAAT8wtztVi0fyKmnebwYbZDA_Q3WKZChbnKdWNvtDaMcaLgXLAj7NnSt0uXC3o4uF1WCs5uBfwBG7ts2ixptGdl0/s1600-h/kome.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPiSS42l_KK6O-n7xIo9yCEYd0VbUlAHsxt2iBvBlceJ-oo25jSyvAAT8wtztVi0fyKmnebwYbZDA_Q3WKZChbnKdWNvtDaMcaLgXLAj7NnSt0uXC3o4uF1WCs5uBfwBG7ts2ixptGdl0/s400/kome.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089093305446068290" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Or the same word in hiragana:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPvwxNd8N6bWREBkISs23jeVIyWw9phnaKkQtrLgT5I0_hIYf0inBnYzx8nJ_GD_yNrc6khSR89OfRykaO1p2c3PFOS4jrRmZzcfpItSIUaEBX58Xb_s3mRet2P_DhIrFHUp-QQ4zL_o8/s1600-h/komahira.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPvwxNd8N6bWREBkISs23jeVIyWw9phnaKkQtrLgT5I0_hIYf0inBnYzx8nJ_GD_yNrc6khSR89OfRykaO1p2c3PFOS4jrRmZzcfpItSIUaEBX58Xb_s3mRet2P_DhIrFHUp-QQ4zL_o8/s400/komahira.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091886720584601426" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Just substitute the character/hiragana for the "mugi" character in "mugij<span>ōchū" above to get "kome</span>j<span>ōchū". Getting the hang of this?</span><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Potato s</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">hōchū</span><br /><br />The Japanese word for potato is "imo" and, if you have been paying attention to the emerging pattern here, you will have guessed that potato sh</span><span>ōchū is known as "imoj</span><span>ōchū" (</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="t_nihongo_kanji" lang="ja">芋焼酎</span></span><span>). Sweet Satsuma Imo potatoes are often used. Some people</span> find the smell of sharp taste of many imoj<span>ōchū challenging, but I am a fan.</span> The character for "imo" is:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj99ydxvpxaP1U3JwZMG9LnFNIDfBxJMz57u9OucGpMiJ6G1LEtkRY80Xuisty_6YR1By1gAADYCjnh_ZL0F_eCOrQco1iv_5PwNMXJA-DMtA-rVpvWw35tKZPZFc8tWd5B8nKjia-Dks/s1600-h/Imo.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj99ydxvpxaP1U3JwZMG9LnFNIDfBxJMz57u9OucGpMiJ6G1LEtkRY80Xuisty_6YR1By1gAADYCjnh_ZL0F_eCOrQco1iv_5PwNMXJA-DMtA-rVpvWw35tKZPZFc8tWd5B8nKjia-Dks/s400/Imo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089095513059258450" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br />In hiragana, the same word would look like this:<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMmVHzbd5PjSiv0B0uL1i45RU2KZNsYh6-rbshv4km-0Rfi35pnb2zXJ55h7IUi2974GSPp-AFNVHTMm9heLjCbUp9jMrm6c25Noo1R1HTUI2YMOU9icjE2VZ8jeAy-N6rLRtPMUQeZPg/s1600-h/imokat.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMmVHzbd5PjSiv0B0uL1i45RU2KZNsYh6-rbshv4km-0Rfi35pnb2zXJ55h7IUi2974GSPp-AFNVHTMm9heLjCbUp9jMrm6c25Noo1R1HTUI2YMOU9icjE2VZ8jeAy-N6rLRtPMUQeZPg/s400/imokat.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091891075681439618" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: normal;">You will often see "imo" in conjunction with the characters for Satsuma, which is an area on Japan's southern island:<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuaHZtoRtQ94NjJJomc4_K9YIaTwKFOGu53cAm_IeRqWj_IiZviyJpRZ3Fn0F0RGkQbr8JGoJIeT9R32pGaeGb_QUKduzR84iHN5wcYLdHx14aVXwwabGgMH-QzWB8v5vgCBiy3fsKDIc/s1600-h/satsumaimokanj.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuaHZtoRtQ94NjJJomc4_K9YIaTwKFOGu53cAm_IeRqWj_IiZviyJpRZ3Fn0F0RGkQbr8JGoJIeT9R32pGaeGb_QUKduzR84iHN5wcYLdHx14aVXwwabGgMH-QzWB8v5vgCBiy3fsKDIc/s400/satsumaimokanj.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091888700564524898" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Or in hiragana:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrm9fbF2SfE_Q4rXm0MY8XpaIsRy2I20dgQGFlr5glNwhCiNIy7MwU9KCJAZ8ZP2LH4POVLdYEoumDzZ22A-RnJkHsnIW5f36RkvZgdkLYEbHoxJr5bhVf8obhC4DDZJSa-cnexn4RXY/s1600-h/satimokat.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer; width: 284px; height: 57px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUrm9fbF2SfE_Q4rXm0MY8XpaIsRy2I20dgQGFlr5glNwhCiNIy7MwU9KCJAZ8ZP2LH4POVLdYEoumDzZ22A-RnJkHsnIW5f36RkvZgdkLYEbHoxJr5bhVf8obhC4DDZJSa-cnexn4RXY/s1600/satimokat.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091889748536545138" border="0" /></a><br /><br />You might see it in a combination of the two types of characters above, often with Satsuma spelled out in hiragana and "imo" in the more complex characters.<br /><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Buckwheat shōchū</span></span><br /><br />The Japanese word for buckwheat is "soba" (蕎麦). Many people will recognise this word as the name used for a type of Japanese noodle which is made from buckwheat. Buckwheat s<span>hōchū is called "soba</span>j<span>ōchū". As often as not, the kanji for "sobaj</span><span>ōchū</span><span>" (</span>蕎麦<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="t_nihongo_kanji" lang="ja">焼酎</span></span><span>) is not used. Instead, the simpler <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana">hiragana characters</a> are employed for the first part of the word (</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="t_nihongo_kanji" lang="ja">そば焼酎)</span></span>. The kanji characters for "Soba" would be as follows (<span>notice that the second character in the "soba" is the mugi character we encountered earlier</span><span style="font-weight: bold;">)</span>:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid2o_JVMfaiIOGfTnhP4wSBCbpQbQeftIAY7sWX1Hcb3mSESH7Ipz2aOpob8LQm7di9hF4rXF0cdQ5f5EIpv2R795Nef1xCa7yJpISqTXeD3AjmtUL6KMNi7MuIJe13fMsDdZ6gdW9cGM/s1600-h/sobakanji.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid2o_JVMfaiIOGfTnhP4wSBCbpQbQeftIAY7sWX1Hcb3mSESH7Ipz2aOpob8LQm7di9hF4rXF0cdQ5f5EIpv2R795Nef1xCa7yJpISqTXeD3AjmtUL6KMNi7MuIJe13fMsDdZ6gdW9cGM/s400/sobakanji.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089102058589417586" border="0" /></a><br />The hiragana is:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDeYKkdxys2Kx-f6DjDxNp4kovI5C45UBXce5Lqk_vjlXZtWxNyrT9v3RbAVlywJfnygyxEJNZnqNNJO6CN691XMVHG8pddiIkYFqxjJ80Vb-EVagTj3i4P2FLyKSALwRUzGcvBgN3xZw/s1600-h/soba.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDeYKkdxys2Kx-f6DjDxNp4kovI5C45UBXce5Lqk_vjlXZtWxNyrT9v3RbAVlywJfnygyxEJNZnqNNJO6CN691XMVHG8pddiIkYFqxjJ80Vb-EVagTj3i4P2FLyKSALwRUzGcvBgN3xZw/s400/soba.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089101006322430050" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br />Awamori and soju</span><br /><span><br />As I've said, there are many other types of sh</span><span>ōchū than these four main types. </span>For simplicity's sake, though, I am boiling the list down to the essentials.<br /><br />There are only two more categories of spirits that I must mention here, if only to distinguish them from sh<span>ōchū</span>. The first is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awamori">Awamori</a> (泡盛). It is made on the southern island of Okinawa out of long grain Thai rice and I believe it is properly regarded as a separate, though intimately linked, tradition of distilling from the mainland sh<span>ōchūs. It usually sits in the same section of Japanese supermarkets, though, so you need to be able to distinguish it. These are the characters for "Awamori":<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY3Nk89YFtaENLw4Toxxtv8JHimez55ci4Ue7AqXVjFdkt2pejdQjSbz9cKuD84GohxK5aehN7HJQHlbRxmH_tDfzP0e7OLmjlT_q3OIYRns_HCKp5VpcZTPYmdfR97b32m4YuMtAWV_0/s1600-h/awamori.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY3Nk89YFtaENLw4Toxxtv8JHimez55ci4Ue7AqXVjFdkt2pejdQjSbz9cKuD84GohxK5aehN7HJQHlbRxmH_tDfzP0e7OLmjlT_q3OIYRns_HCKp5VpcZTPYmdfR97b32m4YuMtAWV_0/s400/awamori.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089106186052989058" border="0" /></a><br /><br />The second type of spirits you need to be aware of are the Korean distilled spirits called "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soju">soju</a>". The name is similar but it is a completely separate tradition from sh<span>ōchū</span>. It is often to be found in the korui sh<span>ōchū</span> <span> </span>section of Japanese supermarkets (korui are is the multiply distilled, clear and in my opinion less interesting type of sh<span>ōchū</span> I distinguish from the fascinating honkaku world in <a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/">lesson one</a>.) Soju has become popular in some parts of the United States for use as a neutral spirit in cocktails. If the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Soju_jinro_gfdl.jpg">bottle is covered in Korean characters</a> or says "Jinro" or has stylised green mountains on it, then you are probably in soju territory and there, I am afraid, this particular guide must turn back.<br /><div style="text-align: right;"><br /><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/basic-course-introduction.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/basic-course-introduction.html">Intro</a></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">--</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/05/basic-introduction-to-shch.html">Lesson 1</a> -- <a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/various-shch-ingredients.html">Lesson 2</a></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> -- </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/lesson-3-what-is-kji.html">Lesson 3</a></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> -- </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/lesson-4-reading-bottle.html">Lesson 4</a></span></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">--</span> <a href="http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg58wrc4_156gpsjrh"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Vocab</span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/lesson-4-reading-bottle.html"></a><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">See <a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/05/not-seeing-japanese-characters.html">this entry</a> if your browser can't read the Japanese characters in brackets.<br />The photograph is taken from </span> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/megabn/">Megabn</a><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">.</span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6440033182532460868.post-36187838361275766372006-07-19T17:25:00.000-07:002008-09-16T20:44:10.245-07:00Lesson 3: What is kōji?<img style="width: 239px; height: 292px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIaFAnbgqluYh8lrJJJ9jda6rGm7-NyA_P79OZGbsn_9PBw_BkXAeQE0ZTb9zAjmoJf8DcwOPNhqEa97Y4bkf81U19erUHCimiUo8SpVr504Wzvy75NHKZ3nut8cYgjMq-lDf4fSXtK50/s400/koji.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089152498685341922" border="0" /><br /><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:78%;" >A microscopic photo of a kōji spore.</span><br /><br />Basically, this is the stuff that gets the party started. Here is the Japanese character for kōji:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtoCIONZn7mj9MNBUr_N6gx8irDb9C6iKFXKeFXSMunRUci2Ov-oUrMWOjL1bzolMrkaIG9CgAoi78lA6P6IhpCTqjgaey2rF5VdRlPQK4ccGr-LxYkj3ZX5gHMzw4du9hja67gCtB6ug/s1600-h/charkoji.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtoCIONZn7mj9MNBUr_N6gx8irDb9C6iKFXKeFXSMunRUci2Ov-oUrMWOjL1bzolMrkaIG9CgAoi78lA6P6IhpCTqjgaey2rF5VdRlPQK4ccGr-LxYkj3ZX5gHMzw4du9hja67gCtB6ug/s400/charkoji.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089167440876564818" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Alternatively, you might see the hiragana for kōji being used instead:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYROeAuXGCPVhwalC6zfZCq5ou8RKjKQ9TVwbw8EGe5QtdG8NK3Ue27UqjmPc2uDjRM_wKmnEl6bL27nVTn8kzt6OQfgyOwMRVPp4zaQLyI8cBcfQlRWMGhYLojPguAfFyKknDiJr5cHU/s1600-h/hirkoji.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYROeAuXGCPVhwalC6zfZCq5ou8RKjKQ9TVwbw8EGe5QtdG8NK3Ue27UqjmPc2uDjRM_wKmnEl6bL27nVTn8kzt6OQfgyOwMRVPp4zaQLyI8cBcfQlRWMGhYLojPguAfFyKknDiJr5cHU/s400/hirkoji.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089167058624475458" border="0" /></a><br /><br />I am going to keep it simple because I am a bit. Here is the really stripped down technical explanation of what kōji is:<br /><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Kōjikin</span> (麹菌) are a type of mould spore that are cultivated onto an ingredient like rice or barley to make a <span style="font-weight: bold;">kōji</span> (<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="t_nihongo_kanji" lang="ja">麹</span></span>) mould. This in turn turns starches in the ingredient into sugars. These sugars can be fermented. And we all know what that means! <span style="font-weight: bold;">Alcohol!<br /><br /></span></blockquote>Of course many of you will have knocked back gallons of beer or wine in your time without having the first clue about how they are made. So why is Kōji the third lesson in my introductory course? Because there are different types of kōji and they make a difference to the taste of shōchū.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Different types of kōjikin</span><br /><br />There are three broad categories of kōjikin (the mould spores used to make kōji):<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">White (</span>白麹菌 - shirokōjikin): Easy for the distillers to use and is therefore the most widely used shōchū kōjikin today. It was invented as recently as 1923 as a more easily used refinement of black kōjikin.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Black</span> (黒麹菌 - kurokōjikin): Is supposed to be good at extracting the characteristics of the base ingredients and imparts much more acidity than the yellow kōjikin used in sake making (see below). It is difficult to use and at one time was almost completely dropped by the shōchū industry (although it has always been used in the Okinawan awamori distilling tradition). However, it has come back into vogue and several makers advertise their use of it. I think beginners who are reading this are already probably suffering from character overload so, not wishing to overcomplicate things, the Japanese character for black is:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjma3ioR7bUs12K6ZxNB_lN4EWVVNCcVvIUEZBI0zaNw_GGLv1VGoUpZsBv0_s63mtWv7i5Vvb1qNwFzpYSASSRTWdYMLwtR7_eOVUhJcdhgUTExn4f9YQ0BHjtS6RzynSOcsAhmSmKmlo/s1600-h/kurokoji.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjma3ioR7bUs12K6ZxNB_lN4EWVVNCcVvIUEZBI0zaNw_GGLv1VGoUpZsBv0_s63mtWv7i5Vvb1qNwFzpYSASSRTWdYMLwtR7_eOVUhJcdhgUTExn4f9YQ0BHjtS6RzynSOcsAhmSmKmlo/s400/kurokoji.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089165125889192210" border="0" /></a><br /><br />If you see that character near the characters for kōji above, you have an evens chance of it being black koujikin. On the other hand, it might just be made near black mountain or by a black bottomed monk or something.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Yellow</span> (黄麹 - ki-kōjikin): Is used in sake making. Because it reacts to high temperatures very easily, it is difficult to use in the southern parts of Japan which are shōchū's stronghold. At one time it had been very widely used by honkaku shōchū makers but it fell out of favour. It has had a resurgence because it is supposed to promote a relatively light taste. The Japanese character for yellow is:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJEBnRsmZvFCGZ0Qq3Gw63UVGzP72nDy2CUJBMGgohJeO_DsqVGTxd_RrdiyiKc_2TwPrZHWXkrjCDjQg8vW435ykSqUrnTwSOAS2vV4sGLpgNRaIwS2WUGvUd5NX63e2JXLYK1doZ4o/s1600-h/kiro.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitJEBnRsmZvFCGZ0Qq3Gw63UVGzP72nDy2CUJBMGgohJeO_DsqVGTxd_RrdiyiKc_2TwPrZHWXkrjCDjQg8vW435ykSqUrnTwSOAS2vV4sGLpgNRaIwS2WUGvUd5NX63e2JXLYK1doZ4o/s400/kiro.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5093158451811012658" border="0" /></a><br /><br /></blockquote><span style="font-weight: bold;">Different kōji ingredients</span><br /><br />Many bottles of shōchū do not state clearly what kind of kōjikin they are using. However, they all state what ingredient the spores have been cultured on to to make the kōji. There are two ingredients in common use, rice and "mugi", and the choice between the two effects the flavour. It is sometimes but not always the case that the main ingredient of the shōchū is the same ingredient used to make the kōji. <span style="font-weight: bold;">You will find the characters for rice and "mugi" in the list of ingredients in </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/various-shch-ingredients.html">lesson two</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> (or in the <a href="http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg58wrc4_156gpsjrh">vocab crib sheet</a>). Look for them in conjunction with the </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">kōji characters.</span><br /><br />So, for instance, here is a label of mugi shōchū (blue underline) using mugi as the base of its kōji (red underline):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfJ21jE2t4fdDl9YB0vSjYJySYrHzdTqL0DJbb-rt_xh3K-fddszfj8Nr5NWeFr-wyrHLjgXrjqhkTj-g-zfQYbMilBZvFqLuNZ57ex0mPBhE1hAFi1g11SIZ8ULxRR-I8kNbxY9XhfUI/s1600-h/kojio1.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfJ21jE2t4fdDl9YB0vSjYJySYrHzdTqL0DJbb-rt_xh3K-fddszfj8Nr5NWeFr-wyrHLjgXrjqhkTj-g-zfQYbMilBZvFqLuNZ57ex0mPBhE1hAFi1g11SIZ8ULxRR-I8kNbxY9XhfUI/s400/kojio1.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089175154637828514" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Whereas here is a label of a mugi shōchū (blue underline) with a rice kōji (red underline):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyZ9rJ4aWKHfjM6hN1vklxLU5QVk7kB4QdfuIpQKhCnOllKF-BM_hW5UZx82OtH38BZVvYxKeoqhxbi2OSRN_7IzYi85kbAeRzfUgeEKm_WGznKxluJAAGJF27M07dNTq0l4vNqkNS1fU/s1600-h/kojio2.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyZ9rJ4aWKHfjM6hN1vklxLU5QVk7kB4QdfuIpQKhCnOllKF-BM_hW5UZx82OtH38BZVvYxKeoqhxbi2OSRN_7IzYi85kbAeRzfUgeEKm_WGznKxluJAAGJF27M07dNTq0l4vNqkNS1fU/s400/kojio2.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5089174716551164306" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><br /><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/basic-course-introduction.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/basic-course-introduction.html">Intro</a></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">--</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/05/basic-introduction-to-shch.html">Lesson 1</a> -- <a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/various-shch-ingredients.html">Lesson 2</a></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> -- </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/lesson-3-what-is-kji.html">Lesson 3</a></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> -- </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/lesson-4-reading-bottle.html">Lesson 4</a></span></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">--</span> <a href="http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg58wrc4_156gpsjrh"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Vocab</span></a><br /><br /></div><div style="text-align: right;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);font-size:85%;" >See <a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/05/not-seeing-japanese-characters.html">this entry</a> if your browser can't read the Japanese characters in brackets.</span><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6440033182532460868.post-48863302019965374022006-07-19T17:20:00.000-07:002007-11-12T19:44:02.806-08:00Lesson 4: Reading a bottleMost shōchū bottles are covered in a mass of Japanese characters that for many Westerners will look completely inaccessible. At first sight, many people will find it difficult even to distinguish the sake shelves in a Japanese supermarket from the shōchū ones. I believe this is one of the reasons why this incredibly rich corner of the the world of distilled spirits has remained terra incognita for most people outside Japan and many foreigners within it.<br /><br />However, I am confident that even someone completely ignorant of the Japanese language can, if they don't panic, begin to navigate their way around with just half a dozen or so key bits of vocab. I have put together a <a href="http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg58wrc4_156gpsjrh">crib sheet</a> to take along with you if you ever get the chance to shop for this stuff, but let's see how you fare on a dry run:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtPyPOM4Xq8LSXRGjMR3tuHhvqkGcBcJ1FxRHCAkTjxmt9rRTnpb5bvH49wh8Bn7de1pLXBTfANN4ZP99mIvzf9dFhyphenhyphenXkEx7qp0-sUTUQxAzSRVu3obpwjaMefEh0_Fw8amLk0IVQS28/s1600-h/twobottlesofshochu.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFtPyPOM4Xq8LSXRGjMR3tuHhvqkGcBcJ1FxRHCAkTjxmt9rRTnpb5bvH49wh8Bn7de1pLXBTfANN4ZP99mIvzf9dFhyphenhyphenXkEx7qp0-sUTUQxAzSRVu3obpwjaMefEh0_Fw8amLk0IVQS28/s400/twobottlesofshochu.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091897900384472978" border="0" /></a><br /><br />First, some bad news. Both of the bottles above are mugij<span>ōchūs. There appears to be no standardization at all </span>in the types of bottles used for s<span>hōchū. The bottle on the right, in particular, could easily be a sake.<br /><br />You are going to have to look closer to get any information. I recommend a "hit and run" mentality: accept from the outset that you are not going to understand everything on the bottle. After all, most people don't understand everything on a French wine bottle. They just know a few key phrases and hunt for them on the label.<br /><br />The characters on the front of the bottles displayed above are new to us (left: "Hakuho", right: "Fukuro, which is also spelt out in English characters). They are the names of the brands. They needn't delay us any longer. Let's look at the sides:<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSf-HHz7Fz6PWGRZIq0QcmnHVoGIzh36-d4aWV1QO7ZFaZ6E7499Ys7DF0NeeiKAAYwrJxe-vYrMNijQWDmsJSMmjyodgDrBJlf2Cd762YDi22C9-c1oxeDh-UGhTqu6VHqFl-kt3qkQU/s1600-h/goldshochu.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSf-HHz7Fz6PWGRZIq0QcmnHVoGIzh36-d4aWV1QO7ZFaZ6E7499Ys7DF0NeeiKAAYwrJxe-vYrMNijQWDmsJSMmjyodgDrBJlf2Cd762YDi22C9-c1oxeDh-UGhTqu6VHqFl-kt3qkQU/s400/goldshochu.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091903281978494898" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-Oi4D2xh_3jodqY7vFlGGsG1UrBUc8OIGcDidNld9ELWm2Em0ENJ1PUcduirD0V_CB_aY8IOv_7APOcOg4bbbhgcSyecVhnN7X3dNEY5bWOg799pn5SewYWcTboEyn_ZQsXynS55v0g/s1600-h/shochuscrawl.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg-Oi4D2xh_3jodqY7vFlGGsG1UrBUc8OIGcDidNld9ELWm2Em0ENJ1PUcduirD0V_CB_aY8IOv_7APOcOg4bbbhgcSyecVhnN7X3dNEY5bWOg799pn5SewYWcTboEyn_ZQsXynS55v0g/s400/shochuscrawl.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091902762287452066" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Can you spot them? The characters on the gold label were introduced in Lesson 1. The read "honkaku sh<span>ōchū", the type of sh</span><span>ōchū we are looking for. It is not always made easy to spot what we are looking for. The characters on the right column of the pottery bottle are the same! I am afraid that is the way it is going to be. About 5 to 10 per cent of bottles are just going to pass you by if you are a novice.<br /><br />But hooray! Here comes the cavalry! In many shops, the stylised info on the bottles is supplemented with a little white sticker on the back which is usually much easier to read:<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_8hOg-gYe870_51-LZOeHa2T4euWj5uimxVh0XzVbHNgJw-88dSDZbzdKaJAHfPzj9orC1tzzVVo7_KfOqv016r6_AcScerQiMAhZe2N1Dv1ltw5f7v9KXiux8k9e_aEo1lvy5dATGDs/s1600-h/fukuroback.jpg"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_8hOg-gYe870_51-LZOeHa2T4euWj5uimxVh0XzVbHNgJw-88dSDZbzdKaJAHfPzj9orC1tzzVVo7_KfOqv016r6_AcScerQiMAhZe2N1Dv1ltw5f7v9KXiux8k9e_aEo1lvy5dATGDs/s1600/fukuroback.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091907276298080210" border="0" /></a><br /><span><br />Using our "hit and run" technique we can just skim through that big block of verbiage at the top there. It is just scene setting (although if you look closely, you might find at least four familiar characters). The vital information is below it. The green arrow points to the now familiar </span>"honkaku sh<span>ōchū"</span> characters. The red arrow is the next piece of the jigsaw. It is typical to display the ingredients in this way. It says "Ingredients/barley, rice kōji". So this is a mugij<span>ōchū made with a rice k</span>ōji. I think you will be able to work out what the red arrow text is. And what might a "40" on a spirits bottle be referring to? Alcohol content, perhaps? This is a relatively strong sh<span>ōchū.<br /><br />See if you can decipher some of the information on the pottery bottle:<br /><br /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1gFZvIbFWak_U27dWYf1PYQYErQX8Dl9dtmb6Rqhdd_nsC7g5ycZlvGv8K6XZxbNRBoRQPpb-mxbvmpXJbm91kg0VKUi-JnIut9tjcyQ3gyO9HJSE_0ZWu5prWETAWMSK4kGUd-5u5cQ/s1600-h/potterylabel.JPG"><img style="cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1gFZvIbFWak_U27dWYf1PYQYErQX8Dl9dtmb6Rqhdd_nsC7g5ycZlvGv8K6XZxbNRBoRQPpb-mxbvmpXJbm91kg0VKUi-JnIut9tjcyQ3gyO9HJSE_0ZWu5prWETAWMSK4kGUd-5u5cQ/s400/potterylabel.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5091911107408908258" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/basic-course-introduction.html"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/basic-course-introduction.html">Intro</a></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">--</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/05/basic-introduction-to-shch.html">Lesson 1</a> -- <a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/various-shch-ingredients.html">Lesson 2</a></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> -- </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/lesson-3-what-is-kji.html">Lesson 3</a></span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> -- </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/lesson-4-reading-bottle.html">Lesson 4</a></span></span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">--</span> <a href="http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg58wrc4_156gpsjrh"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Vocab</span></a><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://nonjatta2.blogspot.com/2007/07/lesson-4-reading-bottle.html"></a></span></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6440033182532460868.post-55474852986532503942006-07-18T21:53:00.000-07:002007-11-12T19:44:18.677-08:00Basic course: A vocabulary crib sheet.I have put together a <a href="http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg58wrc4_156gpsjrh">short "crib sheet"</a> full of the basic terms and characters we have just reviewed. You might want to take it along with you if you get the chance to try out your shōchū skills in a real shop.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6440033182532460868.post-53692882236167320232000-05-29T18:31:00.000-07:002007-08-06T20:43:15.939-07:00Not seeing Japanese characters?If you can't see characters written in Japanese, you haven't got the right character encoding switched on in your browser. Right click and "encoding" in Explorer or "View"=>"character encoding" in Firefox or "View"=>"Encoding" in Opera. If you still cannot see them, you do not have the relevant language pack installed on the computer. This page <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Japanese#Japanese-language_Characters">tells you more</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0