A campaign is underway in Okinawa to get awamori liquor added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list.

Awamori, a distilled spirit indigenous and unique to the prefecture, was on the brink of disappearing amid the turmoil of World War II. A campaign is now afoot to ensure it not only survives but is also globally recognized as a symbol of peace.

There were dozens of distillers in the Shuri district of Naha alone before the war, but their storehouses were reduced to rubble by the "iron storm" U.S. bombardment in the last few months of the war.