Efforts are being made to revive awamori (粟盛) liquor using millet, a specialty from the Ryukyu Kingdom era, by Nanto Shuhan, a liquor wholesaler in the town of Nishihara, Okinawa Prefecture, and Chuko Shuzo, a distillery in the city of Tomigusuku in the same prefecture.
It is said that both rice and millet were used in the production of awamori during the time of the Ryukyu Kingdom, but millet was almost completely unavailable in the years leading up to World War II. (This millet-containing liquor is similar to — but differentiated from — a popular Okinawan liquor distilled from rice and also called awamori (泡盛)). In addition to procuring a small amount of uruchi millet, which is only produced in limited quantities domestically, the firms will also use native Okinawan rice, which was once used in the production of the historical liquor.
Until now, millet-containing awamori has not been produced due to high production costs and difficulty in commercializing the product. However, the firms decided to revive the liquor after finding that a small amount of uruchi millet is commercially available in Iwate Prefecture, and they obtained 120 kilograms of it.