Down the hill behind Keisei-mon, lies the “Zuisen” Awamori brewery. This is the Sakiyama district which, along with the Torihori and Akata districts, comprise the “Shuri Big Three.” Nowadays, Awamori is produced in every region of Okinawa, but in the days of the Ryukyuan Kingdom, the manufacture of Awamori was restricted to these three areas, hence their collective nickname. It’s said in those times there were between 30 and 40 distilleries across the Shuri Big Three. If you happen across a stone wall with rounded edges, chances are good that it was once a distillery. The round edges made it easier to hang the woven straw mats used in the brewing process.
Why was Awamori made in Shuri? Naturally, the closer the breweries were to the castle, the easier they were to manage. However, another reason lies in the fact that Shuri was a region abundant with spring water.
The town of Shuri was built atop a protruding layer of Ryukyuan limestone, a material which forms naturally from coral reefs. At this level water flows freely and abundantly through the porous limestone, but a second, lower layer of impermeable, clay-like earth causes the water to gush out between the two layers. High-quality sake distillation demands pristine water, and in a region such as Okinawa where rivers are sparse, this precious spring water sustained the lifestyle of the region back then. Spring water and wells were also objects of worship, and many remain enshrined to this day as “Utaki,”or Okinawan sacred worship sites.
