Hi guys & girls, I’m lucky enough to be in Shinjuku today and tomorrow, and would like to bring home some Japanese shochu. Thing is, this silly american can’t recognize it in the stores. Any helpful advice would be more than appreciated. I’ll also appreciate any wise cracks or other ways to keep things light and happy. Well, as long as i still get my answer 
p.s. Tokyo is fuckin’ great (but that’s really another thread)!
okay, well that’s s’posed to say, How do i recognize…
Shochu drinker here.
It’s actually pretty hard to tell from the bottle if you can’t read Japanese. If you want to try reading the signs in the liquor shop shochu is written:
焼酎
There are different types of shochu. The most common is sweet potato shochu, or imo-shochu.
芋焼酎
There is also barley shochu – mugi-shochu.
麦焼酎
Shochu made from sugar cane is called kokuto-shochu.
黒糖焼酎
There is also rice shochu: kome-shochu
米焼酎
Finally, in, or near the shochu section you will also find Okinawan awamori:
泡盛
Your best bet though is to ask the people at the store for a suggestion. It would help if you know what kind you want, but I think most shop keepers will understand “good” and “bottle” in English. “Recommendation” is o-susume in Japanese.
This might get this thread sent to Cafe Society, but here are my suggestions for (relatively) easy to find shochu.
Imo:
Mitake
Sekitoba
Akarui Noson
Mugi:
Nakanaka
Kokuto:
Asahi
Kome:
Yamasemi
Awamori:
Harusame (they make a number of varieties but anything other than kari should be hard to find.)
If you go to any of the several large department stores in Shinjuku, there’s a food floor on the bottom floor where, when you find the liquor section, the attendants usually have a good enough grasp of English to be able to assist you. Most of the stores will have a couple of sakes and shochus to sample and the staff can help guide you into what style you prefer. Alternatively, you could pop into a shochu focused bar beforehand, try a couple and then get the bartender to write your favorites onto a piece of paper to hand to the shopkeepers.
<translated from Japanese> “Sell this guy the most expensive bottle of shochu you’ve got.”
Good luck!
Thanks for the detailed info and the links… very helpful. I have studied the links from jovan and now I know what to look for. In fact, I found some at the c-store today, but it was in a huge bottle (milk carton, actually) and I thought it was too large to lug back home. However, I’m gonna try some while here and keep shopping. Your info was greatly appreciated.
Ha, good chuckle. And I wouldn’t know what he wrote, anyway!
Duuude, the stuff at the convenience store is for getting drunk. The great thing with shochu is that many of the best bottles cost the same as the crap ones.
Go to proper liquor shop, or department store basement (which are worth visiting anyway) and grab a good imo. A 900ml bottle of Mitake, which I linked to upthread, is a thing of beauty and it will set you back less than 1500 yen.
Sounds like wise advice. Though I’m still hesitant in carrying a ~litre back home. Looks like I could order it online when I get back home (USA) though, couldn’t I?