shōchū

A form of shochu — A Japanese alcoholic beverage, most commonly distilled from barley, sweet potato or rice. Typically it is 25% alcohol by volume, making it weaker than whisky, but stronger than wine and sake.

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Meanings

nounshōchū (usually uncountable, plural shōchūs)

plural shōchūs

  1. alternativeuncountableusuallyAlternative form of shochu.

    When Saneyuki Tsuchiya opened Urizun in 1972, the awamori scene was very different. The local drink had suffered badly at the hands of beer, cheap shōchūs and foreign spirits, and many makers were hunkered down in their foxholes, hoping only to survive.

    2011, Chris Bunting, “Urizun (Okinawa)”, in Drinking Japan: A Guide to Japan’s Best Drinks and Drinking Establishments, North Clarendon, Vt.: Tuttle Publishing, →ISBN, chapter 3 (The Joys of Okinawan Awamori), page 130
Cite this entry
APA

shōchū. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sh%C5%8Dch%C5%AB

MLA

“shōchū.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sh%C5%8Dch%C5%AB. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shōchū,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sh%C5%8Dch%C5%AB.

Source: shōchū on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.