Shochu is another alcoholic beverage imported directly from Japan. The difference between Japanese sake and shochu is that Japanese sake is categorized as brewed liquor, but shochu is categorized as distilled liquor and is in the same category as whiskey, scotch, and vodka. 

It is typically distilled from rice (kome), barley (mugi), sweet potatoes (satsuma-imo), buckwheat (soba), or brown sugar (kokutō), though it is sometimes produced from other ingredients such as chestnut, sesame seeds, potatoes or even carrots.