Kokuto De Lequio

Kokuto De Lequio was launched in 2023 as a collaboration between world-renowned bartender Shingo Gokan and Okinawa’s historic Mizuho Shuzo. It encompasses a range of premium rums and liqueurs produced from kokuto, or Okinawan raw cane sugar.

After launching his own range of shochu under the SG Shochu label and operating some of Asia’s most acclaimed bars, Shingo Gokan opened his first cocktail bar, El Lequio, in Okinawa in 2022. He then turned to Mizuho Shuzo to further his goal of celebrating Japanese spirits and botanicals through partnership with distinguished distilleries.

Mizuho Shuzo was established in 1848 in the Shuri district of Okinawa Prefecture’s capital city, Naha, where it was decreed under the former Ryukyu monarchy that all awamori must be produced within sight of Shuri Castle. The distillery is the oldest in Shuri and Okinawa’s second oldest producer of Ryukyu Awamori (a GI-protected rice spirit produced from long grain rice and black koji) as well as the first commercial producer of rum distilled from kokuto.

Sometimes referred to as black sugar or Japanese brown sugar, kokuto is made by boiling fresh sugarcane juice for several hours until it thickens into a dark syrup, then allowing it to cool and harden. It is one of Okinawa’s most significant agricultural products (sugarcane is Okinawa’s largest crop by acreage, accounting for roughly half of the islands’ total farmland, and ten percent is used to produce kokuto), and is used for sweet and savory culinary purposes while being prized for its nutrient-dense, vitamin- and mineral-rich composition.

When the Covid-19 pandemic halted tourism and interrupted global trade in 2020, Okinawan agriculture was thrown into a state of crises as kokuto and other local goods lost primary sources for revenue. These agricultural goods went unsold, threatening the livelihoods of local farmers who were already facing challenges from overstocked inventory, an aging workforce, and dwindling population.

In response, Mizuho Shuzo’s head distiller, Akira Nakasato, developed the ONERUM series of single island rums to make use of these growing stockpiles of kokuto as well as to showcase the unique terroir of the eight kokuto-producing islands within Okinawa Prefecture. Nakasato notes, “For some islands, the survival of the brown sugar industry is a matter of life or death.” Mizuho Shuzo aims to help revitalize the agricultural economies of these islands. (“Flavors of Okinawa: Taste Brown Sugar from Okinawa’s Eight Remote Islands,” Visit Okinawa Japan, accessed November 2025, https://www.visitokinawajapan.com)

Kokuto De Lequio primarily uses kokuto sourced from the two southernmost Okinawan islands—rich and creamy kokuto from Iramote Island and bitter kokuto from Yonaguni Island—and botanicals for their expressions are sourced directly from local farmers. The name Kokuto De Lequio speaks to the past and future of Okinawa, alluding to a reimagined future for kokuto, while “Lequio” references the Portuguese word for Ryukyu, a translation used by early Portuguese explorers for the chain of islands from Kyushu, Japan, to Taiwan that includes Okinawa Prefecture.

Kokuto De Lequio is a celebration of the rich agriculture of Okinawa and its people. Each unique expression tells a story of reverence for Okinawa’s agricultural traditions while prioritizing preservation and innovation.